Nearly 100 tents removed from East Hastings since summer order, city staff say 83 remain
In the six months since Vancouver’s fire chief ordered for tents to be cleared from East Hastings Street, city staff say dozens remain.
The City of Vancouver says that as of Jan. 17, staff counted 83 structures along Hastings St., down from 180 in August and the lowest number since reporting began.
In a statement to CTV News on Thursday, the city confirmed staff hit the street this week to enforce a bylaw that “prohibits the accumulation of structures and personal belongings on sidewalks.”
“Following repeated verbal and written notification to have material removed, City engineering staff were on East Hastings St. impounding material from three structures that were not voluntarily removed,” the statement reads.
The city says the individuals who owned the structures were offered shelter and options to store their items for up to 30 days.
Accessibility issues and safety concerns are among the reasons the city says its necessary to remove the structures.
“E. Hastings has high numbers of pedestrians and the structures present significant fire risks, obstruct sidewalk and building access, and create significant accessibility issues for pedestrians and road safety concerns along this busy arterial corridor,” reads the statement.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Mary Cranston.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING | U.S. President Joe Biden touches down in Ottawa
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.

Trudeau, Biden could agree to end 'loophole' in Safe Third Country Agreement: CP source
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
Opposition parties affirm call for interference inquiry, amid questions over MP Han Dong
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
'Scream as loud as you can': 5 boys rescued from NYC tunnel
Five mischievous boys had to be rescued after they crawled through a storm drain tunnel in New York City and got lost, authorities said.
Make sure to check your grocery bill otherwise you may pay more: Survey
A majority of Canadians have seen a mistake on their grocery receipts in the last year, according to a new survey conducted by Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
Asteroid to hurtle past Earth closer than the moon this weekend
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
Number of Canadians receiving EI at record lows, down 44 per cent from last year: StatCan
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Indigenous sisters developing video games to revitalize Mohawk language
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
Here are the locations of the first 12 new Zellers stores
Zellers has opened the first of 25 new locations within Hudson's Bay stores across the country. The Canadian retail chain launched 12 stores in Ontario and Alberta Thursday, along with a new e-commerce website.