Better School, Parks, Pipes, & Pools in Every Neighbourhood

At every age and stage, Vancouverites struggle to find connection, community, and the supports that they need.

Community Infrastructure is critical to the city working for everyone. OneCity has a plan to build better schools, parks, pipes, and pools across Vancouver in every neighbourhood so that your postal code doesn’t dictate what services you have access to.

Create Two New Vibrant Community Hubs in Vancouver

Mount Pleasant – Kingsgate Mall is some of the most valuable land in the province. But it has sat aging and underutilized for years as homes, good jobs, and transit are built around it. We can dream big and re-imagining how Kingsgate can be the heart of the city. 

The OneCity School Board Team will keep the Kingsgate land in public ownership and transform the site into a bustling Community Commons in partnership with First Nations to create: 

• A New Public School – We will build a badly-needed new school with a vertical flex space for the growing neighbourhood. 

• A New Community Centre – We will include community spaces where all generations of neighbours can learn and play. 

• Complete Services – Co-locate a complete set of public services so Kingsgate can be a community hub for a new community centre, licensed public, non-profit and Indigenous childcare, including before- and after-school care. 

• New Rental Homes – Utilize Kingsgate’s vertical space to build more affordable and subsidized rental housing in a neighbourhood that needs it. 

• A New Pool – We will make good on the City’s promise to build a pool in Mount Pleasant. We won’t kick the can down the road any more.

East Van – Britannia Community Centre is falling apart and there's still no plan for renewal. We can fix that.

A OneCity School Board will enact a plan with City Council, Park Board, and other public and community partners to rebuild the entire 18-acre Britannia site as one integrated public campus with:

• Rebuilt Elementary & Secondary Schools – We will build the new schools East Van needs so generations of young people for the next 50 years can learn and play in the safe, welcoming, and beautiful schools they deserve. 

• Childcare for Working Families – Our plan will include public childcare spaces that are low-cost and accessible to regular families and at more times to fit your busy schedules. 

• A New Community Centre & Ice Rink – We will deliver more ice time and a renewed community centre complete with ample fitness and recreation spaces for everyone to enjoy and recreate. 

• Food Security & Social Development Programs – We will deliver, in partnership with other levels of government and community partners, programming that works to meet the pressing needs of community members. That means access to free and low-cost food options and social development programming will be part of any One Britannia plan. 

• Affordable Housing – The OneCity Team will always prioritize building affordable, non-profit housing on public lands. One Britannia is no exception. Our plan will include plans to build new non-profit, permanently affordable homes for workers and families. 

Better Schools

• Childcare for All – OneCity will place neighbourhood schools at the center of a coordinated public and non-profit childcare system, with VSB-led pilots and planning.

• Universal, Nutritious Meals – OneCity will build a universal, nutritious school food program so that every VSB student, regardless of financial background, can access healthy food during the school day.

• Protect School Lands – OneCity will integrate school planning with neighbourhood growth, protect school lands for future generations, and keep school grounds available for responsible public use outside school hours. 

• Transparent & Accountable Governance at the Board Table – We will restore meaningful public participation, transparency, and democratic accountability at the VSB through building on OneCity Trustee Jennifer Reddy’s 2024 motions to reform engagement. Public education belongs to the public, but the existing board has physically barred the community from attending committee meetings and reduced opportunities to speak out. We’ll open board and committee meetings to the public, provide open and meaningful opportunities for input, and publish information early and publicly. 

• Protected School Programs – OneCity will reverse recent cuts, establish minimum service standards, and protect arts, music, physical education and school libraries as core to public education, not discretionary programs that disappear when budgets tighten. 

• Indigenous Student Success Through Language & Culture – OneCity will work in respectful partnership with the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) to strengthen Indigenous language learning, Indigenous-led land-based education, culturally safe student supports, and accountability for Indigenous student success. 

• Staffed & Funded Supports for Kids with Disabilities – OneCity will target provincial advocacy to improve staffing, funding allocation, and professional development for educators with experience supporting students with disabilities. 

• Expanded Mental Health & Substance Use Prevention – OneCity will expand school-based mental health and substance use services, strengthen prevention and early-intervention programs, and improve partnerships with families, health providers, and community organizations through a district-wide strategy.

• A Nuanced and Cautious Approach to AI in Schools – OneCity will adopt a learner-centered harm reduction approach to AI that recognizes the opportunities and true risks of using AI at a young age. We commit to new safeguards, AI literacy education, privacy protections and age appropriate access limits to AI in schools. Along with this, we’ll seek to limit AI chatbot access to Grades 10-12, while ensuring that human relationships and supervision is available at all times. 

Parks, Pipes, & Pools

OneCity recognizes the value and importance of community centres, pools, and infrastructure to every Vancouverite. We commit to policies that will expand access, safety, and services to our community centres.

• Every Beach Guarded & Every Pool Opened – OneCity will ensure public pools are kept open, staffed with qualified lifeguards through city-run, equity-focused certification, and funded long-term so that communities aren’t left in a lurch because of poor planning.

• Build Three New Pools – OneCity will solve the 50M pool problem through new pools in Mount Pleasant (through Kingsgate redevelopment), Hastings Community Centre, and Marpole as locations for new pools.

What this means for you: you know that your child will have access to good food, programming, and supports in Vancouver. You and your family can access community infrastructure no matter what part of the city you live in, and you can get around the city without coming up against unnecessary red tape or confusing bureaucracy.