Preliminary numbers from the City of Vancouver’s homeless count show that the number of people sleeping outside at night is declining.

This year’s count, which took place over a 24 hour period on March 13, 2013 found 273 people sleeping outside in Vancouver, which is:

• a decrease of 11% from 2012, which saw 306 street homeless; and
• a 66% decrease since 2008, which saw 811 street homeless, and was the first year of low-barrier shelters.

“The drop in people sleeping outside in Vancouver shows that we’re on the right path when it comes to ending street homelessness by 2015,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “Our efforts are working, but there is no question there is more work to do. This is within our grasp.

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This week the City of Vancouver approved its first-ever digital strategy, continuing City Hall’s work to support the local digital economy and improve service delivery for citizens. Here’s some of the reaction from the press and on social media: 

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Vancouver City Council has unanimously approved a grant of up to $490,000 to the Immigrant Services Society of BC (ISS) to help assist with the construction of an innovative transitional supportive housing project providing short and medium term accommodation for refugees.

Located at 2610 Victoria Drive, the ISS ‘Welcome House Centre’ will provide short term and transitional housing with supports for recently arrived refugees. The project will include 98 flexible, lockable rooms which can be combined in a variety of configurations, down to 26 “self-contained units” allowing ISS to flexibly house larger or smaller families as well as singles, as need arises.

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Ahead of a City Council vote on Wednesday, the Mayor is urging unanimous support from Council on plans to invest over $7.45 million in Vancouver’s vibrant arts and culture sector.

The City is recommending awarding the 2013 Cultural operating and project grants to 165 Vancouver organizations supporting dance, film, music, visual arts, literary arts and more, selected from a pool of 191 applications. This year’s grants span an impressive range, from the Arts Club Theatre (celebrating its 50th year), Bard on the Beach, the Vancouver International Writers Festival, and the DOXA Film Festival, to the Raven Spirit Dance Society and Vancouver Theatre Sports.

“The City of Vancouver is committed to using every tool at our disposal to support our vibrant local arts and cultural community, understanding that Vancouver’s leading creative sector is a substantial contributor to the strength of our local economy,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “The grants recommended to 165 organizations demonstrate the breadth of support the city shows for our local arts and culture groups, and I hope all of Council will join me in supporting them.”

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Mayor Gregor Robertson is putting out the call for the best of Vancouver’s arts and culture community, with nominations for the Mayor’s Arts Awards now open.

“Vancouver’s arts and culture scene is making a name for itself on the world stage, attracting attention and recognition from around the globe while at the same time bringing new energy, entertainment and jobs to our neighbourhoods,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “At City Hall, we celebrate our artistic community with pride, and The Mayor’s Arts Awards are a great opportunity to showcase the talent that exists right here in our city.

The Mayor’s Arts Awards recognize established and emerging artists in a wide array of disciplines that make up our creative sector – from literary to culinary arts, and visual to performing arts, as well as four unique awards for contributions to our community and a special award for Lifetime Achievement.

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The Mayor and City Council will vote next week on the first-ever digital strategy for the City of Vancouver, continuing City Hall’s work to support the local digital economy and improve service delivery for citizens.

The strategy focuses on improving the way the City provides services online for citizens and small businesses, supporting our dynamic local digital media industry, and putting Vancouver at the forefront of support for digital innovation.

“Making Vancouver a leader in digital innovation has been a key priority of my work as Mayor,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “The City’s first-ever digital strategy represents another significant step forward in our efforts to improve how City Hall does business and engages with citizens, how we support leading-edge job creation in our local technology and creative sectors, and how we foster digital innovation to make life better for all Vancouver residents.”

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