Categories: Lifestyle

Public drinking program in Vancouver to return… at some point

Photo via Shutterstock

We’ve got some good news for summer brews! Today, the Vancouver City Council voted in favour of expanding the public drinking program that was piloted these past two summers. And while all of the details about it are yet to come out, this is a great step in making it permanent.

For reference, Vancouver first started the public drinking program back in 2020. Over the past two years, select sites around the city have been converted into public plazas that allowed the consumption of alcohol. The program ran between August and October in 2020, then was expanded to May to October last year.

In a report to the city, staff found that the overwhelming majority (92%) of survey participants approved of the pilot program. What’s more, the program did not lead to any noticeable health and safety issues. Surprise, surprise! People can crack a beer on the street and not go wild afterwards.

That said, what the expansion of the pilot program actually looks like has yet to be decided. The report highlighted previous locations for the plazas, as well as the months in which they were allowed, but has held its tongue on what things could look like this year. It should also be noted that this update is separate from the one that allowed drinking in public parks. That may come back as well, so we’ll keep you posted there.

But, with any luck, we’ll know more about the expanded public drinking program in Vancouver in the next few weeks. May is around the corner, after all…