Vancouver mayor launches business growth task force

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim held a media event Monday, announcing the formation of a task force focused on Vancouver business growth.

The city describes the task force as an initiative focused on supporting local businesses, attracting investment, and positioning Vancouver as the most competitive city in North America to start and grow a business.

Sim says the task force will bring together “some of the brightest minds in business, economic development, and industry leadership” to deliver ideas to city council.

That list includes:

• Bridgitte Anderson, president and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade;
• Laura Ballance, principal for LBMG communications;
• Gordon Campbell, former B.C. Premier;
• Royce Chwin, president and CEO of Destination Vancouver;
• Carly Frey, partner at Nordicity and chair of the BC Alliance for Arts and Culture board of directors;
• Prem Gill, CEO of Creative BC;
• Chief Wayne Sparrow, elected chief of the Musqueam Indian Band;
• Jeff Stibbard, executive chairman of JDS Energy & Mining;
• Jane Talbot, CEO of Downtown Vancouver’s Business Improvement Association;
• Jill Tipping, president and CEO of the BC Tech Association;
• Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of BC Restaurant and Food Services Association;
• And Peter Xotta, president and CEO of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.

Councillors Pete Fry, Lenny Zhou, and Mike Klassen will also work directly with the task force.

Coun. Klassen says Vancouver’s businesses are facing “acute pressures,” and the city needs to move with urgency and purpose.

He explains that the task force will have a six-month mandate to deliver “actionable” recommendations to council. Sim says those will be put into action “as quickly as possible.”

Coun. Fry says he’s excited to take part in the task force to help the city take immediate action in the face of U.S. tariffs.

“We’re going to have to do things quickly. We’re going to have to learn to respond. So I think we have an excellent team here to work with knitting all our various different pieces of what these impacts could mean for business viability, for employment, and for how we can respond best,” said Fry.

Last week, an annual ‘State of Downtown Vancouver’ report from the local business improvement association showed the first overall drop in visitors since the COVID-19 pandemic, down almost eight per cent, though it varies by neighbourhood.

The BIA says sales for businesses downtown were down in 2024 compared to the previous year, especially for restaurants, which have been slammed by rising costs and people cutting back on dining out.

The group also says persistently high downtown storefront vacancy rates are also a clear sign that investment must be made in the downtown community to retain existing tenants and attract new businesses. The report states that Granville Street has the highest vacancy rate at almost 30 per cent.

The task force follows Sim’s January announcement of a plan to revitalize the city’s Downtown Eastside.

Ever focused on business, Sim said his plan will help open “vacant storefronts” in the neighbourhood and allow local businesses to thrive. Referring to the Downtown Eastside as a “poverty industrial complex,” Sim says it attracts “predatory criminals” who victimize residents and businesses.

One month later, Sim announced the launch of a police task force to target organized crime and address public safety in the area on behalf of businesses.

Sim’s majority ABC Party suffered a major blow Saturday, losing the race for two seats in a municipal byelection.

The city says almost 68,000 votes were cast, representing a 15.09 per cent turnout — up 40 per cent compared with the 2017 byelection.

Speaking Monday, Sim admitted that the loss represents a message from the residents about the party’s favourability.

“Regardless of how we feel or the accomplishments that we’ve made, there are people in the city that don’t feel that way… We’re taking a really hard look as to why people feel that way and what we can do to be better,” said Sim.

He welcomed presumed Councillors elect Lucy Maloney and Sean Orr, saying council is open to diverse perspectives.

—With files from Mike Lloyd