Downtown Livability

Latest Update

The City has contracted the services of a specialized waste removal company to perform targeted pick-ups across the Downtown. The Engineering department has also added resources to their team to provide additional services above and beyond the biohazardous pick-ups. These services remove drug and human waste from streets, sidewalks, and planters. For businesses adjacent to public property, the crew may also be able to check alcoves and doorways. Property owners will need to sign a liability waiver to participate.

In addition, City Bylaw Officers—now called Livability Coordinators—are proactively conducting daily patrols across the City to offer services to unsheltered and street entrenched people, identify areas that require garbage removal, and connect with businesses for education purposes.

As of July 2024, there is now a 24-hour space that includes toilets, sinks, and showers. The space is open for everyone to use and is monitored by an attendant. It can be accessed through Front St., and is situated close to the nightly shelter at the former Army & Navy site.  

Additional City-provided public washrooms are available during operating hours at many locations throughout the City, and 24-hours at the police station. Washrooms located in parks are managed a bit differently than washrooms in facilities as some washrooms in parks are seasonal.

• For Parks-managed washrooms, click here.
• For information about washrooms in general, click here. 

What’s Planned

A permanent 24-hour public washroom is planned for Downtown. An in-depth analysis of the most appropriate location for the washroom is currently ongoing. 

The City has also engaged the services of a Downtown Livability Strategy Project Manager whose responsibilities include developing a public toilet and biohazardous waste management work plan. The focus of the plan is to specifically address the issue of biohazardous waste on public property in a more coordinated and cost-effective way. Key objectives include:

• To ensure that everyone—including the unsheltered, seniors, families and people with disabilities—has access to clean, accessible and safe public toilets 24 hours a day, 7 days a week;
• To ensure that City streets and other civic property are free of human waste and that waste is cleaned up and disposed of in a safe and healthy manner; and
• To ensure that City staff have the Standard Operating Procedures and training needed to clean up and dispose of human waste appropriately.

Latest Updates

The nightly shelter with 50-bed capacity continues to operate in Downtown New Westminster. In November 2024, the Lower Mainland Purpose Society was successful in applying for a new Temporary Use Permit to operate an emergency shelter—either nightly or 24/7—on the lower floor of the former Army and Navy department store at 502 Columbia St.

What’s Planned

Through the Crises Response Pilot Project, location options for a 24/7 shelter, supportive housing and associated support services continue to be explored. A draft case for support is underway and a development proposal will be developed in due course outlining potential operational requirements, potential locations as well as partnerships and funding opportunities.

Latest Updates

The Health Contact Centre continues to provide a number of wrap-around services, such as harm reduction supplies, peer employment opportunities, education on safer drug use, and regular needle sweeps of the surrounding area.

The City is continuing its support in advocacy for decriminalization of drugs. 

Fraser Health is currently providing a number of outreach services. City staff and the New Westminster Police Department are currently working in conjunction with Fraser Health to ensure those who require such services receive the necessary referrals.

What’s Planned

Discussions are currently ongoing with Fraser Health Authority regarding additional outreach services in response to the opioid epidemic and toxic drug supply. A case for support is currently under development to address opportunities to provide expanded supervised services as well as increased and expanded needle sweeps to ensure the safe disposal of drug paraphernalia.

Opioid Crisis and Drug Overdose - check out this presentation to learn more about New Westminster and drug use, as well as a demonstration of how to use Naloxone. For Naloxone training, please connect with the Health Contact Centre. 

This session, recorded April 2022, features four guest speakers who offer insight and education on the opioid crisis and how businesses can support drug users. Use these links to skip to the information most important to you: 

• 00:00 Introduction and Background Information
• 03:42 What Does the Purpose Society Offer? with Sydney Andrews and Travis Walker from the Lower Mainland Purpose Society
• 24:17 Current Situation in New Westminster with Assistant Deputy Chief Brad Davie, New Westminster Fire & Rescue Services
• 27:37 - Brad Davie also provides information about preparing your worksite for an overdose emergency, including a nalaxone demonstration
• 52:55 - Tailgate Toolkit with Colby Young from the Vancouver Island Construction Association - discussing stigma of substance use, especially in the construction and trades industry.
• 1:25:27 - Regional Resources for Harm Reduction with Tyler Weatherup from Fraser Health - Tyler also talks a lot about shame, and its impacts and has some constructive tips on what to do if you're a business owner and an employee seeks your support. 

Latest Updates

The City has contracted the services of a specialized waste removal company to perform targeted sweeps in downtown. The Engineering department has also added additional resources to provide additional services above and beyond the biohazardous sweeps. These services remove drug and human waste from streets, sidewalks, and planters. For businesses adjacent to public property, the crew may also be able to check alcoves and doorways. Property owners will need to sign a liability waiver to participate.

What’s Planned

The 4th Street Stairs development is well underway and a Project Manager has been engaged to support the implementation of the project. For further details on the project please click here.

The Parks & Recreation department is currently reviewing opportunities for planned activations within the Downtown core and a potential extended footprint. A program coordinator has been appointed to facilitate activations and explore potential partnerships with local businesses.

If you’d like to sign up for our monthly Invest New West newsletter for local business, please follow this link to add your email to the list. We’ve also developed a general resource for businesses called the Business Licence Holder Resource Guide that contains answers to questions businesses operators may have. Check it out online.   

Latest Updates

The Fraser Health Authority is currently providing a number of outreach programs to address mental health concerns within the community. City staff and the New Westminster Police Department are currently working in conjunction with Fraser Health Authority to ensure those who require such services receive the necessary referrals.

RESOURCES

New Westminster has its own Peer Assisted Care Team (PACT) which is run by the Lower Mainland Purpose Society. Learn more about the work they do, and how to get in touch with them.

Through the Crises Response Pilot Project, the City has an outreach team that is able to make referrals and connect people to a variety of resources. We invite you to lean more about the pilot by reviewing its webpage.

Access to washrooms is an issue for all municipalities. Over the past few years, access has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing opioid epidemic. It has also been impacted by increasing rates of homelessness. As a result, many businesses have restricted access to their washrooms, which has placed additional demands on public washrooms, including issues related to 24/7 access.

The downtown area, in particular, has experienced challenges in relation to public washroom access. 

Public washrooms exist across the city, including in most civic facilities and parks. Specific hours for permanent facilities in parks are listed here.

During the better weather months, additional portable toilets are available to support sports organizations using the fields and facilities, as well as to increased usage of playgrounds. Generally, portable toilets in parks are open 24/7, except for the toilet in Tipperary Park as it is operated by the local farmers market and only available during their hours of operation. 

In downtown specifically, there are public washrooms at:   

• Westminster Pier Park – available from 7am to 9pm
• Quayside Park – available from 8am to 7pm
• New Westminster Police – available to the public 24/7. If the front doors are locked, the buzzer can be used to gain access.
• Anvil Centre – Open 9am to 5pm seven days a week, and open late on Thursdays till 8pm.

As a part of the Downtown Livability Strategy, the City will install and maintain a 24/7 free-standing, pre-fabricated permanent toilet. The City is still looking for a location for the toilet in question.

The City is working with BC Housing to develop additional emergency shelter capacity and new supportive housing with access to washrooms for those who are unsheltered.

The City is also looking at other strategies to support access to public washrooms and is conducting research into what other jurisdictions are doing. More information will be coming about these possible strategies in the future.

No, they are not. Businesses that offer sit-down dining are required by the Public Health Act to provide washroom facilities for their customers. However, they are not required to provide them to the general public and may restrict access if they choose.

The City has contracted the services of a specialized waste removal company that is trained and able to deal with human waste. If you would like to report human waste on public property, please contact our Engineering Operations yard and they will arrange for collection.

They can be reached:

• By phone: 604-526-4691
• By email: engops@newwestcity.ca
• You can also report the issue via SeeClickFix.
   

Please note that the Engineering team monitors its phone line and email inbox Monday to Friday from 7:30am to 4pm. 

Visit our Biohazard Removal Program page to learn more.

The City recommends that you post signage with the nearest public washroom facilities. If the problems continue, you may wish to limit or restrict access to the area, consider trimming any overgrown landscaping or potential places where a person may be shielded from view, and consider motion-activated lighting improvements. The City has developed a resource for businesses to address activity such as graffiti, vandalism, and human waste, which you can access here.

Many of the challenges fall under the jurisdiction and mandate of the senior levels of government. Notwithstanding, the City’s Downtown Livability Strategy includes a number of actions which have been operationalized under existing City Department budgets and work programs. There is also quite a bit of overlap in the work being done through the Crises Response Pilot Project, particularly through its Policy and Advocacy Team. 

For the City to move forward, significant, guaranteed senior government funding is required on a long-term basis as the issues facing the Downtown are beyond the jurisdiction, mandate and fiscal capacity of the City.

Along with efforts to address mental health and substance use, the City is also addressing homelessness through its Crises Response Pilot Project. We invite you to learn more about the pilot by visiting this webpage.

The nightly shelter with 50-bed capacity continues to operate in Downtown New Westminster. The City was successful in receiving a grant through the Social Planning and Research Council fund in order to assist with ongoing operating costs. Further grant opportunities through the Strengthening Communities fund are being explored.

The Crises Response Pilot Project—meant to address the three crises of homelessness, mental health, and substance use—includes an outreach team component. Outreach workers are able to connect with those who are unsheltered, and when possible do their best to connect them to resources. 

In addition to the City's outreach workers, Livability Coordinators (formerly referred to as Bylaw Officers) are proactively conducting daily patrols to monitor structures as needed.

The city’s unsheltered homeless population tends to be scattered and not concentrated, with the city not being home to large homeless encampments common in other municipalities such as Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Maple Ridge, Surrey, and Vancouver.

The City has found that enforcement action often shifts the issue from one area to another but does not resolve it.

Additionally, a number of those who are unhoused in New Westminster have significant ties to the community, based on the latest Point-in-Time statistics collected in 2023.

The Health Contact Centre continues to provide a number of wrap-around services, such as harm reduction supplies, peer employment opportunities, education on safer drug use, and regular needle clean-ups of the surrounding area. 

Fraser Health Authority is currently providing a number of outreach services. City staff and the New Westminster Police Department are currently working in conjunction with Fraser Health Authority to ensure those who require such services receive the necessary referrals. 

Information is available to connect the unsheltered with available resources within the community, including a resource guide and a food resources calendar. 

Please click here to access the most recent plans developed by the New Westminster Police Department.

The Fourth Street Stairs development is well underway and a Project Manager has been engaged to support the implementation of the project. For further details on the project please click here.

The Parks and Recreation department is currently reviewing opportunities for planned activations within the Downtown core and a potential extended footprint. A program coordinator has been appointed to facilitate activations and explore potential partnerships with local businesses. To express your interest in getting involved, please contact .