About

The Gain Wah Project is an emerging initiative that began in spring 2023 and is led by a coalition of community members united by a shared commitment to restore the Gain Wah restaurant, beloved by many for more than 30 years, as a legacy Chinatown business and affordable cultural food asset in Vancouver.

On September 9, 2022 a fire in the Gain Wah restaurant at 218 Keefer Street forced its closure and displaced 39 residents living in the Keefer Rooms SRO above it. Our coalition is working in partnership with the Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative Society (SRO-C) who has been leading tenant-based initiatives in the Keefer Rooms building since 2020 and are now providing leadership to restore the Keefer Rooms building so that it can continue to provide affordable housing along with food programs and services.

We have created a steering committee and initiated a process to create a community-based vision for a new Gain Wah restaurant that would see it operate as a sustainable social food enterprise and community gathering space. This is a unique opportunity for the community to collectively honour the history of Gain Wah and to imagine – and realize – a diversity of possibilities for an innovative food hub that serves residents of the overlapping Chinatown and Downtown Eastside neighbourhoods for years to come.

Together, we are committed to facilitating a process to rebuild a new Gain Wah that is created by and for the community.