COPE's Vancouver Sweep Signals a Socialist Revival Driven by Housing Crisis and Organizing, but Governing Challenges Remain
Source: James Adair. "Vancouver Is in the Middle of a Socialist Surge." October 23, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
Vancouver's democratic socialist party, COPE, won every seat it ran for after rebuilding through grassroots organizing and campaigning on fixing the housing crisis. The author sees this as a real revival of socialism in the city. He warns that COPE must now work with its coalition partners and answer voters' concerns about drugs and public safety, since the vote did not give it a clear mandate on those issues.
Conclusion
Vancouver is experiencing a genuine socialist resurgence: COPE's sweep of all twelve of its races, which helped produce a progressive council majority, shows that a rebuilt, openly socialist, organizing-focused party can win by offering housing-centered solutions to working-class discontent. Whether COPE can turn this into real change depends on how well it handles coalition politics and public safety demands.
Premises
- COPE elected all twelve candidates it ran (four each to council, school board, and park board). With the Greens, OneCity, and the Green mayor, this gives the progressive bloc nine of ten council seats and ten of eleven elected city hall seats.
- Vancouver has a severe housing crisis: more than half of households rent, about 39 percent of renters are cost-burdened, a quarter are in core housing need, and homeownership is out of reach for many younger people.
- The previous center-right ABC administration's market-oriented approach (faster approvals, more construction) increased approvals but did not make housing affordable. Thousands of condos sit unsold, homelessness rose, and the Renters Office was closed.
- COPE offered a distinct alternative centered on housing and care: public acquisition of apartment buildings, a tax on properties over $5 million, a tripled Empty Homes Tax, stronger tenant protections, and expanded public services.
- COPE rebuilt its capacity through sustained organizing: growing membership, giving members real influence, embracing a socialist identity, door-knocking (10,000+ doors on Election Day), and a locally rooted, energetic campaign with young candidates.
- The result is not a clear mandate for socialist governance: the Greens are less far-reaching than COPE on public ownership, and about 68 percent of voters backed Sim-sponsored plebiscites on tougher drug laws and involuntary care, which COPE and the Greens opposed.
Assumptions
- A single municipal election sweep is a meaningful indicator of broader socialist political momentum, in Vancouver and internationally.
- COPE's electoral success was caused mainly by its platform and organizing, not by anti-incumbent sentiment, the Green mayoral candidate's appeal, or other factors.
- Housing affordability and economic insecurity are the main drivers of voter choices.
- A progressive council majority can be treated as roughly a left bloc, even though the Greens and COPE differ on ideology and policy.
- Voters' rejection of ABC reflects dissatisfaction with market-based housing policy rather than other issues.
- Municipal governments have enough power and resources to implement public acquisition of housing and new taxes.