Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim prioritizes housing in first State of City address

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim made his first State of the City address to the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade Tuesday.

The address was his first in front of the business group following last fall’s civic election.

Sim and the ABC majority candidates made a lot of promises during the campaign, and the address looks at some of the direction on what’s a priority for the new council.

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Prioritizing new home construction emerged as a key message in the address, and it included the intent of building more homes and developments, and perhaps easing some of the housing restrictions associated with the city.

“Every single day, multiple times a day, I hear stories of people, like firsthand stories, of people leaving the city, or how they can’t afford rent, or how they were in line with 75 other people trying to rent a basement suite — that’s a crisis,” Sim said.

While Sim says he’s willing to look at anything to make building homes easier, he did not delve into specific changes that could be on the way.

Sim took a moment during the address to acknowledge a historic moment for Vancouver, highlighting the first time a councillor has ever addressed a speaker in Mandarin.

With files from Dean Recksiedler