Vancouver-South Granville

Vancouver-South Granville is a new riding created in the 2024 redistribution from portions of Vancouver-Fairview, Vancouver-False Creek, and Vancouver-Point Grey. It takes in the South Granville gallery district, the eastern half of Kitsilano, and the western portion of Fairview, including Granville Island. The constituency is characterized by a mix of young professionals in mid-rise apartment buildings, established rental stock along the Broadway corridor, and the cultural institutions that give the South Granville strip its identity. The Broadway Subway project runs directly through the riding's northern edge.

Candidates

Brenda Bailey (BC NDP) — Raised in Nanaimo, Bailey graduated from McGill University and later earned a social work degree from the University of Victoria. She co-founded Deep Fried Entertainment, a video game studio, and in 2010 co-founded Silicon Sisters Interactive, described as Canada's first women-owned video game studio. She also served as executive director of Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland and of DigiBC, the digital media industry association. Elected in the former Vancouver-False Creek riding in 2020, she was appointed Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation.

Aron Lageri (Conservative Party) — Born in Punjab, India, Lageri earned a bachelor's degree in radiation sciences from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi before immigrating to Canada. His career spans more than two decades in health care, including roles as manager of the False Creek Surgical Center's medical imaging division and MRI technologist at BC Children's Hospital. He served on the boards of the BC Community Response Network and the Surrey Hospice Society.

Adam Hawk (BC Green Party) also contested the riding.

Local Issues

The Broadway Subway project was the dominant infrastructure issue in the riding. The 5.7-kilometre Millennium Line extension from VCC-Clark to Arbutus Street ran directly beneath Broadway, and the construction — which had been underway since 2021 — had severely disrupted businesses along the corridor. The opening, originally planned for 2025, was pushed back to 2027 after tunnelling complications. A survey by the Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association found that a large majority of businesses reported significant revenue declines, and commercial vacancy rates along the corridor had risen sharply. Restaurants and specialty retailers were hardest hit, and some longtime establishments had permanently closed. Businesses called on the provincial government for financial relief, but no dedicated compensation program had been established for those affected by the construction.

Granville Island, a major cultural and tourist destination within the riding, faced its own set of pressures. The public market, artisan studios, and performance venues that defined the island drew millions of visitors annually, but aging infrastructure and questions about the site's long-term governance — which remained under the management of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation on behalf of the federal government — created uncertainty about its future direction. Local businesses expressed concern about rising costs and the challenges of maintaining the island's artisanal character amid broader commercial pressures.

Housing affordability was a defining concern in a riding that blended expensive single-family homes in the Kitsilano portion with dense rental apartment stock in Fairview. The NDP government's short-term rental legislation — which imposed restrictions on platforms like Airbnb to return units to the long-term rental market — had a direct impact in a neighbourhood where the practice had been widespread. The speculation and vacancy tax continued to apply to the riding's higher-value properties. Renters along the Broadway corridor worried that the subway's eventual completion would accelerate redevelopment pressures and drive rents higher, even as the project promised improved transit access. The tension between the need for more housing supply and the risk of displacing existing tenants remained the central challenge for a riding that was, by design, at the intersection of the province's transit and densification agendas.