04/24/2026
PRESS RELEASE: ABC-dominated City council rejects respite for RV-dwellers during FIFA. Former CRAB Park and Ayx Community Bus supported the motion
Unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Swx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories, April 23, 2026 – Former CRAB Park tent city residents and Ayx Community Bus are in favour of a respite from Bylaw enforcement for unhoused people sheltering in RVs and other vehicles during the FIFA World Games. Yesterday, they spoke in support of a motion on the docket at City Hall calling for “safe parking pilots”, an RV park and tiny home village at CRAB Park, and a “time-limited approach to enforcement” for RV sheltering.
The current housing crisis, and dire habitability conditions of many SROs, means that sheltering in a vehicle may be the only option for some people. Yet a network of parking-related Bylaws make it next to impossible to do so in the City of Vancouver.
The harms of Bylaw enforcement against vehicle sheltering includes displacement and loss of belongings, ticketing, an overburdened 311 complaint system, towing and impoundment, trauma and discrimination.
"As if anyone needs more piled on their shoulders right now,” says former CRAB Park resident K. “How can anyone catch their breath and do anything about bettering their own lives when they keep us running in circles?"
As the City of Vancouver prepares to host the FIFA games and a FIFA convention next week, it is anticipated that fans and tourists may also end up sleeping in vehicles on city streets.
In past FIFA host cities, this was often treated as temporary and acceptable. But while tourists are accommodated or overlooked, local people already living in vehicles face tickets, towing, and displacement.
The FIFA games therefore bring awareness and an opportunity to push for a brief respite from enforcement for unhoused people who shelter in vehicles and have nowhere else to go.
The City has applied Bylaw enforcement discretion in the past, such as during COVID, or during winter months. Why not during an extraordinary, global event like the FIFA World Games – especially as there is an expectation for FIFA host cities to have a local Human Rights plan?
City Hall motion #6: “No Penalties for Vehicle Shelter During FIFA” called for a “targeted, time-limited approach to enforcement” for sheltering in vehicles, finding feasible locations for “temporary safe parking pilots”, access to basic services like washrooms and water for people sheltering in vehicles during FIFA, and exploring the feasibility of an RV park or “small-scale housing solutions” at CRAB Park parking lot 5.
The ABC-dominated city council largely voted along party lines against the motion. m
In addition to the reasonable requests contained in the defeated motion 6, CRAB Park residents also recommend permanently easing parking restrictions for people sheltering in vehicles, engaging an Indigenous liaison for Bylaw outreach to vehicles, and repurposing vacant or underutilized City- and Province-owned lots in the Lower Mainland to create safe, serviced spaces where unhoused people can shelter in RVs or live in tiny homes.
