COPE on small business: Buy Vancouver, a Local Business Office, affordable storefronts
COPE would bring in a Buy Vancouver policy for city purchasing, create a Vancouver Local Business Office, and use zoning and city-owned land to create affordable storefronts. It would also reinstate the Community Benefits Agreement policy and press for fairer commercial leases.
FIGHT FOR VANCOUVER · PAGE 15
Protect the Local Economy: what the Fight for Vancouver says
COPE's economy chapter is aimed at local shops, restaurants and co-ops. The platform says almost 3000 local businesses have closed in Vancouver since 2020, that 18% of those closures were caused by landlord or lease problems, and that the storefront vacancy rate was 10.2% in 2025. The party would protect local businesses and, in its words, take on the big business oligopolies that threaten them.
Its main tools are city purchasing, city space and city rules. A Buy Vancouver policy would favour local producers when the city buys goods, which COPE says would also protect against US tariffs. New buildings would have to include a mix of shop sizes, and city-owned commercial space would be offered at affordable rents to social enterprises and co-ops. A Vancouver Local Business Office would help small businesses with permits and rules.
Council licenses businesses, sets permit fees and zones commercial land, so it could act on most of this chapter. Commercial leases are different: they fall under BC's Commercial Tenancy Act, a provincial law. COPE says it would push for standard leases, landlord duties and limits on rent hikes, which the city can only ask the Province to make. The party would also bring back the Community Benefits Agreement policy, which asks developers to create local jobs.
THE PARTY'S NUMBERS
Figures in this chapter
Local businesses the platform says have closed in Vancouver since 2020
The party's figure, page 15Share of those closures the platform says were due to landlord or lease issues
The party's figure, page 15Vancouver's storefront vacancy rate in 2025, according to the platform
The party's figure, page 15Storefront vacancy rate the platform calls normal
The party's figure, page 159 COMMITMENTS
What the party says it would do
A Buy Vancouver policy
COPE would introduce a Buy Vancouver policy that gives priority to local producers in city purchasing, supports a circular economy in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, builds resilience against US tariffs and creates jobs.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council sets the purchasing rules for the city's own spending.
Protect local shops and restaurants
The party would protect local shops and restaurants and take on the big business oligopolies it says threaten their ability to operate.
- Who has the power
- City Council The platform does not name the tools. Council issues business licences, sets fees and zones commercial land.
Support right-sized retail
COPE would require a mix of commercial unit sizes in new developments, limit oversized street-front shops on key corridors, and use zoning, incentives and city-owned land to create more affordable storefronts for local businesses, independent retailers, social enterprises and co-ops.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council sets zoning and the conditions on new developments, and controls city-owned land.
Affordable city-owned commercial space
The party would offer affordable city-owned commercial spaces to social enterprises, co-ops and sharing economy projects.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council decides how city-owned property is leased.
A Vancouver Local Business Office
COPE would create a Vancouver Local Business Office to help small businesses with permits, rules and resources.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council decides which offices the city runs.
Support worker co-ops
The party would support new and existing worker co-ops with waived fees, faster permits and city support.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council sets city fees and controls the permit process.
Push for changes to commercial tenancy agreements
COPE would push for standard leases and negotiation rules, clear landlord responsibilities, and protection from rent hikes that it says ruin small and local businesses.
- Who has the power
- Province Commercial leases in BC fall under the provincial Commercial Tenancy Act, so the city can only press for change.
Business licence reforms for start-ups
The party would reform business licences to make it easier for start-ups to begin, including letting businesses with different licence requirements share space and save on rent.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council issues business licences and sets their rules.
Reinstate the Community Benefits Agreement policy
COPE would bring back the Community Benefits Agreement policy so that developers create local jobs, support the local economy and give back to the communities they profit from.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council sets the conditions it attaches to large developments.
WHO WOULD HAVE TO ACT
Where the power sits for this chapter
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions about protect the local economy
What is COPE's Buy Vancouver policy?
COPE would give priority to local producers when the City of Vancouver buys goods and services. The party says this would support a circular economy, build resilience against US tariffs and create jobs (platform, page 15).
How would COPE help small businesses in Vancouver?
COPE would create a Vancouver Local Business Office to help with permits and rules, offer affordable city-owned commercial space, require a mix of shop sizes in new buildings and reform business licences so start-ups can share space (platform, page 15).
Can Vancouver City Council cap commercial rents?
COPE says it would push for changes to commercial leases, including standard leases and limits on rent hikes. Commercial leases fall under BC's Commercial Tenancy Act, a provincial law, so the city can only press for change (platform, page 15).
What does COPE say about storefront vacancies?
The platform says Vancouver's storefront vacancy rate was 10.2% in 2025 and calls 5 to 7% normal. COPE would use zoning, incentives and city-owned land to create more affordable storefronts (platform, page 15).
Does COPE support worker co-ops?
Yes. COPE would support new and existing worker co-ops with waived fees, faster permits and city support, and offer them affordable city-owned commercial space (platform, page 15).
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 15 · checked
- Commercial Tenancy Act Province of British Columbia · checked