Vancouver Greens on local wealth: home businesses, enterprise hubs, buy local
The Green Party of Vancouver would ease rules and permit costs for home-based businesses, create low-cost neighbourhood enterprise hubs with shared equipment and mentorship, and give local businesses, co-ops and social enterprises priority in City purchasing.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT · PAGE 41
Community Wealth Building: what the Platform 2026 says
The Green Party of Vancouver closes its economic plan with the heading Community Wealth Building. The party's aim is to keep public money moving in the local economy and to build that economy one entrepreneur at a time. They focus on the smallest businesses: people who work from home, market vendors, makers, co-ops and social enterprises, which are businesses run to meet a social goal.
The Greens say it should not be easier to host strangers in a short-term rental than to have clients visit a home-based business. They would support home-based businesses, market vendors, makers, artists and food entrepreneurs with reasonable rules, affordable permits and business support. For micro-entrepreneurs, co-ops and other small firms, the party would also offer affordable space, shared equipment, mentorship and faster approvals.
Two items would change how the city spends and uses its own resources. The party would create neighbourhood enterprise hubs, low-cost spaces where start-ups, non-profits and small firms share equipment and workspace. It would also give local businesses, social enterprises and community-benefit groups priority in City procurement, the process the city uses to buy goods and services. Council sets business licence rules and the city's purchasing policy.
4 COMMITMENTS
What the party says it would do
Grow local wealth
The Greens would support micro-entrepreneurs, co-ops, social enterprises and small businesses with affordable space, shared infrastructure, mentorship and streamlined approvals. The party says a stronger local economy is built one entrepreneur at a time.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council runs the city's approval process and decides how city space and business support are used.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 41
Home-based businesses
The party says it should not be easier to host strangers in a short-term rental than to have clients visit a home-based business. It would support home-based businesses, market vendors, makers, artists, food entrepreneurs and proprietors with reasonable rules, affordable permits and business support.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council issues business licences and sets licence and permit fees, including the rules for businesses run from a home.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 41
Neighbourhood enterprise hubs
The Greens would create low-cost spaces where start-ups, makers, non-profits, social enterprises and small businesses can use shared equipment, get mentorship and work in shared workspaces.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council decides how the city uses its own buildings and budget, and sets the zoning for such spaces.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 41
Buy local, build local
The party would give local businesses, social enterprises and community-benefit organizations priority in City procurement, to keep public money moving in the local economy.
- Who has the power
- City Council Council sets the city's purchasing policy.
- Source
- Platform 2026, page 41
WHO WOULD HAVE TO ACT
Where the power sits for this chapter
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Questions about community wealth building
What would the Green Party of Vancouver do for home-based businesses?
The Green Party of Vancouver would support home-based businesses, market vendors, makers, artists and food entrepreneurs with reasonable rules, affordable permits and business support. The party says it should not be easier to host strangers in a short-term rental than to have clients visit a home-based business (platform, page 41).
What are the Vancouver Greens' neighbourhood enterprise hubs?
The Vancouver Greens would create neighbourhood enterprise hubs: low-cost spaces where start-ups, makers, non-profits, social enterprises and small businesses share equipment, get mentorship and work side by side (platform, page 41).
Would the Green Party of Vancouver make the city buy from local businesses?
The Green Party of Vancouver would give local businesses, social enterprises and community-benefit organizations priority in City procurement, so public money keeps moving in the local economy (platform, page 41).
Does the Vancouver Green Party support co-ops and social enterprises?
Yes. The Vancouver Green Party would support micro-entrepreneurs, co-ops, social enterprises and small businesses with affordable space, shared infrastructure, mentorship and faster approvals (platform, page 41).
Who has the power to change Vancouver's rules for home-based businesses?
City Council issues business licences and sets licence and permit fees in Vancouver, so the Green Party of Vancouver's promise of reasonable rules and affordable permits for home-based businesses would be a council decision (platform, page 41).
ON THE BALLOT
The Green Party of Vancouver 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.
- Platform 2026, Green Party of Vancouver (72-page PDF, last updated September 29, 2026) SAYS SO ITSELFGreen Party of Vancouver · pages 41 · published · checked