Vancouver confirms CRAB Park temporary sheltering area will close next week

CRAB Park is seen on April 5, 2024, following a city cleanup that removed trucks of debris and other items.

The City of Vancouver says the remaining seven residents of an encampment at a Downtown Eastside park have a week to pack up their belongings and leave, or they must remove their tents each day as the area returns to regular daytime use.

A statement from the city says people may continue sheltering at CRAB Park overnight, but structures must be taken down by 8 a.m. each day starting Nov. 7.

It says reserved shelter spaces will be available for those who choose to leave.

The city says it confirmed the date of the upcoming closure of the designated area for sheltering in the park and a return to regular daytime use by the general public following a week of consultation with the encampment residents.

The joint statement with the Vancouver Park Board says each of the seven people has housing, health services, income supports and transition plans in place, developed alongside city outreach workers, B.C.'s housing provider and others.

The city says workers are now focused on supporting residents in the move away from the waterfront park.

In a statement earlier this month, the city said seven people living in the encampment had been offered shelter previously, but they declined.

The earlier statement said "ongoing non-compliance" at the encampment continued to pose health and safety risks, as well as an "unsustainable" strain on the park board's resources, and concern was growing as winter approaches.

The Crab Park encampment began in 2021, and remained in place in 2022 when a B.C. Supreme Court judge set aside eviction notices, partially because the city didn't have enough indoor shelter spaces to accommodate those living at the camp.

The city had previously forced people out of the encampment in March to clean up the area, and residents were allowed to return to the designated area in April.

The park board has said CRAB Park serves about 6,000 people within a 10-minute walk in an area with very few other green spaces nearby.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.