Amanda Burrows
Affordability isn’t abstract. It shows up in grocery bills, rent cheques, and the constant worry about whether you’ll be able to stay in your home or neighbourhood.
Vancouverites are being squeezed from every direction. Food costs are rising, rents are out of reach, and too often City Hall isn’t using the tools it has to lower costs and protect people.
Leadership means treating affordability as a core responsibility of City Hall — and using the city’s land, funding, enforcement, and convening power to make everyday life more affordable.
As mayor, I will put people back at the centre of economic decision-making.
Food Costs Are Too High
Food is essential infrastructure
Food prices are out of control while access is shrinking and waste is rising. Families, seniors, and low-income residents are being squeezed.
The city already shapes food systems through land use, purchasing power, and partnerships. As mayor, I will treat food like what it is: essential infrastructure, not a luxury.
Universal food access for children
No child should be hungry.
The City will work with senior governments, school boards, and community partners to deliver a universal school food program with stable funding and nutritious, culturally appropriate meals. This supports families, improves learning, and leads to better long-term health outcomes.
Scaling community food networks
Vancouver has strong community food initiatives. The problem isn’t ideas — it’s coordination and stability.
As mayor, I will scale coordinated community food networks that lower household food costs and strengthen neighbourhood connections, including:
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community kitchens and shared food spaces
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urban agriculture and food-based social enterprises
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food rescue and redistribution to reduce waste
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social procurement that supports local, community-based suppliers
The City’s role is not to run programs, but to fund infrastructure and coordination — lowering costs and improving access across neighbourhoods.
Piloting a Community Food Trust
Local grocery stores are essential community assets, but many are at risk of being lost to real-estate pressure.
I will pilot a Community Food Trust to permanently protect affordable grocery access — starting with opportunities like Sunrise Food Market.
Under this model:
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the City purchases and protects the property as essential food infrastructure
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the asset is removed from speculative pressure
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a community non-profit operates the store
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food is priced affordably, workers are paid fairly, and the City does not run the store
This keeps food affordable without turning City Hall into a grocery store.
“When affordable grocery stores disappear, people pay more and communities lose something essential. Access to affordable food is a basic human right, and this proposal reflects long-standing progressive principles shared across Vancouver. The Community Food Trust model would offer a meaningful way to protect access to affordable food for all.”
-- Ian Marcuse, Vancouver Food Justice Coalition.
Media coverage:
Daily Hive: Vancouver mayoral candidate has a plan to lower grocery costs
The Tyee: Should Sunrise Market become a city-owned grocer?
CTV: Should Vancouver use tax dollars to buy grocery stores?
Renters First: Keeping People in their Homes
I am a renter, and I have been evicted through no fault of my own. I know how destabilizing eviction is — and how quickly it can unravel someone’s life.
Eviction is one of the most disruptive events a person can experience. Between 75–97% of evicted renters are forced to leave their neighbourhoods, often losing childcare, schools, and community support. Twenty-seven percent experience homelessness.
In a city where more than half of residents rent, this is not a side issue. It is a core affordability and community issue.
What I will do as mayor
Stronger renter protections
I will strengthen tenant protections in the Broadway Plan area and expand them city-wide. Renters will have the right to return to comparable homes at the same rent, with nearby housing and rental support during redevelopment.
Enforcement that works
Protections only matter if they’re enforced. I will require full compliance with tenant protections before permits are issued, develop remedies after permits are granted, and end incentives that displace renters.
A real Renters’ Advocacy Office
I will restore the Renters’ Office as a Renters’ Advocacy Office with enforcement powers, embedded across City departments so renters’ interests are protected at every stage.
Leadership means keeping people housed — not pushing them out.
Read the rest of my platform: