Media exclusion zone during 2023 Vancouver decampment ‘unlawful,’ report finds

VANCOUVER – The British Columbia Human Rights Commissioner has found that the actions of Vancouver Police were “unlawful” by limiting media access as city workers broke up a homeless encampment on the Downtown Eastside in 2023. 

Kasari Govender says in the report that police and the city “failed to strike the appropriate balance” between public safety with the freedom of the media in its handling of the decampment operation, where journalists were denied access, resulting in transparency being compromised.

Govender found the zone was “not in accordance with human rights standards,” and Vancouver Police “did not have statutory or common law authority for the exclusion zone.”

Vancouver Police spokesman Sgt. Steve Addison released a statement saying that the department disagrees with “the suggestion that media was banned or excluded” during the encampment and “went to significant lengths” to ensure media access.

Reporters with The Canadian Press were among those who were excluded initially from the encampment site on Hastings Street but it did not take part in the inquiry, citing the need to maintain journalistic independence from the process.

The report makes six recommendations, including that police departments in B.C. immediately stop excluding or restricting media around police actions without judicial authorization or “a credible and substantial threat” to public safety, and that the province put that in legislation.

Govender also wants the Public Safety Ministry to fund rights-based training for police officers and change the Police Act to require compliance with recommendations made by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. 

During the decampment operation on April 5 and 6, Vancouver Police had moved into the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood with city staff to dismantle tents put up by homeless occupants, throwing away belongings and other structures set up on the sidewalk.

Mayor Ken Sim said at the time that the actions were necessary due to the fire danger and increased crime linked to the encampment, with tents lining the street. 

Police have said that there was no exclusion zone during the operation, but Govender says police were “overly formalistic” in saying so, adding that “closure or regulation of any form of access” to public space constitutes an exclusion zone.

“It might also be referred to as a no-go zone, buffer zone, temporary access control area, work zone, restriction or safety zone,” Govender says in the report. “The significance of a restriction on access depends on its effect and the impact on press freedom, not on the words used to describe it or even the intent or purpose in establishing it.”

Addison’s statement says police had shared information on their actions to ensure media access with Govender for her inquiry, including a note on the morning of April 5 encouraging editors to contact police to gain access as well as inviting journalists to the area.

“Truth is, we wanted media present during the decampment,” Addison says in an email response. “We went to significant lengths to ensure media could observe the process taking place so they could report on it accurately.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 4, 2026.