Vancouver, B.C., November 26, 2025
The Society Promoting Environmental Conservation (SPEC) is deeply disappointed by the Vancouver City Council’s decision to eliminate funding for the citywide Repair Café program as part of its newly approved 2026 budget.
For the past several years, SPEC has been proud to collaborate with the City of Vancouver and its dedicated staff to deliver Repair Cafés, which are community-powered events where volunteer fixers help residents repair household items, reduce waste, and build practical skills at no cost to participants. These gatherings have become incredibly popular and well-loved. In 2025 alone, thousands of Vancouverites took part, and twelve Repair Cafés were being planned for 2026, including a January event at the Strathcona Community Centre.
Just last month, SPEC’s Repair Café Coordinator, Brian, received the City of Vancouver’s 2025 Award of Excellence for Impact and Innovation from Mayor Ken Sim, which was a clear affirmation of how valued this program has been. The subsequent decision to eliminate program funding for 2026 has therefore been especially difficult to hear.
“Repair Cafés are such a wonderful community-building initiative. Beyond giving items a second-life and saving them from landfill, these events promote community connection, skill-sharing, and tangible ways for people to take action. I’ve been so proud that SPEC has been a part of this global movement of creating a culture of reuse and repair,” said SPEC Executive Director, Ashleen Montgomery.
Because Repair Cafés operate through a City contract, the loss of this funding will significantly erode SPEC’s ability to deliver these events at their current scale. The cuts mean that several of the planned 2026 Repair Cafés will now be at risk.
Still, SPEC is not giving up.
SPEC’s commitment to waste reduction, community resilience, and hands-on environmental action remains as strong as ever. SPEC has begun exploring alternate funding sources, adjusting the scope of the events, and seeking new partnerships.
“We want to acknowledge and thank the City of Vancouver staff, Metro Vancouver, and our dedicated Repair Café volunteers who worked alongside us to make these events so special,” said Montgomery. “Their collaboration helped create something truly meaningful for the community.”
As an organization grounded in community action, SPEC remains hopeful that this decision may be revisited in future budgets. “We would love to see our collaboration with the City restored in 2027,” said Montgomery. “Repair Cafés matter not only because they keep items out of the landfill, but because they bring people together.”