
WE BELIEVE that A POVERTY-FREE PROVINCE IS POSSIBLE.
Our campaigns
Poverty is a policy choice - but it doesn’t have to be. Our work on transit, housing, and raising assistance rates will bring us closer to a province without poverty.
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More than a roof over one’s head, housing represents the right to security, peace, and dignity for all British Columbians. Learn more →
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Public transit connects people to all aspects of their lives, from community to essential services to employment. Learn more →
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Poverty is not inevitable. The gap between social and disability assistance rates and the poverty line is wide - made wider by inflation and cost of living increases. Learn more →
Advocacy
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Impact
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Advocacy 〰️ Impact 〰️
A rising tide lifts all boats, but Budget 2025 is a ripple where we hoped to see waves.
Safety and equity are a primary concern when considering loss of TransLink services.
Economic injustice and inequalities faced by women and gender-diverse people go hand-in-hand with the barriers to accessing adequate housing.
Providing access to dignified, culturally relevant, and adequate housing along the spectrum of need is a much-needed intervention into how we respond to encampments.
With 1.6 million people with disabilities living below the poverty line, the CDB is not just an important promise—it is an urgent lifeline that must be delivered without further delay.
Full bellies allow young minds to flourish, imagine, and connect.
BC government: it’s time to act with urgency, address B.C.’s drug poisoning public health emergency.
The province must reclaim its central role in shaping housing as a public good.
GBV is pervasive in our province, with nearly 47% of women in BC experiencing some form of violence.
Initially envisioned as a short-term safety net, social assistance programs in BC have become a tangled mess for those looking to return to work, or who hope to find pathways off of assistance.
We must enact stronger tenant protections, such as vacancy control, to stop the injustice of profit-driven displacement.
SRO Vacancy control is needed, and it is needed now.
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In the news
〰️ In the news
Whether you’ve been renting for one, five, or 25 years, the profit-driven rental housing market, outdated residential tenancy policies, and loopholes in current housing legislation place tenants at the mercy of landlords.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is more than just a day of reflection — it is a day to heed urgent calls to action to support Indigenous Peoples’ well-being.
The fare box cannot be relied on to pay for a complex transit system that will move people where they need to go when they need to go there.
Good intentions aren’t enough to change life for poor British Columbians. We need a road map.
Data suggests that women in B.C. account for 25 per cent of the “hidden homeless" — those who are under-housed and whose housing security depends on accepting precarious or dangerous conditions.
Presenting issues of affordability as separate from and in direct competition with investment in climate action is harmful. It reflects an inaccurate understanding of what climate action can achieve.
Municipalities have power. Citizens have power through our municipal leaders to either move towards equity or away from it.
We work together
Our coalition is informed by people working across sectors, from housing, food justice, labour, climate, health, and employment services.
We aim to improve the health and well-being of all living in British Columbia. The Coalition advocates for a targeted and comprehensive poverty reduction strategy that prioritizes equity-seeking groups, and a whole government, cross-ministry approach to ending poverty.
we rise together
Our CAN Program supports local leaders to hone their advocacy skills and connects them with opportunities to be part of political change. CAN provides leadership development for people in poverty through a facilitated and structured training series, and has run six cohorts since the program’s inception.
CAN cohorts have, and always will be, free for participants. We actively work to remove barriers to accessing the tools of liberation.

We dream together
The Blueprint for Justice is our collective vision for a province without poverty. This policy roadmap guides our advocacy.
The Blueprint is based on four principles that shape our policy recommendations to Government: Economic Security, Universal Basic Services, Equity, and Climate Justice.


