Councillor Rebecca Bligh started her adult life as a young, single mom and it is here she found her voice in the face of adversity. At just 20 years old, Rebecca embarked on her career, working in a local small business. Through firsthand experience, she came to understand the struggles of running a small business and the importance of community connection and engagement. Not only did she learn how to maximize her daughter’s nap time, those years taught her the value of commitment and the value of follow through. Her early years as a single mom raising a family in Vancouver gave her grit, and built resilience and drive. This also gave her a deep appreciation for stable housing, affordable childcare, and high-quality public transit.
In her first term on Vancouver City Council, Councillor Bligh worked with her colleagues to make life more affordable for Vancouverites. Her efforts included spearheading a program for universal, cost shared, healthy school food program for all K-12 students in BC, cutting the cannabis business-license fee, and introducing a First-Right of Refusal policy to preserve housing in the city.
Now in her second term, Councillor Bligh is building a City that every Vancouverite can afford to call home. She has championed motions to uplift the Downtown Eastside and rebuild SROs and new solutions to re-route traffic that has clogged up our downtown core. Working with non-profits, religious institutions, and developers, she is rewriting regulations to unleash new housing construction. Notably, she cast the deciding vote to block the return of methane gas in new construction projects. Central to Councillor Bligh’s approach is a commitment to fact-based, thoughtful public policy that balances fiscal responsibility with the need to create a liveable, inclusive city for all.
Rebecca Bligh is uniquely well-placed to transform Vancouver into a city for all. In 2024, she was elected President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), where she advocates for municipalities across the country to the federal and provincial governments for more funding to build housing, transit, and infrastructure projects - benefiting Vancouver and many cities nationwide.
Beyond her civic duties, Rebecca is the founder of BLACKPiiN, a consulting and facilitation practice firm that specializes in leadership development for executives and teams. She has contributed her expertise to the Dr. Peter Centre and Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation. Through her organization, SwingIt24, she led a fundraising initiative that brought together 200 participants and volunteers to raise $40,000 for leadership training in Mozambique and Ethiopia.
Councillor Bligh lives with her partner Laura and has two young adult children.
Contact Councillor Bligh