COPE's first steps: a worker-led audit, an emergency budget, a 9% Empty Homes Tax
COPE says it would reverse the ABC council's changes right away with an emergency transitional budget and a worker-led audit of City Hall. It would restore the Renters Office and climate programs, lift the freeze on supportive housing and raise the Empty Homes Tax in steps to 9%.
THE PEOPLE'S AUDIT · PAGE 10
Reverse Course on Ken Sim and ABC Immediately: what the Fight for Vancouver says
The People's Audit is COPE's plan for its first months in office, and this page lists what the party would do at once. Most items respond to decisions the platform blames on Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC majority. COPE would report on what happened under Sim and who bore the consequences, and would run a worker-led audit in which current and past city workers, city partners and the public are interviewed about how services work and where money is wasted.
COPE would pass an emergency transitional budget to reverse ABC's changes. It would restore the Renters Office, end what it calls Sim's freeze on supportive housing, bring back the social housing initiative and restore the Downtown Eastside Oppenheimer District zoning. It would bring back climate programs that the platform says ABC cut, including the sustainability department and the 2026 to 2030 climate plan.
On the Empty Homes Tax, the platform says the rate was due to rise to 5% before Sim stopped the increase. COPE would reverse that cut, close loopholes and raise the tax in steps to 9%. A separate team would carry out an Affordability Audit to find where living costs are rising and where city powers could lower them. Each of these steps is a Council decision on the city's own budget, staff, bylaws and zoning, although supportive housing also depends on provincial funding.
THE PARTY'S NUMBERS
Figures in this chapter
Rate the platform says the Empty Homes Tax was scheduled to reach before Ken Sim stopped the increase
The party's figure, page 10Rate COPE would phase the Empty Homes Tax up to
The party's figure, page 109 COMMITMENTS
What the party says it would do
Report on what happened under Ken Sim
COPE would identify and report on what happened and why during Ken Sim's time as mayor, and who bore the consequences of the decisions made.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council can direct city staff to prepare reports and can order reviews of the city's own decisions.
A worker-led audit of City Hall
The party would improve transparency with a worker-led audit that interviews current and past city workers, city partners and the public, to improve service delivery and cut waste.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council directs the city's own administration and can order reviews of how it works.
Fix the ways the bureaucracy is broken
COPE would review service and system performance, the experience of people who use city services, and the work climate for staff, and bring more voices to the table to change how the city works.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council sets the direction for the city's own departments and staff.
An emergency transitional budget
The party would advance an emergency transitional budget to stop and reverse the changes it says Ken Sim and ABC made at the city.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council approves the city's operating budget.
Restore the Renters Office with power over bad landlords
COPE would restore the Renters Office and give it power to crack down on bad landlords. It says it would fight for the strongest tenant protections in the country, fix apartments that landlords neglect and bill them, and make it easy to turn rental apartments into co-ops.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council decides which offices the city runs and makes rental and tenant-protection bylaws.
End the freeze on supportive housing
The party would end what it calls Ken Sim's cruel freeze on supportive housing. It would bring back the social housing initiative, restore the DEOD (Downtown Eastside Oppenheimer District) zoning, and work with non-profits and other governments to speed up stalled projects.
- Who has the power
- City, with others Council decides where supportive housing is approved and sets zoning, but most funding for these homes comes from the provincial and federal governments.
Bring back Vancouver's climate programs
COPE would bring back the climate programs it says Ken Sim and ABC cut, including the sustainability department, the 2026 to 2030 climate plan that the platform says was put on hold, and climate safety programs.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council decides which city departments and programs are funded.
Reverse the cut to the Empty Homes Tax, then triple it
The platform says the Empty Homes Tax was scheduled to rise to 5% before Ken Sim stopped the increase and created a new loophole. COPE would enforce the tax properly, close the loopholes and phase in increases to 9%.
- Who has the power
- City Council The Empty Homes Tax is a City of Vancouver bylaw, the Vacancy Tax By-law, so Council sets its rate and its exemptions.
An Affordability Audit for Vancouver
The party would appoint a team to carry out an Affordability Audit that shows where people's cost of living is growing and where the city can use its power to lower costs, and to set new targets for a more affordable city.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council can assign city staff to this work and adopt the targets.
WHO WOULD HAVE TO ACT
Where the power sits for this chapter
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions about reverse course on ken sim and abc immediately
What would COPE do first if it wins in Vancouver?
COPE says it would pass an emergency transitional budget to reverse ABC's changes, run a worker-led audit of City Hall, restore the Renters Office, end the freeze on supportive housing and bring back the city's climate programs (platform, page 10).
How high would COPE raise Vancouver's Empty Homes Tax?
COPE would reverse the cut to the Empty Homes Tax and phase in increases to 9%. The platform says the tax was scheduled to rise to 5% before Ken Sim stopped the increase (platform, page 10).
What is COPE's worker-led audit?
COPE would interview current and past city workers, city partners and the public to find problems at the city, improve service delivery and cut waste. The party says frontline workers know best where money is wasted (platform, pages 10 and 11).
What is COPE's Affordability Audit?
COPE would appoint a team to show where people's cost of living is growing in Vancouver and where the city can use its power to lower costs. The audit would also set new targets for a more affordable city (platform, page 10).
Could a COPE council reverse ABC's decisions on its own?
Council approves the budget, sets city bylaws such as the Empty Homes Tax, and decides on zoning, so it could reverse most of the decisions COPE names with a majority of six votes. Funding for supportive housing would still depend on the provincial and federal governments (platform, page 10).
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 10 · checked
- Vacancy Tax (Empty Homes Tax) By-law 11674 City of Vancouver · checked