Ken Sim made 93 campaign promises in 2022. How did he do?

After nearly four years of Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver in power, Vancouverites will head to the polls in a little over a month and vote for the next mayor and council.

Currently, there are five main contenders for mayor: Pete Fry for the Green Party, Colleen Hardwick for TEAM for a Livable Vancouver, Kareem Allam of the Vancouver Liberals, Rebecca Bligh with Vote Vancouver, and incumbent Ken Sim with the ABC Party.

There has already been a whirlwind of municipal election news recently as the election heats up. Over the next few weeks, there will likely be a flurry of new campaign promises as the five different parties try to earn Vancouverites votes.

But before all of this ensues, Daily Hive Urbanized took a look at some of Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver’s campaign promises from 2022, which helped them win a landslide victory at the time. The emphasis was on addressing crime, public safety, and public disorder issues. 

Sim’s campaign had a whopping 93 election promises, ranging from climate action to public safety to childcare. We examined nine of these promises to evaluate the party’s efforts in the past few years and to see how they stand as they ramp up for another election.

“Platform targets are aspirational, and we’re proud of our track of success,” said ABC Vancouver in an email to Daily Hive.

1. 100 cops and 100 nurses

The promise: An ABC Majority will hire 100 New Police Officers and 100 Mental Health Nurses as part of a renewed approach to community policing and the expansion of successful VPD/health authority-led programs like Car 87

This was one of ABC’s major campaign promises in 2022, which they said was to “combat the public safety and mental health crisis.” ABC said this would be carried out as an expansion of the Car 87/88 program, an initiative that deploys a police officer and mental health nurse together to address mental health calls. ABC claimed they could do this without a tax increase.

What happened: ABC hit the target of hiring 100 new officers. However, it revised the goal of hiring 100 new nurses, hiring over 50 workers with a range of specialized training, according to a 2024 interview with Ken Sim.  

Daily Hive Urbanized reached out to VCH and asked how many nurses have been hired since 2022. VCH said that they have “been able to significantly increase urgent mental health supports with this City of Vancouver grant funding through 2027.” 

VCH said they doubled the Car 87/88 program and started two new urgent mental health teams: the Indigenous Crisis Response Team and the Mobile De-escalation Team. VCH also created liaison nurse positions embedded in the VPD’s operations command centre “to triage and support the diversion of mental health calls to more appropriate services.“

The health authority added that these teams collectively employ about 50 staff, which includes nurses, social workers, and Indigenous Cultural Practitioners.

The VCH did not clarify how many nurses they’ve hired.

In an email to Daily Hive Urbanized, ABC Vancouver said that they’ve fully funded the VPD and Fire Department, as well as 57 mental health workers.

2. Double co-op housing 

The Promise: An ABC Majority will double the number of co-operative (co-op) housing units in Vancouver within the next four years

At the time that Ken Sim was elected, there were over 6,000 co-op homes in Vancouver, according to the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC (CHF BC). This means that they promised to have another 6,000 by 2026.

What happened: This goal was not accomplished. The City of Vancouver told Daily Hive that since November 2022, 402 co-op housing units have been completed across four projects, 237 have started construction across two projects, and 112 units have been approved by Council.

CHF BC said there has been a net increase of 334 co-op units.

“Despite lofty promises, we never expected the number of co-op homes to double in just four years. And in fairness to any municipal leader, that kind of growth is not something that municipalities can finance on their own,” said Thom Armstrong, CHF BC’s CEO, in a statement sent to Daily Hive.

He said that new non-market housing “relies on assistance from both the provincial and federal governments, and that assistance has been insufficient to generate the numbers that were promised.”

3. Speed up construction

The Promise: Eliminate the city’s housing construction backlog (3x3x3x1 permit approval system)

ABC promised to speed up project approvals with a “3x3x3x1” system, where it takes only three days to approve home renovations, three weeks to approve single-family homes and townhouses, three months to approve professionally designed multi-family and mid-rise projects, and one year for high-rises.

At the time, home renovations, single-family homes, townhouses, and laneway houses took many months to approve, sometimes even more than a year. Meanwhile, it could take up to six years to approve a high-rise tower and other large-scale housing developments.

What happened: Since the 2022 election, the City started working on changes to speed up housing approvals, like transitioning to digital tools and applications, consolidating and simplifying types of permits, and performing City staffing changes. They also fast-tracked some types of permits (like simple repairs and replacements).

The City shared some stats in June 2026 that indicated that they are on track for the 3x3x3x1 permit approval system, but this has not yet been achieved. 

“We are making real progress on the 3x3x3x1 system,” said ABC Vancouver in an email.

The City has reported that 92 per cent of “simple renovation permits” (a project under $250,000) are issued within three days — as ABC promised in 2022.

While permit processing times for single-detached homes are 36 per cent faster (from 250 days in 2022 to 160 days in 2025), it still has a way to go to hit the three-week (21-day) target.

For multi-family and mid-rise homes, there’s a 46 per cent faster processing time, from 18.1 months in 2023 to 9.8 months in 2025. Once again, this is faster, but still well above the three-month target.

The City told Daily Hive that median processing times for high-rise and large-scale projects are about 10 per cent lower than in 2023.

4. Budget

While the City’s budget was not mentioned on ABC’s 93-point platform, Sim criticized former mayor Kennedy Stewart’s spending during his 2022 campaign, citing that Stewart had raised property taxes by 25 per cent in the past four years (he rounded up from 23.25 per cent).

What happened: Since Sim was elected, however, City Council has raised taxes nearly as much, increasing them by 22.1 per cent in four years.

In 2023, Vancouver City Council passed a historic tax hike of 10.7 per cent, which they said was for inflation increases, additional funding to the VPD (and the new additional police officers), replenishing the municipal government’s emergency contingency fund reserve, and accelerating the replacement of aging infrastructure, especially sewers. 

In 2024, Council approved a 7.5 per cent property tax increase, with 1 per cent to quicken the pace for infrastructure renewal like replacing aging sewers, 3 per cent for the VPD, and 3.5 per cent for funding across all City services. The VPD budget increased by $32 million, including $2.1 million in extra funding approved through an amendment — below the $36 million requested by the VPD.  

In 2024, property taxes increased by 3.9 per cent, with 1 per cent to increase the pace of infrastructure renewal and 2.9 per cent to City Services.

In 2025, Ken Sim and the ABC party finally delivered on campaign rhetoric, passing an austerity budget that saw a zero per cent tax increase.

“Our early decisions were necessary to stabilize core services and address the significant financial challenges we inherited,” said ABC Vancouver. “The reserves were depleted, and we needed to replenish those. These foundational investments have successfully set the stage for fiscal sustainability, as evidenced by our [0 per cent] property tax increase for 2026 and Ken Sim and the ABC Team are committed to doing this again in 2027.”

5. Night Mayor 

The Promise: An ABC Majority will create a Night Mayor to advocate for the night economy

The root of this promise comes from the previous term, when Vancouver City Council established a “Nightlife Council” and approved a series of bylaws to support local businesses and arts and cultural organizations, meaning that the Granville Strip would be getting more patios, live music, and extended entertainment hours. 

What happened: This position was not created. But ABC Vancouver said that they have “driven downtown vibrancy” through the FIFA World Cup and the Granville Pedestrian Zone.

6. Public washrooms

The Promise: An ABC Majority will invest in increasing the number of public washrooms, showers, and water fountains

In recent years, there has been a growing call to expand the presence of public washrooms in the city, as use has increased due to Vancouver’s growing population, an increase in recreational activities, and the surge in tourism — as well as the fact that they are a basic human need.

While Kennedy Stewart had promised 50 new public washrooms in 2022, Sim and ABC’s promise was a bit more vague, with no specific target mentioned.

What happened: In January of this year, City staff created a citywide framework to improve access to clean, safe, and accessible public washrooms. In 2026, they said their focus is on low-cost actions, like smart sensors and automated locking systems at high-use washrooms, partnering with community organizations, service agencies, and businesses to develop alternative operating models, integrating public washroom planning into future capital projects, and encouraging businesses to allow the public to use their private washrooms.

Currently, Vancouver has 165 public washrooms.

7. 5,000 childcare spaces

The Promise: An ABC Majority will deliver 5,000 daycare spaces in the first four years of an ABC-led City Hall

ABC said it would achieve this goal by harmonizing childcare policy between municipal and provincial governments. The provincial government had rolled out a childcare expansion program, but needed municipal, non-profit, and private partners to actually build the supply.

ABC also said they would help childcare providers become compliant through the licensing process, use permit fees for creating new spaces, and make additional City land available for more facilities.

What happened: In June 2022, a few months before the election, Vancouver City Council adopted a 10-year childcare strategy.

The City said that over 2,000 new childcare spaces “have become operational” since 2022, about 3,000 below the 5,000 target. But they noted that since November 2022, 743 new childcare spaces have been approved by City Council.

Vancouver currently has a gap of about 6,700 childcare spaces, with only half of the city’s childcare demand being met.

8. Official community plan completion

The Promise: An ABC Majority will commit to the completion of an Official Community Plan for Vancouver by the end of our first term

What happened: In March 2026, Vancouver adopted its first-ever citywide Official Development Plan (ODP), a legally binding land use framework that will guide growth, development, and infrastructure investment in the decades to come. It is a major shift in how land use decisions are made by the City, fundamentally serving to help the City plan for its growth. 

9. Plant 100,000 trees in the first 4 years

The Promise: An ABC Majority will plant 100,000 trees in Vancouver within the first four years of an ABC administration, primarily focused on neighbourhoods where historic race-based zoning has led to poor tree cover and canopy growth: continuing the initiative of Mayor Gregor Robertson

ABC promised to plant 100,000 additional trees over four years, on top of existing municipal targets and initiatives. The idea was to help keep cities cool as climate change heats the planet. The City of Vancouver accomplished the feat of planting 150,000 trees between 2010 and 2020.

What happened: The City of Vancouver told Daily Hive that, for the calendar years from 2023 to 2025, there has been a net increase of 257 trees, with 7,725 planted and 7,468 removed.

The City said that they did not have data for 2022 due to software limitations, and that the 2026 figures are still in progress.

With files from Kenneth Chan