Entrepreneur Ken Sim has unseated Kennedy Stewart as mayor of Vancouver, a city where runaway home prices and the cost of living have become pressing concerns among voters.
Sim, who founded Canadian home healthcare company Nurse Next Door, ran on a promise to speed up permitting for housing construction in the city by reducing high-rise approvals to one year from as many as six. He also promised to hire 100 additional police officers to tackle crime, including anti-Asian hate crimes.
“We can make Vancouver safe again. We can make progress on housing,” Sim said in a campaign video. He will be the first Asian-Canadian mayor ever in Vancouver, a city with a large Chinese immigrant population.
