Vancouver City Council approves $3-million Downtown Eastside street cleaning | Daily Hive

Nearly $3 million in funding for Downtown Eastside street-cleaning and employment program approved by Vancouver City Council

Mission Possible street cleaning crews pressure washing a sidewalk on East Hastings Street in the Downtown Eastside. (Mission Possible Compassionate Ministries Society)

Vancouver City Council has approved nearly $3 million in funding over three years to continue a supplemental street-cleaning and low-barrier employment program in the Downtown Eastside, enabling Mission Possible Compassionate Ministries Society to expand its Project Hope initiative.

Without any debate or discussion, City Council voted today to approve a $920,000 grant for 2026, along with provisional annual grants of $1 million in both 2027 and 2028, subject to future budget approvals and performance requirements. The funding will support enhanced street cleaning in problematic areas, including additional micro-cleaning, pressure washing, and community outreach.

City staff note the program improves public-realm cleanliness in high-needs areas while creating low-barrier employment and skills-training opportunities for people facing significant barriers to work, including homelessness and poverty.

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Mission Possible has delivered the services since 2023 under Project Hope, which was initially launched with funding from the Union of BC Municipalities following the prolonged Hastings Street encampment. The City continued funding the program after that provincial support ended in mid-2024.

According to a City staff report, the program’s 2025 results over the first 11 months of the year through November included nearly 17,000 low-threshold employment hours, the collection of more than 17,000 bags of garbage and 26,700 needles, pressure washing equivalent to 240 city blocks, and more than 1,000 service referrals to support services.

In contrast, this program in the Downtown Eastside in 2024 provided 19,300 low-barrier work hours, saw the collection of 17,600 bags of garbage and 46,400 needles, and pressure-washed 290 city blocks. In 2023, over a 10-month period from March to December, the program offered 13,400 work hours, collected 10,000 bags of garbage, 32,800 needles, and pressure-washed 230 city blocks.

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Mission Possible street cleaning crews. (Mission Possible Compassionate Ministries Society)

City staff indicate Mission Possible was selected through an open grant process involving five eligible non-profit organizations, citing the group’s proven capacity to deliver cleaning, outreach, and employment services consistently and at scale.

Mission Possible is required to report on performance metrics throughout the year, and future funding remains contingent on City Council’s annual budget decisions.

This Downtown Eastside area-specific program is in addition to the municipal government’s long-running street cleaning grants for city-wide cleaning and low-barrier employment programs organized by a number of non-profit organizations, including Mission Possible. In February 2024, City Council renewed this city-wide street cleaning grant to the organizations, providing nearly $8 million over three years from early 2024 to late 2026. The work spans the jurisdictions of 22 business improvement associations, as well as select parks and other public spaces.

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