About AHV

AHV was formed in 2016 and is run by volunteers. It is registered as a non-profit society in British Columbia and governed by a board of directors.

Co-founder Daniel Oleksiuk, a labour lawyer, started the group after talking with friends about the shortage of rental homes in the city. The board has since included Jennifer Bradshaw, Albert Huang, Stuart Smith, Owen Brady, Taylor Curran, and Nick Lauga.

A central claim in AHV’s materials is that apartment-style housing is not permitted on about 76% of Vancouver’s residential land. The group ties that restriction to the city’s affordability problem.

Most AHV members are renters, and the group’s organizing leans toward rental and below-market housing. By its own tally in late 2018, about 86% of the letters it had mobilized backed rental projects and about 56% backed below-market homes.

The group runs walking tours of early-1900s apartment buildings to show the kind of dense, low-rise "missing middle" housing that was common a century ago and would be hard to build under current zoning. A February 2018 tour drew about 90 people.

Programs

What AHV runs.

Letter and submission campaigns

AHV drafts letters of support for specific rezonings and housing motions and asks supporters to send them to Council. It has written in support of Vancouver’s missing-middle housing motion.

Learn more

Missing-middle walking tours

Guided tours of older multi-family buildings that show how dense, low-rise housing was built before zoning rules tightened. A 2018 tour drew about 90 participants.

Panels and public events

Panel discussions and social events on housing and transit. In March 2025 AHV co-hosted a housing and transit panel featuring Ravi Kahlon, then BC’s Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs.

Project tracking

A public list of housing projects AHV is following, used to organize support ahead of Council decisions.

Recent initiatives

2018-02

Missing-middle building tour

A public walking tour of early-1900s apartment buildings drew about 90 people and highlighted housing types that current zoning would not allow.

2023

Letter in support of Vancouver’s missing-middle motion

AHV wrote to Vancouver City Council backing the motion to enable more "missing middle" housing pilots ahead of the city’s multiplex changes.

Housing and transit panel with Minister Ravi Kahlon

AHV co-hosted a panel featuring Ravi Kahlon, then BC’s Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, on housing and transit-oriented development.

How to get involved

Concrete ways to support AHV.

→Join the email list on the AHV site to get notice of rezoning hearings and letter campaigns.
→Use AHV’s letter templates to write Council ahead of multiplex and missing-middle decisions.
→Go on a missing-middle walking tour or attend a panel to learn what older low-rise density looked like.
→Email the group to volunteer—it is run by volunteers and a small board.

Sign up for AHV’s alerts and lend your name when a multiplex item hits Council.

Website

Other allies

Architectural Institute of British Columbia

The regulator of the architecture profession in BC. Public register, Certified Professional Program, and discipline authority.

Homebuilders Association Vancouver (HAVAN)

Industry association for Metro Vancouver residential builders, renovators, and designers. Runs the HAVAN Awards for Housing Excellence.

Passive House Canada

National non-profit for the Passive House building standard. Certifies designers and tradespeople, runs training, and advocates for higher-performance codes — the practitioner pool BC multiplex builders draw from for Step Code 5 and CMHC MLI Select energy targets.

Abundant Housing Vancouver