HEALTHY CITIES FOR ALLEmpowering People, Enabling Prosperityand Protecting the Planet

Mayor Gregor RobertsonVancouver, British Columbia, CanadaJuly 22, 2015

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• Unceded First Nations land• Bound by mountains and

water• City population 600,000• Core of Canada’s third

largest city-region• Canada’s largest port• International recognition for

livability and sustainability

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

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Vancouver & Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance

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Vancouver’s Approach to Sustainability

Healthy City

Strategy

Greenest City

Action Plan

Economic Action Strategy

Sustainability:+ ecological+ social+ economic

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A Healthy City for All: Vancouver’s Successes

• Physical activity

• Most walkable city in Canada

• A vibrant and diverse population

• A diverse and modern economy focused on emerging green and tech sectors

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A Healthy City for All: Vancouver’s Challenges

• 20% of residents are low income

• Unaffordability

• Homelessness

• Resident concerns about connections with others and community resilience

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Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

• Historic communities

• Strong sense of belonging

• Diverse neighbourhoods with high poverty rates

• High rates of mental health and addictions

• Pressure for development and change

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Vancouver’s Aboriginal Population

• 12,000 residents have Aboriginal identity

• Diverse communities across the city

• Younger than overall population

• Poorer health outcomes

• Challenges accessing employment, education and adequate income

7% 0% 7%0

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60

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Aboriginal PopulationOverall Population

Female Pop Distr Male

Age G

roup

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Healthy City Strategy

An integrated sustainability plan for health and well-being:– 13 Goal Areas– Targets– Indicators– Action Plan

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How Health is Determined

• An urbanizing world:– 81% of Canadians live in

urban areas

• City Leadership makes a difference:– 75% of people’s health is

shaped outside of the health care system

– Cities can in particular influence social and economic factors; and the built and natural environment

Local governments are uniquely placed to provide leadership for health. Many social determinants of health operate at the local and community level. Municipalities have the capacity to influence the determinants of health and inequalities – “the causes of the causes”.

World Health Organization, 2013

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Collective Responsibility & Action

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City Leadership in Sustainability

• Vancouver is moving forward toward inclusive economic development

• Cities can lead change toward ecological, social and economic sustainability

• Vancouver’s vision for sustainability—Healthy City for All, Greenest City, Economic Action Strategy and other initiatives —complement global Sustainable Development Goals

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Vancouver Economic Action Strategy

• Global leader in innovation economy – 25% of innovation economy jobs (tech,

digital) in BC are in Vancouver

• World leader in social impact business – over 400 social enterprises

• Childcare for families– facilitated approx 1,500 new spaces

since 2000 & targeting 1,000 more by 2018

Inclusive Economic Development

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2020 Greenest City Action Plan

Targets:

1. Double the number of green jobs by 2020

2. Double the number of companies that are actively engaged in greening their operations by 2020

Green Economic Development

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Positive Results Since 2011

Green Economic Development

- 21%

Vehicle km driven per

capita

+36%

Food assets

+19%

Green jobs

50%

Modeshare

2020 targets achieved

- 18%

Waste to landfill or

incinerator

- 7%

GHGs

Continuing areas of focus:

accelerating GHG reductions

reducing water consumption

greening businesses

Two-time winner of Earth Hour City Challenge:

Global Capital 2013Canadian Capital 2015

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Healthy City Strategy

2025 Healthy City for All Targets:

1. Reduce the city’s poverty rate by 75%

2. Increase median income by at least 3% every year

Goal: Making Ends Meet

Photo: Donovan Mahoney

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Actions Underway

• United We Can: bottle depot recycling & street cleaning

• Downtown East Side Street Market: recycled goods for resale; $500,000 into pockets of low income residents per year

• Social Enterprise Partnership with VanCity Credit Union: 200 new jobs over 18 months

Downtown Eastside:Green Jobs for Low Income Residents

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Solefood Farm

• 20 jobs for people with barriers to employment

• Grow 35,000lbs of food annually

• Distribute to 30 restaurants and to famers markets 

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Actions Underway

1. End street homelessness

2. Increase affordable housing choices for all Vancouverites

– From 2011-2014: Facilitated development of 7,250 housing units including supportive, social and rental

Housing and Homelessness Strategy

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Actions Underway

• June 2013: Year of Reconciliation– Understanding impacts of colonization,

residential schools

– Mentorship initiative to create inclusive employment opportunities at the City

• June 2014: City of Reconciliation– Long-term effort to create change and new

relations based on mutual understanding and respect

• June 2015: Truth and Reconciliation Commission– City will implement calls to action including

anti-colonial policies, education and advocacy

City of Reconciliation

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Actions Underway

Mayor’s Working Group on Immigration• Sanctuary City (Access Without

Fear Policy)• Response to Global Refugee

Crisis• Economic Well-Being of

Immigrants

Vancouver Immigration Partnership• Access & coordination of services• Intercultural & civic engagement• Welcoming workplaces• Intergovernmental leadership

Immigrants and Refugees

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Actions Moving Forward

• Living Wage Policy

• Social Procurement Framework to include social enterprise

• Community Benefit Agreements with developers to include low income residents in building construction

• Poverty Reduction and Advocacy Strategy

Healthy City Strategy

Social Innovation

“…new ideas that resolve existing social, cultural, economic and environmental challenges. A true social innovation is systems-changing—it permanently alters the perceptions, behaviours, relationships and structures that previously gave rise to these challenges.”

BC Partners for Social Impact

“Let us find a way to belong to this time and place together. Our future, and the well-being of all our children, rests with the kind of relationships we build today.”

Dr. Chief Robert JosephAmbassador, Reconciliation Canada