Vancouver East

Vancouver East is a federal riding encompassing some of the most economically diverse neighbourhoods in British Columbia. The district includes the Downtown Eastside, Mount Pleasant, Grandview–Woodland, and Hastings–Sunrise — communities that range from the acute poverty of Canada's most challenged urban neighbourhood to the gentrifying commercial strips of Main Street and the family-oriented residential blocks east of Nanaimo Street. The riding is also home to North America's largest Chinatown, the Pacific National Exhibition grounds at Hastings Park, and Commercial Drive — one of Vancouver's most eclectic shopping streets. Approximately 42 percent of the riding's inhabitants are immigrants, and 22 percent are of Chinese ancestry. Roughly 63 percent of residents are renters.

Candidates

Jenny Kwan (NDP) — The incumbent MP, first elected federally in 2015. Kwan immigrated to Canada from British Hong Kong at age nine and graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in criminology. She served as a Vancouver city councillor beginning in 1993, then as a BC NDP MLA for Vancouver–Mount Pleasant from 1996 to 2015, becoming the first Chinese-Canadian cabinet minister in British Columbia's history. She speaks English, French, and Cantonese and has served as the NDP's Critic for Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship since 2016.

Josh Vander Vies (Liberal) — A lawyer specializing in not-for-profit organizations and charitable law. Vander Vies is a Paralympic bronze medallist, winning in doubles boccia at the London 2012 Games. He served as past President of AthletesCAN — Canada's association of Olympic, Paralympic, and national team athletes — and is a past director of the Canadian Paralympic Committee. He founded the Canadian Disability Foundation and is fluently bilingual.

Mauro Francis (Conservative) — An IT analyst at the University of British Columbia who has lived in East Vancouver his entire life. Francis attended Templeton Secondary and graduated from BCIT. His father immigrated from Panama and his mother's family from Italy, and his family has called East Vancouver home for over 50 years.

Cheryl Matthew (Green Party) — A member of the Simpcw First Nation who holds a PhD in anthropology from Carleton University, an MA in leadership from Royal Roads University, and a BA from SFU. Matthew spent twelve years as a manager and senior policy analyst with the federal government at Service Canada and Indigenous Services Canada. She has held board positions with the Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Centre in the Downtown Eastside.

About the Riding

The Downtown Eastside is the defining feature of Vancouver East's political landscape. One of Canada's oldest urban neighbourhoods, the DTES has long contended with disproportionately high levels of poverty, homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and crime. The toxic drug crisis was claiming lives at an accelerating rate heading into 2021, and the neighbourhood's network of social services — shelters, safe injection sites, community health centres, and food programs — operated under constant strain. Candidates of all parties acknowledged the urgency of the situation, though they differed sharply on solutions ranging from increased supportive housing to involuntary treatment.

Beyond the DTES, Vancouver East is a working-class riding with deep immigrant roots. Chinatown's heritage buildings and cultural institutions anchored a community that faced both gentrification pressures and pandemic-era anti-Asian hate incidents. Grandview–Woodland, centred on Commercial Drive, had evolved from an Italian immigrant enclave into one of the city's most diverse neighbourhoods. Hastings–Sunrise, home to the PNE fairgrounds and Hastings Park, was an ethnically diverse and family-oriented area where rising housing costs were displacing longtime residents.

The riding's average family income of approximately $61,000 was well below the Vancouver average, and nearly a quarter of residents over age 25 held a university degree. Manufacturing, tourism, shipping, and accommodation and food services formed the employment base, though the pandemic had severely affected the hospitality and service sectors. Housing affordability was the single most common concern across all neighbourhoods — with the majority of residents renting and vacancy rates near zero, competition for affordable units was fierce.