COPE on public housing: 20,000+ homes, a land value tax, a penalty on empty lots
COPE would negotiate, build and secure 20,000+ affordable homes in Vancouver, from public housing and co-ops to shelter-rate and modular housing. It would pay for them with taxes on wealth, mansions and empty lots, bonds, and money from senior governments.
FIGHT FOR HOUSING · PAGE 7
Permanently Affordable Public Housing: what the Fight for Vancouver says
Page 7 of COPE's platform sets the party's main housing target: 20,000+ units of affordable housing for Vancouver. COPE lists the kinds of homes it means, including Indigenous housing, public housing, co-ops, community land trusts, non-profit housing, supportive housing, shelter-rate housing and modular housing. The platform describes shelter-rate housing as housing for people on fixed incomes. It also names middle-income housing for people on a living wage and housing that minimum-wage earners can afford.
The page also explains how COPE would pay for these homes. The party names taxes on wealth, mansions and empty lots, city bonds, and pressure on senior governments. It supports a tax on land value and wants the public to capture the gain landowners get when a new transit line or a rezoning raises the price of their land. Under the slogan "use it or lose it", the party would put a penalty on land held empty for profit.
COPE says the city would act as lead negotiator for a group of stalled public, co-op and non-profit housing sites, seeking low-interest loans and senior government funding. Council can do this through its budget, its land and its zoning, but loans and grants would come from the provincial and federal governments. New taxes on wealth or land would need the Province, because the Vancouver Charter sets what the city may tax.
THE PARTY'S NUMBERS
Figures in this chapter
Affordable homes COPE says it would negotiate, build and secure for Vancouver
The party's figure, page 77 COMMITMENTS
What the party says it would do
Negotiate, build and secure 20,000+ affordable homes
COPE would negotiate, build and secure 20,000+ units of affordable housing for Vancouver, including Indigenous housing, public housing, co-ops, community land trusts, non-profit housing, supportive housing, below-market inclusionary zoning, shelter-rate housing and modular housing.
- Who has the power
- City, with others Council controls zoning and city land, but most funding for supportive, social and co-op housing comes from the provincial and federal governments.
Act as lead negotiator for stalled housing sites
The party would have the city bring together a group of stalled public, co-op and non-profit housing sites and use every tool available to negotiate low-interest loans, secure senior government funding and get affordable housing built.
- Who has the power
- City, with others The city can lead the talks, but the loans and funding the platform names come from senior governments and lenders.
Finance public housing with taxes on wealth, mansions and empty lots
COPE would finance permanently affordable public housing through taxes on wealth, mansions and empty lots, through bonds, and through advocacy to senior governments.
- Who has the power
- City, with others The platform does not name the tax. Council sets the property tax rate, but the city's powers come from the Vancouver Charter, a provincial law that only the Province can change.
Tax land value and capture landowner windfalls
The party supports taxation on land value. It would capture the gains landowners get from nearness to public amenities, from speculation and from zoning, and use them for public benefit.
- Who has the power
- City, with others The platform does not name the tax. Council sets the property tax rate, but the city's powers come from the Vancouver Charter, a provincial law that only the Province can change.
Use it or lose it: a penalty on land-banking
COPE says Vancouver does not need vacant lots. It would encourage development without displacement by placing a penalty on holding land empty for profit.
- Who has the power
- City, with others The platform does not say which tax or fee would carry the penalty. Any new type of tax would depend on powers the Province gives the city in the Vancouver Charter.
Fight for housing at every income level
The party would fight for shelter-rate housing for people on fixed incomes, housing affordable to minimum-wage earners, and middle-income housing for people on a living wage.
- Who has the power
- City, with others Council can require and approve these homes through zoning, but most funding for below-market housing comes from senior governments.
Affordable housing and services in every neighbourhood
COPE would make every neighbourhood welcoming to people on all incomes, with affordable housing and with accessible, affordable shops and services.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council sets zoning, which decides what kinds of homes and shops each neighbourhood can have.
WHO WOULD HAVE TO ACT
Where the power sits for this chapter
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions about permanently affordable public housing
How many affordable homes does COPE promise to build in Vancouver?
COPE says it would negotiate, build and secure 20,000+ units of affordable housing for Vancouver, including public housing, co-ops, land trusts, non-profit, supportive, shelter-rate and modular housing (platform, page 7).
How would COPE pay for public housing?
COPE would finance permanently affordable public housing through taxes on wealth, mansions and empty lots, through bonds, and through advocacy to senior governments. It also supports a tax on land value (platform, page 7).
What does COPE mean by use it or lose it?
COPE says Vancouver does not need vacant lots. Under the heading "use it or lose it", the party would place a penalty on land held empty for profit, to push owners to build without displacing anyone (platform, page 7).
Does COPE support a land value tax in Vancouver?
Yes. COPE says it supports taxation on land value and would capture the gains landowners get from public amenities, speculation and zoning for public benefit. A new tax of this kind would need powers that only the Province can give the city (platform, page 7).
Who would have to act for COPE's 20,000 homes to be built?
Council controls zoning and city land, so it can approve the homes and offer sites. COPE itself says the city would seek low-interest loans and senior government funding, so much of the money would have to come from the provincial and federal governments (platform, page 7).
ON THE BALLOT
The COPE candidates behind this
Sources
Every commitment on this page comes from the party's own material, marked SAYS SO ITSELF. It proves what the party says it would do. Who holds each power is our own addition, from the sources listed after it.
- Fight for Vancouver: COPE 2026 Platform (PDF) SAYS SO ITSELFCOPE · pages 7 · checked