promises, actions, outcomes: what happened to ken sim’s 2022 campaign promises?

In 2022, Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver campaigned on a 93-point platform called “The ABC Plan for A Better City.”

It contained specific promises: more police, more mental-health nurses, more housing, faster permits, childcare spaces, trees, public washrooms and a Night Mayor, among many others.

ABC now says that by February 2025 it had “actioned 80%” of its 93-point platform. But actioned is not necessarily the same thing as completed, and completing an action is not necessarily the same thing as achieving the promised result.

That distinction matters.

If voters are going to hold politicians accountable, we need to be able to look back and ask three simple questions:

What was promised?

What was actually done?

What was the measurable outcome?

Here is a snapshot.

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public safety

the promise

ABC promised to hire 100 new police officers and 100 mental-health nurses, describing it as part of a renewed approach to community policing and an expansion of programs such as Car 87. Public safety and mental health were major parts of the 2022 campaign.

what happened

The 100 police officers were hired.

The mental-health side did not reach the promised 100 nurses. Instead, Vancouver expanded existing programs and other mental-health response teams involving different kinds of workers.

The VPD budget also increased.

the outcome

The most recent numbers complicate any simple claim about success or failure.

Violent crime fell between 2023 and 2025, but in the first six months of 2026 it increased 6% compared with the same period in 2025.

Reported assaults increased 7.1%, from 2,011 to 2,153, while robberies increased 7.8%, from 232 to 250.

That does not prove that adding police caused — or failed to cause — the change. Crime has many contributing factors, and VPD cautions that its statistics can be revised as investigations and classifications change.

But it does mean the public-safety promise should be evaluated on public-safety outcomes, not simply on whether 100 officers were hired.

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co-op housing

the promise

ABC promised to double the number of co-operative housing units in Vancouver during its four-year term.

At the time, Vancouver had more than 6,000 co-op homes, meaning doubling the supply would have required roughly another 6,000.

what happened

According to figures provided to Daily Hive by the City, since November 2022:

• 402 co-op units were completed
• 237 were under construction
• 112 had been approved

The Co-operative Housing Federation of BC calculated a net increase of 334 co-op units.

the outcome

The promised doubling did not happen.

There is also important context: CHF BC said municipalities cannot finance this kind of housing growth alone and that provincial and federal assistance has been insufficient.

That context belongs in the record too.

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faster housing approvals

the promise

ABC's 3x3x3x1 plan promised:

• 3 days for renovations
• 3 weeks for single-family homes
• 3 months for multi-family and mid-rise projects where zoning was already in place
• 1 year for high-rise and larger projects.

what happened

Approval times improved.

Simple renovations reached 92% within three days.

Single-family approvals fell from about 250 days to 160 days.

Multi-family and mid-rise approval times fell from about 18.1 months to 9.8 months.

the outcome

Significant improvement, but the original 3x3x3x1 targets were not fully achieved.

This is an important example of why “done” and “achieved exactly as promised” are not necessarily the same thing.

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5,000 childcare spaces

the promise

ABC promised 5,000 new daycare spaces during the four-year term, including making city land available and working with the province and childcare providers.

what happened

The City reported that more than 2,000 new childcare spaces became operational after 2022.

Another 743 spaces had been approved by Council since November 2022.

the outcome

The operational figure was approximately 3,000 spaces short of the 5,000 promise.

And Vancouver still had an estimated childcare-space shortage of about 6,700 spaces.

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100,000 trees

the promise

ABC promised to plant 100,000 additional trees in four years, with particular attention to neighbourhoods affected by historic race-based zoning and poor tree canopy.

what happened

For 2023–2025, the City reported:

7,725 trees planted

7,468 trees removed

the outcome

That produced a net increase of only 257 trees during those three years.

The City said 2022 data was unavailable because of software limitations and 2026 figures were still being compiled.

So the available numbers do not demonstrate anything close to the promised 100,000 additional trees.

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the Night Mayor

the promise

ABC promised to create a Night Mayor to advocate for Vancouver's nighttime economy.

what happened

The position was not created.

ABC instead points to other downtown initiatives, including FIFA and the Granville Pedestrian Zone.

the outcome

The specific promise was not delivered.

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an Official Community Plan

the promise

ABC promised to complete an Official Community Plan for Vancouver by the end of its first term.

what happened

In March 2026, Vancouver adopted its first citywide Official Development Plan, a legally binding framework for land use, growth and infrastructure.

the outcome

This is one of the more complicated promises to classify.

The city did complete a major citywide planning framework, but it was an Official Development Plan rather than the OCP named in the campaign promise.

So this one needs context rather than a simple checkmark.

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property taxes

the promise

ABC campaigned heavily on fiscal restraint.

what happened

Property taxes increased substantially during the first part of the term.

They increased by approximately:

10.7% in 2023

7.5% in 2024

3.9% in 2025

Then Vancouver passed a 0% property-tax increase for 2026. ABC has also proposed maintaining a zero increase for 2027.

the outcome

This is another example where the timeline matters.

A person looking only at 2026 sees 0%.

A person looking at the whole term sees three consecutive increases followed by a freeze.

Both are factual parts of the record.

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why this matters

This isn't about finding a politician who fulfilled every promise.

Government is complicated. Municipalities share responsibility with provincial and federal governments. Budgets change. Economic conditions change. Some promises depend on other governments, developers, non-profits or agencies.

But that is exactly why we need to keep the promises written down.

Otherwise, four years later, the campaign speeches disappear and we are left with a collection of claims about what was accomplished.

A politician can say:

“We hired the officers.”

But the original promise was not simply to employ 100 people. It was part of a broader public-safety strategy.

A politician can say:

“We planted thousands of trees.”

But the campaign promise was 100,000 additional trees.

A politician can say:

“We created childcare spaces.”

But the promise was 5,000.

A politician can say:

“Housing approvals are faster.”

And they may indeed be faster — without having reached the promised 3x3x3x1 targets.

That is why I think every election should leave behind a simple public record:

PROMISED	DONE	OUTCOME
What exactly did the candidate say they would do?	What did government actually do?	What changed in measurable terms?

Because an action is not automatically an outcome.

And a campaign promise that disappears after election day is worth very little to the people who voted on it.

The real purpose of tracking promises isn't to punish politicians for failing to achieve the impossible.

It's to give citizens enough information to ask a much more important question:

What happened to the promises we were given?

That is how voters can hold future politicians accountable.