Advertisement

Vancouver council green-lights $2.5M in street cleaning grants

Click to play video: 'Vancouver approves street cleaning grant program'
Vancouver approves street cleaning grant program
WATCH: Vancouver council has approved nearly $2.5 million for the city's 2023 street cleaning program – Feb 15, 2023

Vancouver City Council has approved millions of dollars in funding aimed at keeping the city’s streets clean in 2023.

Councillors authorized $2.46 million on Tuesday for the 2023 Street Cleaning Grant program.

The money goes to non-profit groups the city says help keep streets clean by supplementing city crews, while offering low-barrier job opportunities to some of Vancouver’s most vulnerable.

Click to play video: 'City of Vancouver seeks new DTES street cleaning contractor'
City of Vancouver seeks new DTES street cleaning contractor

The grants are centred around “micro-cleaning,” which involves foot patrols with brooms, shovels and carts who collect trash and needles.

Story continues below advertisement

Micro-cleaning efforts form a large part of the city’s recently-approved Chinatown revitalization plan.

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

2023 grant recipients include the Mission Possible Compassionate Ministries Society ($1.07 million), the Coast Mental Health Foundation ($735,000), United We Can ($469,000) and The Binners’ Project ($55,000).

In a media release, the city said the program helped offer more than 70,000 work hours to people facing barriers to traditional employment, and collected 34,000 bags of litter and more than 100,000 needles.

Last year, the city cancelled a $320,000 “Block Stewardship” and street cleaning contract with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), after determining it had prioritized community development and individual empowerment over street cleaning.

Sponsored content

AdChoices