Stephanie Allen becomes COPE's mayoral candidate ahead of October election

Stephanie Allen, a housing advocate who has spent over 20 years in residential development, is running for Vancouver mayor with the Coalition of Progressive Electors — her first foray into electoral politics.

Allen's career has spanned for-profit condos and multi-family homes to non-profit and public housing work during a decade-plus tenure at BC Housing. She is also a founding board member of Hogan's Alley Society, named after the predominantly Black neighbourhood that was bulldozed and replaced by the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts in the late 1960s. Her 2019 master of urban studies graduation project at Simon Fraser University examined how past and present urban planning led to displacement of the city's Black residents and explored how affordable housing mechanisms like community land trusts could achieve redress.

Allen moved to Vancouver from Kelowna in 2010 seeking a change from for-profit work to non-profit and public housing. "I really wanted to be in a big city with a lot of diverse people and cultures," she said. She was fortunate enough to find a one-bedroom apartment in Kitsilano for $1,100 — an opportunity she knows few in Vancouver have anymore.

COPE approached her to run despite Allen never wanting to be a politician. "It was never in my cards," she told The Tyee. "But what they wanted was someone to work with a party in a moment that needs and demands political courage."

The mayoral race is crowded on the left. William Azaroff, who also has a background in social housing development, is running for OneCity. Green councillor Pete Fry has also announced his candidacy. The three parties are in ongoing negotiations to avoid splitting the left-wing vote. Mayor Ken Sim is expected to run for re-election with ABC Vancouver, which currently holds a narrow council majority.