Programs

Calling all artists of every level. See something you love about Strathcona in the fall? Show it to us!

The Strathcona BIA is excited to launch our fall photo contest focusing on what people love about the Strathcona neighbourhood in the fall season. With the theme “Fall for Strathcona”, we’re inviting people to explore the seasonal changes happening in Strathcona and what they love about it. As the seasons change, so do our neighbourhoods, landscapes and habits, and even things as simple as menus. We want to see what changes you’re noticing and what you’re falling for. 

Photograph what you love in Strathcona this fall

What: Submit on-theme pictures of Strathcona, Vancouver and stand a chance to win big.

When: Submissions open on October 28th 2024, and will end on December 27th, 2024.

Prizes: Three winners will receive prizes with a grand prize of $350* and the top 11 images will be showcased in a 2-week gallery exhibition in March 2025. 

Submissions: Submit via email contest@strathconabia.com. Entrants must pay a $5 fee to submit by purchasing a submission ticket on Eventbrite.  Proceeds will be donated to an art charity for youths. Purchase your submission ticket here

Pay Submission Fee

Process:

1. Purchase a $5 submission ticket on Eventbrite 
2. Compile photographs and name each image file as follows: Firstname_Lastname_TitleofPhotograph
3. Submit images to contest@strathconabia.com and include your name and Eventbrite ticket number in the email. 
4. Look out for an email from us if you’ve been selected. 

Requirements: 

• Contest is open to artists of all levels in the Greater Vancouver Area.
• Only original photographs (film/digital) will be accepted. AI generated images are excluded. 
• Images must be taken of and in Strathcona, Vancouver.
• Images must be high-res and well suited for printing.
• Image files must be named as stated above

Prizes

*Prizes will be awarded in the form of gift certificates. 

1st Place: $350*

2nd Place: $250*

3rd Place: $150*

Copyright Notice:

By submitting your photographs to the Strathcona BIA “Fall for Strathcona” photo contest, you confirm that you are the sole owner of the submitted images and that they do not infringe on any third-party rights. You grant the Strathcona BIA a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, and display your photos for promotional purposes related to the contest and future marketing efforts. All submitted images will remain your property, and you will be credited appropriately when your work is showcased.

Campaign Partners:

Low Tide Properties

Gallery 881

PrintMaker Studio

A Year In Review

Our commercial district placebrand celebrates all the people and businesses that make Strathcona different and exceptional. Our marketing and promotional efforts over the last year have focused on unique campaigns across digital channels to continue building district brand awareness, promote district businesses and engage the local community, and create a culture of pride in the district among businesses and visitors alike. Through storytelling and place activations, we showcase what our members do to make Strathcona a vibrant and resilient community. Here’s how we’ve been bringing Strathcona to the hearts and minds of people across the Lower Mainland, communicating our unique strengths as a place to work, live, play, and invest.

Here’s the high-level breakdown of impacts we’ve achieved.

400 banners maintained

20K website visitors

96 unique businesses featured across digital channels

8 promotional campaigns

Dine Strathcona media coverage earned 13.4 million impressions

Launched inaugural Strathcona Brewery Week

54 original videos achieved 137K views

$24,825 invested in community sponsorships

Website and Directory

Our website showcases the distinct character of our commercial district and draws people in to discover something different in Strathcona. We continue to update our comprehensive member directory, featuring all the businesses in Strathcona across our varied sectors. The directory supports the digital presence and searchability of our member businesses online. In the last year our website had over 20,000 visits by over 9200 unique users. Our new website users are up 40% from the same period a year prior.

District and Member Features

We’re capturing and sharing more about our members through original photography, video footage, and digital storytelling content than ever before. In the last year we’ve featured 96 unique Strathcona BIA business members across our channels, which is up 33% from the previous year. In that time we’ve seen a 46% increase in followers on our Instagram channel.

We’ve put a strong focus on creating engaging video content, where we’ve had the most successful organic reach to new audiences. In the last year we created and published 54 original videos and Reels, and four collaborative Reels, across our social media channels. Our original video content achieved 137,121 cumulative views across our social platforms with an average engagement rate of 5.3% and the collaborative Reels with partner influencers reached 191,049 views. We also share and promote our members and the happenings in our business district on Twitter, where our tweets made over 67,400 impressions over the last year. A highlight of our member features is our Meet the Maker series, featuring artisans and makers across multiple sectors operating in Strathcona.    

Campaign Highlights

Our November 2021 Dine Strathcona campaign brought together 19 businesses in Strathcona’s hospitality sector to showcase the neighbourhood’s vibrant culinary scene while raising awareness and funds for H.A.V.E. Culinary Training Society. HAVE provides accessible food service training and employment opportunities to members of the community who face barriers to employment. The campaign launched with a media event for food and lifestyle media personnel and influencers, and resulted in 27 pieces of traditional media coverage, earning 13.4 million impressions or a publicity value of $124K. The social media posts about the campaign reached an estimated 647K people. In total over 1580 feature dishes were sold during the two week time-frame by participating businesses, which amounted to approximately $26,500 in cumulative sales. We were able to reach our goal of providing a $5000 community sponsorship on behalf of the Strathcona hospitality sector to HAVE Culinary Training Society, providing funding to enroll new students in HAVE’s training program and help secure job placements for new graduates in Vancouver restaurants.      

During the holidays we focused on lifting up our retail sector members through publishing unique Strathcona-based gift guides, and running a 12 Days of Giving campaign of amazing prize giveaways on our Instagram channel. We also partnered with BIA’s across Vancouver on the Gift Big, Shop Small, Stock Joy Charity Auction, where curated stockings of incredible gifts from each district were auctioned off in support of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank.  

In January 2022, we featured Strathcona establishments with special offerings for the Lunar New Year. We partnered with three foodie influencers to produce creative Instagram Reels which reached over 190K unique accounts, with an engagement rate of 6.7%. This approach resulted in highly engaging content from diverse voices and celebrated the rich Asian heritage and culture in our community. 

In February we took part in the BIA-wide Love Your City campaign, which encouraged Vancouverites to get out to participating neighbourhoods, explore, and find LOVE in our city. MakerLabs in Strathcona helped produce custom sweethearts with messages of love and compliments that were hung up in every sub-district of Strathcona. We ran a popular local business district gift card scavenger hunt, using the hearts as hiding places and engaging audiences on social media with clues on where to find them.

For International Women’s Day we launched a Strathcona Women-Owned Business Directory and also interviewed several women entrepreneurs flourishing in Strathcona. The personal stories of these womens’ passion, hard work, and motivation behind their businesses were featured throughout the week in March on our social media channels. 

During Earth Week in April we shined a spotlight on two businesses in Strathcona doing great things in the way of slow fashion and environmentally responsible fabrics. Blackbird Fabrics offers a wide range of fabrics and supplies for sewists across the globe, with an emphasis on fabrics that are environmentally and socially responsible. Our Social Fabric is a non-profit fabric store tackling textile waste by selling donated deadstock fabric online and in-person. Our Instagram giveaway to these two businesses was one of our most popular of the year, earning over 2500 impressions and over 840 post interactions!

Throughout May we put an extra focus on highlighting member businesses in our Automotive sector. We have over 25 businesses in our community that assist with all types of motor vehicle needs. Through a creative video content campaign we shared about seven businesses in the automotive sector, bringing more attention to why Strathcona is one of the best areas in Vancouver for auto services. 

In June we launched a Strathcona Brewery Week campaign, a week-long showcase to celebrate the thriving brewery scene in Strathcona. It was a successful pilot with room to grow into an annual campaign that continues to strengthen Strathcona as a recognized brewery hub. The campaign earned coverage in Vancouver Is Awesome and The Georgia Straight, as well as over 120K impressions through a media partnership with Do604. New audiences were engaged through a Do604 giveaway, brewery trivia contest, Just Here For the Beer Radio podcast show, and engaging Reels created by the Strathcona BIA for each brewery.  

Throughout the summer we’ve been focused on promoting both member and community events in Strathcona, including the Powell Street Festival, musical concerts, Vancouver Mural Festival, and Bike to Shop.   

Community Sponsorships

Fostering a sustainable and flourishing cultural community is important to us. We continue to provide community sponsorships year over year so that other local organizations serving the economic resilience of the district are supported. For the 2021/2022 fiscal year those included The Powell Street Festival, Eastside Culture Crawl, Coldest Night of the Year, HAVE Culinary Training Society, HUB Cycling Bike To Shop, Monstercat Compound, Vancouver Japanese Language School, and Carnegie Outreach Centre for a National Indigenous People’s Day community initiative.

Looking Ahead

Since launching our commercial district placebrand in late summer of 2020, our marketing initiatives have been focused on building district awareness and targeting visitors to come discover the area and the businesses here. Investing in a strong commercial placebrand has been an important foundation of distinguishing ourselves from other districts and communicating our unique strengths as a place to work, live, play, and invest. As we continue to take measure of both member needs and the work of developing the economic vision of the district, our marketing efforts will continue to evolve and improve as we reflect on the target audiences and how we reach them. We plan to put more attention on developing campaigns that target workforce development and labour retention, as well as specific business sector retention, attraction, and investment programs. A strong place identity for our commercial district will continue to play an important role in these efforts, in addition to placemaking initiatives that continue to enhance and activate public space in Strathcona.

A Year In Review

A huge part of what we do at the Strathcona BIA is deliver on programs that improve maintenance, cleanliness, sanitation and safety across the district. Our programs have been developed to support the wellbeing of the businesses and people in the district, based on the needs and feedback we hear from members. Helping to keep our streets clean and safe, and buildings graffiti-free are part of our core services to Strathcona BIA members. We contribute to mural restoration and maintenance, and bring vibrancy to the community through funding new mural projects in Strathcona. This past year, we also supported members to make their own exterior property enhancements through our Safe and Welcome grant program to encourage a safer and more welcoming community for all. We continue to advocate for more resources and external sources of funding so that SBIA members alone aren’t being asked to address the cleanliness, sanitation, and graffiti challenges in the area. Some examples include graffiti abatement grants from the City of Vancouver and continued investment and accountability from the City for street cleaning resources.

Here’s the high-level breakdown of impacts we’ve achieved.

4600+ graffiti tags removed

2738 street cleaning hours

7000+ square feet of high-level graffiti removals

1640+ bags of garbage removed

12+ murals maintained

2220+ needles removed

$35,000 in graffiti abatement funding secured

5899 hours dedicated to community safety

46 private property debris pick-ups

40+ safety reports logged each day

Graffiti Removal & Graffiti Removal Pilot Program

Graffiti continues to be a challenge in Strathcona and across the city. Over the last year we saw the volume and size of graffiti increase and upper elevations of buildings and murals being targeted more often. This year we successfully advocated for and received another $35,000 in funding from the City of Vancouver to put towards graffiti abatement for a total of $70,000 over the last two years. With the help of the abatement grant we were able to add additional capacity to our graffiti removal program in May 2022. Working with our graffiti removal program service provider, Goodbye Graffiti, we added more capacity for removals through the summer months, with additional hours dedicated to a Strathcona-specific graffiti removal vehicle. 

Over the last year we removed over 4600 tags and 7000 square feet of high-level tags. In the first month of our pilot program we almost doubled our capacity, removing over 27,000 square feet of graffiti tags, compared to an average of 14,000 square feet of removals the months prior to the pilot. Reported tags are being removed faster which over time can help to deter prolific taggers from targeting our district as frequently. Strathcona BIA members continue to receive unlimited removals of tags 12 feet and under, and all labour, supply and removal costs are covered within the scope of the program, saving time and money for our members! 

Street Cleaning & Private Property Debris Pick-Up

We partner with Coast Mental Health, United We Can, and Mission Possible Maintenance to provide street cleaning services in the Strathcona BIA district. These impactful partnerships create inclusive job opportunities for local people in our community. Between all program partners, team members have picked up over 1640 bags of litter, and 2220 needles across the entire district over the last year, working over 2738 hours or an average of 52 hours per week. Our teams are here to keep the area clean and support members each day. 

Additional street cleaning funding is provided by the City through the 2022 Street Cleaning Grant Program. For the Downtown Eastside and Strathcona neighbourhoods, this results in additional micro-cleaning shifts each week across the district. This allows the Strathcona BIA to provide more resources to other sanitation programs like our Private Property Debris Pick-up program. We helped complete 46 private property debris pick-ups this last year and make daily reports to VanConnect for debris in lanes and on public property, saving members money in removal fees, plus their valuable time.

Community Safety

Members can call 604-789-4143, seven days a week from 8am to 6pm to reach our community safety team, who dedicated 5899 hours to enhancing safety for SBIA members, customers and community members over the past year. Everyday our compassionate patrol team is on the ground in the district, responding quickly to member needs and connecting with community members. The team currently divides their time between both vehicle patrols and foot patrols, and play a huge role in reporting debris and other maintenance-related issues throughout the district. The team works to keep the area clean and safe and spend their time responding to member calls for service, conducting hotspot checks through the district, assisting with emergency services and reporting debris and graffiti. The data and reports gathered by the team helps us to keep institutional partners accountable, and advocate for additional safety and sanitation resources where needed across the district. We are consistently working toward ensuring our approach to community safety is responsible, valued, and holistic.

Murals: Restoration, Maintenance, and New Projects

We’ve continued to invest in mural restoration and upkeep. We repaired and refreshed over 12 murals this year, and remain invested in ensuring murals in Strathcona are well maintained. We’re also excited to have brought new murals to the community in partnership with Vancouver Mural Festival and local property owners. At 1295 Frances Street, artist Caleb Ellison-Dysart created a mural piece called miskinâhk, an ode to Turtle Island, the name various Indigenous nations have always called “North America” since time immemorial. The artist hopes the mural will serve as inspiration to take care of Turtle Island and all its inhabitants, and to not forget our responsibility to the life around us. In total, four new murals came to Clark Drive this year as part of Vancouver Mural Festival, adding a whole new level of vibrancy to this corridor. In addition, our twelve tree planters in and around East Hastings were officially refreshed with a new mural design titled Sacred Mountains by artist Zac George. We are proud to be a part of supporting more vibrant murals throughout Strathcona, and in particular focusing on uplifting Indigenous artists and dedicating more visual space in Strathcona to their impactful work.

Safe and Welcoming Grant

In July of 2021 we launched the Safe and Welcoming grant, after hearing from members that more investment in environmental safety is a priority. The goal of the program was to help our members make safety and beautification investments that will attract people to the area and create a more safe and welcoming community for all. We approved close to $8000 in matching grants for eight separate projects, which resulted in a total community investment of over $19,000. From facade improvements, to new outdoor patio builds, to new awnings and signage, it was fantastic to see business and property owners take initiative to invest in these improvements with the help of the Safe and Welcoming Grant.

You may have seen these faces walking or driving down the streets of Strathcona. These are a few of the wonderful people that make up Strathcona’s Community Safety Team, a job that is rarely ordinary but one that we are so lucky to have these friendly, helpful women fill.

The team helps out by providing a safe presence in the area and vital eyes on the street. A typical day includes starting with a vehicle patrol to conduct hot-spot checks, and reporting on activity, including debris or graffiti, and helping to report any vehicle and property crime. During the afternoon, when the two team member shifts overlap, you’ll find the team walking and visiting the different sub-districts of the Strathcona BIA area. They are actively identifying areas in need of additional Strathcona BIA, police, or city resources and work closely with the Strathcona BIA staff and Strathcona Community Policing Center to address areas of concern. 

Another daily responsibility for the Community Safety Team is responding to SBIA member calls. The team is ready to respond quickly to your needs 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week. Whether that be a needle pick-up request, or providing assistance in engaging with a community member in need, the team is ready to offer their support where needed. They work to establish relationships with people in the community as well as with peer-led and place-based service providers and agencies so that they can help connect people to the right resources. 

The approachable and compassionate nature of this team is second to none, and we hope you enjoy getting to know them a little better!

You might recognize Lindsay from Strathcona, she’s been a Community Safety Team member since 2017 and is the current site supervisor. She likes getting to be out in the community and getting involved with local organizations but on her days off she likes running, reading and playing in the mountains. She says “no two days in Strathcona are ever the same”. 

What are some of the highlights of working with the Strathcona Community Safety Team?

Getting to know and see new and different businesses, getting to know community members and hearing stories of what’s going on in the neighbourhood and how they came to be in Strathcona.

Why do you feel this program is important?

This program is important because we have built relationships with different organizations within the community to work together to address the needs and safety of both the businesses in the area and the community members together.

What do you think makes Strathcona unique to other neighbourhoods?

The diversity of cultures, businesses, unique coffee shops and authentic food.

Favourite spot for an after-work drink?

Container Brewing.

Georgia is our Community Safety Team assistant site supervisor, who likes to spend her downtime hanging with her dog and listening to true crime podcasts. She says the reason she likes doing work with the Community Safety Team is that they are able to support the community, whether it’s providing information about community services or reporting issues to the city. She says “there’s always some way we can help both the businesses and the community members”.

What are some of the highlights of working with the Strathcona Community Safety Team?

Interacting with the business and community members and building relationships to create a strong Strathcona community. 

Why do you feel this program is important?

Every community has its own individual issues that can never be resolved with one single answer. This program provides a multifaceted answer to the different types of issues the community faces and helps provide community-based solutions to those issues. 

What do you think makes Strathcona unique to other neighbourhoods?

It has a wide diverse range of businesses and people who bring all their unique worlds into one place. It also has a strong sense of community where everyone supports one another. 

What is your favorite hidden gem in Strathcona? 

Moonlight Natural Pet Store. It’s got everything your dog could dream of wanting plus their mugs for their human owners are hilarious. 

Jeanette is one of the newest members of the Community Safety Team, joining the crew in December 2021. On her days off you can find her doing nearly any type of sport. Right now she’s taking in some snowboarding, climbing at The Hive, or playing volleyball.
Jeanette likes interacting with the community and gaining a better understanding of the social issues of the area, and getting to know the variety of resources available. 

What are some of the highlights of working with the Strathcona Community Safety Team?

The best part of the job is interacting with regular community members and catching up to see how they are doing. 

Why do you feel this program is important?

This program is unique because our team gets to interact with businesses in the area, VPD Community Police Officers, and also the residents of the Downtown Eastside. This program is impactful to the neighbourhood because businesses and community members both feel a sense of security when they see our team on foot or patrolling in our vehicle. 

What do you think makes Strathcona unique to other neighbourhoods?

Strathcona is unique because it has a diverse crowd, wonderful parks and great local food. 

Favourite spot to stop for lunch. 

Rise Up Marketplace – The Jerk Chicken is a must-try! 

Let’s talk crap.

Yes, we are talking about crap. It’s as real as issues come. We’re continuing to advocate for public washrooms, however, our neighbourhood needs to be kept clear of bio-waste while discussions about longer-term solutions are ongoing. Up until now, no service has existed for human and animal waste pick-up and removal. Usually businesses are on the hook to deal with it on their own.

That’s where Mark and Elwood’s new social enterprise The Crap Trapper comes in. They saw a need in the community and, in partnership with the Strathcona BIA, have stepped up to provide this valuable bio-waste pick-up service. And we couldn’t be happier about it…

Here’s Mark and Elwood during the first week of the pilot program. Equipped with all the proper safety and sanitation equipment, and a scooter to boot!

We’re launching a 3-month pilot program.

We’re proud to be partnering with The Crap Trapper to bring our members this valuable service. Several days a week, Mark and Elwood will be biking and scootering around the community, inspecting the hardest hit alleys and streets in the district. They’ll be picking up human and animal waste, sanitizing and deodorizing affected areas, and tracking all of the data. They’ll make sure all waste materials are properly disposed of.

On-call picks ups:

SBIA members can now request one-off pick-ups and clean-ups of human and animal waste, seven days a week, 8am-4pm.

To request a pick-up, call the SBIA patrol team at 604-789-4143. The Crap Trapper team will provide the pick-up service within 48 hours.

This pilot program is running until October 2020.

In their first four days of the pilot, The Crap Trapper team made 303 pick-ups which amounted to 139 pounds of waste collected. Next time you see Mark and Elwood out in the streets, give them a smile and a thank-you for the tough job they’re doing in service to this community!

Support for Mark and Elwood’s social enterprise comes through Embers Eastside Works, Employ to Empower, and Co-llective Marketing.