Vancouver public safety plebiscite: 68.6% voted Yes on drug-use laws, 68% on treatment facility

Daily Hive Vancouver reported the official count released by the City of Vancouver on October 21, 2026. The first question, on strengthening laws to prohibit open-air use of heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and crack, received 137,178 Yes votes and 62,880 No votes, which Daily Hive reported as an approval rate of 68.6 per cent. The second question, on formally requesting the provincial government convert portions of the old St. Paul's Hospital site into a secure medical facility, received 135,509 Yes votes and 63,722 No votes, which Daily Hive reported as a rate of 68 per cent.

No. Daily Hive Vancouver reported that both public safety plebiscite questions are non-binding and merely advisory. A Yes vote does not change any law or approve the creation of a treatment facility. The results give the incoming council a measure of public opinion, but the council makes its own decisions. The three parties that will hold 10 of 11 council seats, the Greens, COPE, and OneCity, all opposed staging the plebiscite during the campaign, according to Daily Hive.

Daily Hive Vancouver reported that the separate ballot forms for the public safety plebiscite were not scanned and counted until after election night. Voters dropped those ballot forms into a cardboard box at polling stations. The election results for council, park board, and school board were counted on election night, October 17, 2026. The official plebiscite count was released by the City as part of the official election results on October 21, 2026.

Before the count was released, Pete Fry told Daily Hive Urbanized that the results would not change his approach to public drug use and treatment. He described the plebiscite as 'a cynical election ploy' by ABC Vancouver and said it asked residents to weigh in on matters beyond the City's authority. Fry said his approach would focus on giving people somewhere else to go and improving access to shelter and support. You can read more about Fry's plans at /candidates/pete-fry.

ABC Vancouver, whose 2026 mayoral candidate was Ken Sim, put two questions to voters as a non-binding plebiscite alongside the October 17 election. The first asked whether Vancouver should strengthen laws against open-air use of hard drugs in public spaces. The second asked whether the City should formally request provincial action to convert portions of the old St. Paul's Hospital site into a secure medical facility with involuntary care beds. Daily Hive reported that ABC championed both proposals and that they were staged by the outgoing council over opposition from the three parties that now hold most council seats.

Separately from the public safety questions, Vancouver voters also answered three capital borrowing plebiscite questions. Daily Hive reported that all three passed. The request to borrow $292 million for transportation and street infrastructure received 147,559 Yes votes and 41,669 No votes, a rate of 78 per cent. The request for $438 million for community facilities and essential civic infrastructure passed with 150,309 Yes votes and 38,914 No votes, a rate of 79.4 per cent. The request for $60 million for parks and open public spaces received 152,969 Yes votes and 36,590 No votes, a rate of 80.7 per cent. Unlike the public safety plebiscite, these approvals give the City authority to borrow up to those amounts.

Daily Hive Vancouver reported that the newly elected City Council, Park Board, and School Board will be inaugurated on November 2, 2026. Pete Fry will be sworn in as mayor on that date. You can see the full results of the election, including who was elected to each body, at /results.

Daily Hive Vancouver reported that the plebiscite results stand in contrast to the election results for council seats. Both plebiscite questions received about 68 per cent support, while the parties that championed them, led by ABC Vancouver's Ken Sim, lost most council seats. The Greens, COPE, and OneCity, which all opposed the plebiscite, now hold 10 of 11 council seats for the next four years. This means decisions about how to respond to the non-binding results rest with a council whose parties opposed the proposals, according to Daily Hive.