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Case information

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38098

Caring Citizens of Vancouver Society v. City of Vancouver

(British Columbia) (Civil) (By Leave)

Docket

Judgments on applications for leave to appeal are rendered by the Court, but are not necessarily unanimous.

List of proceedings
Date Proceeding Filed By
(if applicable)
2019-02-18 Close file on Leave
2019-01-18 Copy of formal judgment sent to Registrar of the Court of Appeal and all parties
2019-01-18 Judgment on leave sent to the parties
2019-01-17 Judgment of the Court on the application for leave to appeal, The application for leave to appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver), Number CA45049, 2018 BCCA 87, dated March 9, 2018, is dismissed with costs.
Dismissed, with costs
2018-12-03 All materials on application for leave submitted to the Judges, for consideration by the Court
2018-06-22 Applicant's reply to respondent's argument, (Book Form), service missing-rec'd 2018/06/25, Completed on: 2018-06-25 Caring Citizens of Vancouver Society
2018-06-12 Notice of name, (Letter Form) City of Vancouver
2018-06-12 Certificate (on limitations to public access), (Letter Form) City of Vancouver
2018-06-12 Respondent's response on the application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Completed on: 2018-06-12 City of Vancouver
2018-05-14 Letter acknowledging receipt of an incomplete application for leave to appeal and without formal Court of Appeal order, FILE OPENED 2018/05/14
2018-05-08 Notice of name Caring Citizens of Vancouver Society
2018-05-08 Certificate (on limitations to public access) Caring Citizens of Vancouver Society
2018-05-08 Application for leave to appeal, (Book Form), Appeal court order missing (received 2018-07-09), Completed on: 2018-07-18 Caring Citizens of Vancouver Society

Parties

Please note that in the case of closed files, the “Status” column reflects the status of the parties at the time of the proceedings. For more information about the proceedings and about the dates when the file was open, please consult the docket of the case in question.

Main parties

Main parties - Appellants
Name Role Status
Caring Citizens of Vancouver Society Applicant Active

v.

Main parties - Respondents
Name Role Status
City of Vancouver Respondent Active

Counsel

Party: Caring Citizens of Vancouver Society

Counsel
Name
Oliver Pulleyblank
Contact information
Pulleyblank Law
2760 William Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V5K 2Y8
Telephone: (604) 725-2649
FAX: (778) 653-0665
Email: oliver@pulleyblank.ca

Party: City of Vancouver

Counsel
Names
David R. Brown
Angela Crimeni
Contact information
Stikeman Elliott LLP
666 Burrard Street
Suite 1700
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6C 2X8
Telephone: (604) 631-1394
Email: drbrown@stikeman.com

Summary

Keywords

Municipal law — By-laws — Zoning — City of Vancouver constructing temporary modular housing units to be used for social housing — Petitioners arguing such housing is product of unlawful approval process and development permit should be set aside — Lower courts dismissing petition to set aside permit — Whether City substantially rezoned a neighbourhood, issuing a development permit for a use that was not permitted in residential zone at issue, without first conducting a public hearing thereon, contrary to s. 566 of Vancouver Charter, [SBC 1953] c. 55.

Summary

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

Vancouver City Council amended its by-law to authorize the Director of Planning to relax the provisions of the zoning by-law where the proposed development makes provision for low cost housing for persons receiving assistance. The proposed amendment had been referred to public hearing and a notice of the meeting was published in a local newspaper.

The Director of Planning exercised his discretion pursuant to the new by-law to permit the use of temporary modular housing and issued a development permit for the property in question to authorize the construction and operation of the housing. The City had notified residents in the area of the proposed construction of the temporary modular housing and held four public information sessions.

The applicant, the Caring Citizens of Vancouver Society, filed a petition to have the by-law declared invalid and to have the development permit quashed. The respondent City argued the approval process involved a lawful exercise of delegated authority and forms an integral part of its plan to find effective solutions for the homelessness problem.

The chambers judge dismissed the petition finding the by-law itself to be valid and finding that adequate notice of the effect and purpose of the by-law had been given in this case. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

Lower court rulings

January 17, 2018
Supreme Court of British Columbia

S1711320, 2018 BCSC 72

Petition to set aside development permit dismissed.

March 9, 2018
Court of Appeal for British Columbia (Vancouver)

CA45049, 2018 BCCA 87

Appeal dismissed.

Filed documents

The memorandums of argument on an application for leave to appeal will be posted here 30 days after leave to appeal has been granted unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of the memorandum by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a memorandum of argument or want to use a memorandum of argument, please contact the author of the memorandum of argument directly. Their name appears at the end of the memorandum of argument. The contact information for counsel is found in the “Counsel” tab of this page.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The factums of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here at least 2 weeks before the hearing unless they contain personal information, information that is subject to a publication ban, or any other information that is not part of the public record. You may also obtain copies of factums by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a factum or want permission to use a factum, please contact the author of the factum directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each factum.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

The condensed books of the appellant, the respondent and the intervener will be posted here upon receipt of the electronic version, 2 days prior to the scheduled appeal hearing. You may also obtain copies of condensed books by filling out the Request for Court records form or by contacting the Court’s Records Centre either by email at records-dossiers@scc-csc.ca or by telephone at 613‑996‑7933 or at 1‑888‑551‑1185.

If you have questions about a condensed book or want permission to use a condensed book, please contact the author of the condensed book directly. Their contact information appears on the first page of each condensed book.

Downloadable PDFs

Not available

Webcasts

Not available.

Date modified: 2026-03-17