People sheltering in a sanctioned encampment in Vancouver’s CRAB Park have been given one week to move to a new, temporary area ahead of a planned cleanup by the city.
A portion of the park on the city’s industrial waterfront has been under a special Park Board exemption allowing 24-hour sheltering since the city lost an injunction application in 2022.
An estimated 30 to 50 people are currently sheltering in the so-called “designated area.”
But the park board says the area has become dangerously cluttered with “debris and garbage, non-compliant materials, propane tanks, rats, needles, and feces,” and requires a major overhaul.
Following several months of consultation, the board released its official cleanup plan on Monday. Under the plan, people sheltering in the area will need to move to a temporary sheltering area by this Sunday.
Residents will be allowed to bring some belongings with them, and will also be offered storage options through the Aboriginal Front Door Society and a City of Vancouver facility.
People who refuse to vacate the site may be escorted out by police.
On Monday, March 25, the designated area will become an active work zone, with crews using heavy machinery to clear out unsafe materials and built structures that violate city bylaws.
Advocates for people sheltering in the park say the city’s consultation wasn’t meaningful and that the board is rushing ahead with the plan.
Some advocates also accuse the city of conducting a stealth decampment of the site.
The park board maintains that the cleanup is not a decampment and that encampment residents will be allowed to return to the site by early April.