Rangers dismantle long-standing homeless camp in Vancouver's CRAB Park

A forewarned eviction of homeless people living in a long-standing encampment in Vancouver’s CRAB Park went ahead on Thursday.

Park rangers began dismantling the tents in the early afternoon, hours after giving final notice to the remaining residents, and weeks after the Vancouver Park Board announced plans to close the “temporary designated area” where 24-hour camping has been allowed since 2022.

"I'm defeated. Defeated. Plainly defeated,” three-year park resident Sacha Christiano told CTV News on Wednesday. “That's the best way to put it. I don't know any other avenue that's available to make this point to anybody else."

The process started slowly, with three of the six remaining residents being evicted over the first several hours of the decampment.

“Obviously we are taking our time with this so we give folks the time they need to pack down,” said Steve Jackson, the park board’s general manager.

But the city’s intention was to have everyone evicted “by the end of day” Thursday, Jackson added.

Going forward, authorities have said CRAB Park will be treated like other public areas in the city, where homeless people are legally allowed to sleep in tents overnight, but must take the shelters down every morning.

Officials have been working to arrange housing or shelter for the CRAB Park residents, with help from the city’s Homelessness Services Outreach Team, BC Housing, Vancouver Coastal Health and the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction.

City manager Sandra Singh said officials “anticipate the majority (of campers) moving into housing” Thursday, and that any who remain outside will have turned down an offer.

The prospect of moving indoors isn’t appealing to some campers who have accepted housing in the past.

“All of them have pests,” a resident named Jenni told CTV News. “Cockroaches, ants. They’ve got bedbugs, they’ve got silverfish, they’ve got rats or mice.”

Inadequate indoor shelter spaces were cited in a B.C. Supreme Court decision from January 2022 that established the 24-hour encampment area in the park.

When announcing the city’s eviction plans last month, Jackson said officials feel they have now provided sufficient options to the campers.

“At this point in time, we’ve made the decision that there’s no longer justification to keep the temporary designated zone in place,” he told reporters, at the time.

Advocates argue the camp provides a sense of community and other supports, including donated food, and are dismayed about the plan to dismantle it.

“This is not solving homelessness,” said Fiona York, an advocate for the campers. “It’s chasing people from place to place. Shuffling them off Hastings Street, making them take their tents down. It’s just cruel; it’s not helping. It’s not addressing anything.”

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Yasmin Gandham