Vancouver City Council Establishes Cultural Land Trust to Support Artists Amid Affordability Crisis

On 15 July, Vancouver’s city council unanimously passed a motion introduced by councillor Sean Orr to establish a cultural land trust (CLT). The trust is intended to address the ongoing loss of affordable spaces for artists and cultural organisations in the city. According to Brian McBay, executive director of the nonprofit 221a, Vancouver has lost more than 400,000 square feet of artist studios and workspaces over the past decade.

The CLT model involves a multi-step process in which funds and buildings from government and philanthropic sources are used to finance, acquire, or develop properties for cultural purposes. Cultural nonprofit partners are engaged through long-term leases or equity ownership, which removes these properties from the speculative real estate market.

A key amendment to the motion mandates that properties considered for the trust will primarily rely on long-term leases. This is significant in Vancouver, where many cultural spaces currently operate under short-term leases, and aims to help ensure continued public ownership of these properties.

The framework adopted in Vancouver sets the stage for partnerships with the municipal government and the creation of a portfolio of eligible city-owned buildings by March 2027. The trust will also act as an advocate for regulatory improvements and cultural sector learning, leveraging its assets for additional growth.

McBay explains that, adapted to Vancouver’s context, the CLT could allow artists and arts organisations to focus on delivering cultural programming, while the trust handles asset acquisition, long-term stewardship, capital planning, and portfolio management. The trust’s first asset is a 1920s-era wood-frame house donated by the estate of the late scholar Evelyn Pinkerton.

This house requires C$250,000 in repairs and stabilisation work to make it safe for occupancy and to support its intended use as community housing and residency spaces for artists. McBay notes that the house will serve as a proof of concept for funders and as a financial asset that can be borrowed against to support further property acquisitions by the CLT.

Looking ahead, McBay and his colleagues have set a goal of securing 30 buildings for long-term cultural programming and artists’ housing by 2050, with a target of raising C$15 million in seed funding. Municipal staff are expected to prepare a report, including a review of properties and funding requirements, to be presented to the council in the first quarter of 2027. Councillor Orr emphasises that it is still early days for the city’s CLT initiative.