Latest news with #VancouverCityCouncil
Calgary Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
'Living in Canada is simply better': Vancouver pushes for immigration pathway for movie/TV creatives
Article content Film director Osgood Perkins would really like to call B.C. home. Article content The director of the Vancouver-shot, top-grossing independent films Longlegs and The Monkey, as well as the upcoming Keeper (out Nov. 14), has been working here since 2022. And, for the last year and a half, he has been trying to gain residency status in Canada. Article content But getting that status greenlit has proven to be a challenge. Article content Article content Article content Last week, the issue was brought in front of Vancouver City Council and on July 23, the council unanimously approved the motion Building B.C.'s Creative Advantage: A New Immigration Pathway for Cultural Entrepreneurs. This basically means council will be requesting that the province develop a pilot Creative Talent Stream under the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (B.C. PNP), similar to what already exists for the tech and medical industries. Article content 'At this point, the living in Canada is simply better than it is in the United States,' Perkins told Postmedia in a text. 'The people are kind and permissive, the skies bluer, and the governing powers really do seem to care for its citizens. Canada strikes me as essentially unafraid, and not interested in threats; there is a peace in the oxygen here and it is a most welcome relief to breathe it in. Article content 'Working in Canada has changed my career entirely; the support from local artists and creative collaborators has made all the difference. I have not experienced the industry fatigue and resistance often present in Hollywood, and the freedom to work economically and quickly in Canada fosters a unique form of inspiration.' Article content Article content Article content According to 2022 figures from Creative B.C., the B.C. TV/film industry amounted to about $4.4 billion in direct spending and employed 90,000 people, with 40,000 of those being full-time jobs. It is well established as an international industry force. Article content Article content Hollywood North, with its 36 per cent tax credit and the very low Canadian dollar, is a very attractive destination for shooting. But about 85 per cent of that work is service/manufacturing, which essentially means a Canadian company produces an American project. Ferguson believes, if the pathway to residency is made easier, many people will move here and set up production businesses. Article content 'We're like the factory overseas that makes the product for the American headquarters. And if we can start bringing some of these people here, it changes that whole model. Suddenly, we're making stuff for ourselves, and we're building companies,' said Ferguson, who got the ball rolling with Vancouver City Council and spoke at the recent council meeting.
CTV News
7 days ago
- CTV News
Selling gun-shaped lighters banned in Vancouver after council vote
A selection of gun-shaped lighters are seen in an image from a report presented to Vancouver city council on July 23, 2025. (City of Vancouver) Vancouver has become the first Canadian city to ban the sale of gun-shaped lighters. City councillors voted unanimously to approve the ban Wednesday afternoon, over concerns the lighters are too easily mistaken for actual firearms. Possessing the lighters is still legal in Vancouver, as is buying them outside of city limits, but officials said they are doing what they can to limit the number of the devices in circulation. 'It's about keeping our communities safe, and we're not stopping here,' said Mayor Ken Sim, in a statement. 'We will be inviting the province and federal government to work with us on broader solutions so that gun-shaped lighters do not continue to pose a risk.' The ban is effective immediately, and Vancouver businesses caught selling the lighters can face a $1,000 fine. The city estimates up to 75 stores have been selling gun-shaped lighters, which often have a trigger, barrel and handle that give the appearance of a real weapon. The Vancouver Police Department has warned the lighters can result in unnecessary 911 calls, and pose the risk of escalating officer-involved incidents. Earlier this month, Sgt. Steve Addison told CTV News police were receiving 'multiple calls each week' that turned out to involve gun-shaped lighters, including one on Canada Day near the busy Main Street SkyTrain Station. 'We treated that report as real, and it drew a significant police response,' Addison said, at the time. Police responded to 162 calls related to gun-shaped lighters last year alone, according to the city. Officials said businesses will be notified of the ban, and asked anyone who sees the lighters being sold to report it to the police non-emergency line. With files from CTV News Vancouver's Kevin Charach
CTV News
23-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
City to overhaul zoning and development bylaws
Vancouver Watch Vancouver city council says it will make sweeping changes to its housing bylaws, and will ramp up housing development.
CTV News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Vancouver reducing speed limit to 30 km/h on residential streets
A speed limit sign is seen in Vancouver on Friday, June 18, 2021. VANCOUVER, B.C. – It was a unanimous decision from an at-times divided Vancouver city council. On Wednesday, councillors voted to drop the speed limit on what the city calls 'minor' streets to 30 km/h. Officials said lowering the speed limit from 50 km/h to 30 km/h has been shown to greatly reduce pedestrian fatality rates. 'The stats are just overwhelmingly positive if there's an accident at lower speeds,' said Mayor Ken Sim on Wednesday. The plan will be phased in, starting with signs being put up in 25 neighbourhoods. 'We're a data-based administration and we look at the data,' Sim said. 'We have a lot of different examples around the world where they slowed down the speed limit in residential neighbourhoods – they become safer.' Council has also removed public consultation for speed humps – given the lack of pushback whenever they are proposed in a neighbourhood. 'Residents are still going to be informed when there are speed humps planned for their community,' said OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney. 'Usually we find residents are pretty happy to have speed humps because it stops people from running through their neighbourhoods at speed.' The city said it will not enforce the decreased speed limit until signs are put up – and that process is expected to take months.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
These Vancouver neighbourhoods could be next up for the 'Broadway plan' treatment
On Tuesday, Vancouver city council will vote whether or not to approve long-term plans to add significant density to two east Vancouver neighbourhoods near the Renfrew and Rupert SkyTrain stations. The Rupert and Renfrew Station Area Plan is a transit-oriented plan similar in scope to the much-discussed Broadway plan. City staff estimate the plan would add nearly 19,000 residents to the current 31,000 by 2050 — a 61% increase. It would bring 8,000 additional jobs and add another 10,000 homes, nearly doubling the amount of housing in the area. 'Investment priorities have been identified for the next 10-year period and are estimated to cost (approximately) $1.2 billion (in 2024 dollars),' Neil Hrushowy, general manager of planning, wrote in the recommendations to council. The area covered by the proposed plan runs from the southern end of Hastings Sunrise, starting at Parker St. to E. 27th in Renfrew-Collingwood. East-west, it runs from Boundary Road to Kamloops St., one block east of Nanaimo St. Most of the land covered by the plan is currently single-family housing, low-density commercial or light industry. In keeping with the Broadway plan and the province's transit-oriented development legislation, the highest densities will be closest to the Renfrew and Rupert SkyTrain stations. Existing commercial and industrial land in the area, including those closest to SkyTrain stations, will remain non-residential. Additional employment would be supported by accommodating a wider range of commercial and industrial uses on these lands, and in mixed-use developments along major streets like E. Broadway, Renfrew and Rupert. Similar to the Broadway plan, the plan envisions four key land use types: Rapid transit areas: Towers up to 45 storeys close to SkyTrain stations Villages: Four to six storey mixed-use buildings at key intersections, like Renfrew and E. 1st or Nanaimo and E. Broadway Multiplex areas: The remaining residential areas would also include options for small-scale businesses like corner stores or shops Employment lands: Office, labs, hotels, light industry (eg: film studios, warehouses) and big box stores near SkyTrain stations and along Still Creek There are also plans to develop the site of the former B.C. Liquor warehouse at E. Broadway and Rupert. The site is owned by the First-Nations-owned MST Development Corporation in partnership with Aquilini Investment Group. Early plans put forward for public discussion in fall 2024 showed nearly a dozen towers on the site, some as high as 60 storeys. They included a mixture of residential, retail, office and industrial space as well as child care, affordable housing and public spaces. The site is one of 15 properties designated as 'unique sites' in the plan, where larger sites that deliver a 'significant public asset' could receive special accommodations. Other sites include the First Avenue Marketplace shopping mall, the Akali Singh Sikh Society Gurudwara and Skeena Terrace, where over 19,000 new social housing units have been proposed. The plan also calls for enhancing Still Creek, one of the last salmon-bearing streams in Vancouver. 'Widening and enhancing the Still Creek corridor is critical for managing flood risk resulting from increased development and climate change,' Hrushowy wrote. Much of the existing commercial and industrial land around Still Creek is built on a floodplain, according to the report. The plan also includes an option to expand the creek enhancement into a larger restoration project that could see an ecological corridor running from the Renfrew Ravine at Renfrew and 27th St., through Still Creek and north to Skeena and E. 1st. It also includes additional child care spaces, new artist studios and workspaces, and expanding Renfrew Community Centre, Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House and the local firehall. More than 1,900 new social housing units being proposed for this east Vancouver neighbourhood 'This is just the beginning': First Nations' real estate megaprojects game-changing for Metro Vancouve @njgriffiths ngriffiths@
