As Granville Island market turns 40, its federal landlord looks to build on success

By 10 a.m. on a typical Friday morning at Granville Island's Public Market, throngs of foodies, tourists and locals have already arrived to swarm and feast. 

The market has only been open for an hour, but already there's a lineup of about a dozen people at Oyama Sausage, where customers dutifully wait for staff to call their number. 

Joyce Chua walks away with a handful of B.C.-made cheeses and meats wrapped in brown paper. Chua brings groups here as part of her job with Vancouver Foodie Tours, but today she's here showing around some friends from out of town. 

"I'm here all the time," she says. "It is such a luxury to have this in Vancouver."

Like many culinary crusaders, Chua calls the market "the heart of Vancouver's food scene." 

As of Friday, it will be 40 years since people have been flocking to the Granville Island's Public Market to sample and buy locally-made produce, meats, confections and flowers. It attracts millions of visitors a year. 

But the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which owns the island and the market, isn't taking that success for granted. Three years ago, CMHC proposed changes to the market as part of its 2040 plan. 

Sebastian Lippa, Granville Island's lead planner, says Vancouver's food scene is changing. With organic, local foods available at grocery stores like Whole Foods, how can the market differentiate itself?

"There is lots of competition in Vancouver," Lippa said over the phone from Galiano Island, where he was on holiday with his family. 

"It's something that we as the managers of the market have to be aware of and not take for granted that because it's busy today that it will be busy tomorrow."

'The best place to be in Vancouver'

Jerome Dudicourt has been the manager at Oyama Sausage since it opened in the market 19 years ago. It's one of the busiest businesses there.

CMHC says that of the approximately 70 merchants in the market, which include permanent stalls and pop-up shops, nearly a third have been there more than 30 years. 

Dudicourt says working in the market is "a lot of work, a lot of fun" and can be fruitful for anyone who comes with good ideas and a good product to sell.  

"If you have a small retail place it's the best place to be in Vancouver because it's where everybody comes," he said between serving customers, some of them locals who come to the market every day.

Another advantage for the market's vendors, Dudicourt says, is to avoid steep and sudden rent increases seen elsewhere in the city. 

'People love the market'

Lippa, the lead planner, says the market is the island's main draw and it just makes sense to expand it so visitors can get more of what they want. 

"One of the things we learned and heard from the community through the 2040 process was that people love the market," Lippa said. 

Lippa says visitors want more seating, more local products and more focus on sustainability. As such, CMHC is proposing to create a "market district" and expand the market's footprint to nearby areas, which includes potentially converting a parkade across the street.

CMHC is waiting for the Granville Island Council — a new part of the island's governing structure, which will soon be established — before implementing any major changes.