Machines move in for CRAB Park ‘clean-up’ in Vancouver

Crews have officially begun a planned “clean-up” of CRAB Park in Vancouver.

Heavy machinery arrived at the park Tuesday, with city crews beginning the work to clear debris from the space.

This comes after Vancouver police and Park Board rangers cleared the park on Monday. The clean-up was ordered after the city claimed there were numerous safety concerns with combustible materials and unsafe structures in CRAB Park, which is Vancouver’s only legal encampment.

The city has previously said people who leave the encampment on their own will be allowed to move back once the clean-up is done in early April.

Officials have stressed this is “not a decampment.”

“This is a response to health and safety, including non-compliant and unsafe structures in the General Manager’s Daytime Area of CRAB Park. The safety of those sheltering in the park, our staff, and the public remain our priority, and we are committed to working with the community to address issues that impact the health and safety of those sheltering in the park,” the city said Monday.

It noted a variety of supports would be on-site during the clean-up, including outreach teams to “offer mental health supports” and “provide snacks and water,” as well as BC Housing’s new outreach team.

“At the request of those sheltering in the park, staff have erected two gazebos for a kitchen and donation tent,” the city added.

In 2022, the BC Supreme Court ruled in favour of CRAB Park residents, denying an injunction that would have allowed the Vancouver Park Board to evict residents. It also set aside two orders that prohibit sheltering in the park.

The CRAB park encampment has seen several evictions affecting dozens of people since 2020, when many people moved into the park in the waterfront area after the tent city at Oppenheimer Park was dismantled and residents were evicted by injunction. One of the factors the court considered in its decision in 2022 was the history of encampments in parks on and near the Downtown Eastside.