Vancouver farmers market vendors feel squeezed

Mark Cormier of Glorious Organics at the Trout Lake farmers market on Saturday Aug. 22, 2026. The Aldergrove farmer has been asking the market for more space for several years. Photo by Michelle Sproule

Article content

Mark Cormier grows food people want. Like, really want.

Article content

The lineup for his stand at the Saturday Trout Lake farmers market in Vancouver often winds out past the confines of his four tents. As the line moves, it’s hard for shoppers to browse. They might grab a gleaming eggplant or a fat bouquet of cilantro, but when they reach the till, it’s hard to go back and pick up one more perfect pepper. The stand often sells out, so customers who can’t get there early may be out of luck.

Article content

Article content

Article content

For Cormier, who runs Glorious Organics, a farming collective on Fraser Common Farm in Aldergrove, that represent a lost opportunity. He’s been asking the market for more space for several years, but has been told there is no more space to give.

Article content

Article content

“I’d like to be able to bring more food,” he said. “I also care about customer experience. These are people who are trying to support the local food economy and I want the experience to be a good one.”

Article content

With $18 million in direct sales and 675,000 visitors a year, Vancouver Farmers Markets has grown from a handful of stands “squatting” in an East Vancouver parking lot to seven vibrant neighbourhood markets packed with local food, customers including chefs from some of the city’s best restaurants, live music and an abundance of community spirit.

Article content

Just don’t expect to find a convenient place for your kid to pee.

Article content

Laura Smit, Vancouver Farmers Markets executive director, said the non-profit society has been asking the city for improvements like better bathrooms, water, power and accessible parking, but “we’re not getting anywhere.”

Article content

Article content

“Even maintaining the status quo is hard,” she said.

Article content

Article content

Markets, which are regulated like special events, get bumped by construction and development and sports games, despite their unique role in creating food security, local economic development and social cohesion. She wants the city to treat markets like civic infrastructure and move away from the annual permit cycle, which inhibits long-term planning and growth.

Article content

“We’re all of us problem solvers,” she said of both vendors and shoppers.

Article content

Vendors are willing to put up with being “packed in, to the inch,” as market staff play a complicated game of Tetris in February to allocate market space based on the measurements of farm trucks and tents. At some markets, shoppers have to navigate through a “pot hole-ridden parking lot” and awkward entrances which aren’t really wheelchair accessible.

Article content

That’s not to mention the washroom issue.

Article content

Cormier said he sometimes worries about the Trout Lake farmers market being shut down because the portable toilets have been tipped over, or the handwashing station isn’t working properly.