Vancouver will spend $2.2 million on street cleaning jobs for the homeless this year, the Vancouver City Council is expected to approve the largest supplementary budget of the street cleaning subsidy program for the city center so far, while supporting low-level jobs for the homeless and other low-income people.

This includes:

• $1,183 million for microcleaning
• $637 000 to support the microcleaning efforts of business improvement partnerships (BIA)
• $230,000 for several pilot projects.

The city has allocated $210,000 towards the micro-cleaning pilot project of public plazas, including the collection of garbage and needles, light sweeping, wiping tables and chairs, and fall leaf pickup. The funds will be used to support the work of non-profit organizations that deal with the homeless, providing them with opportunities for training in life skills and employment.

WHAT ARE MICROCLEANINGS?

“Microcleaning involves the daily collection of garbage and needles on foot using brooms, shovels and garbage carts with wheels, and it is a job that is beyond the reach of the services provided by the City forces,”.

The grant program supports initiatives that involve the local container community and, in recent years, has helped develop strategies to address the challenges with rat populations.” Vancouver Coastal Health also operates a needle collection program with equipment in vans that perform regular needle sweeps on school grounds, parks and other public places where there are large volumes of needles discarded. The public can also report discarded needles to the needle collection hotline.

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