Community capacity building and the Vancouver Agreement

Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES) is the historical heart of this modern port city of 1.5 million citizens. The DTES, home to some 17,000 of the city's population, is well known because of its growing socio-economic struggles over the last several decades. The DTES has received local, national and international media attention specifically highlighting the crime, drug trade, poverty, homelessness, unemployment, and health issues. The area has been described as the poorest postal code in Canada.;The Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver have agreed to collaborate in addressing the DTES' challenges. This project explores approaches to community capacity building within the context of this intergovernmental agreement called the Vancouver Agreement.