Item : MAP 525 - Map showing location of single men receiving assistance by mail

Since its foundation, Engineering Services (or, as it was referred to until 1995, the Engineering Department) has been the largest department in the City administration, providing many of the City's mandated functions for developing and maintaining the City's infrastructure of roads and bridges, waterworks, sewers and sanitation.

The Vancouver Incorporation Act required the appointment of an engineer, and the City did so under Bylaw #1 (1886). Despite technological changes, the department has remained remarkably consistent in functional responsibilities: over the years, the Engineering Department/Engineering Services has been responsible for the construction and maintenance of streets, lanes, sewers, water works, and bridges, as well as for traffic management, sanitation, garbage collection, and parking. With the rapid growth of the city, the Department’s role changed from a supervisory role (overseeing and inspecting the work of contractors) to having full-scale operations divisions.

The City Engineer first reported to the Board of Works (1886-1956), then to the Board of Administration (1956-1974), and subsequently to the City Manager (1974-).

There were a few instances of major reorganization in the history of the Engineering Department. Following a departmental review by external consultants in 1954, the department underwent a major restructuring of its organizational framework. Formerly, divisions had been based on the type of operation each performed. The review called for three basic divisions. One major division was for administration and design and the other for operations. Each of these divisions would oversee the different functions as they related to design or operation. A third division for traffic management continued to exist in the same fashion as before the rearrangement. This structure remained in place for only a few years.
Another major reorganization occurred in 1966 when the Electrical Department was incorporated as a division within the Engineering Department (impetus for this change came from the formation of the Permits and Licenses Department which took over inspection activities while Engineering took over engineering and works aspects.)

The following individuals have served as City Engineer (from 1995, the City Engineer was also referred to as “General Manager” of the then renamed Engineering Services):
• John P. Lawson, 1886-1890;
• Henry B. Warren, 1890-1891;
• Thomas H. Tracy, 1891-1905;
• William A. Clement, 1905-1911;
• Frederick L. Fellowes, 1911-1924;
• Charles Brakenridge, 1924-1946;
• Charles A. Battershill, 1946-1949;
• John C. Oliver, 1949-1956;
• Randolph M. Martin, 1956-1971;
• Gordon H. Lawson, 1971-1974;
• William H. Curtis, 1974-1991;
• David Rudberg, 1991-[2004]
• Tom Timm, [2004]–2010
• Peter Judd 2010–2015

Functions, occupations and activities:

The broad range of functions of the Department has included:

1. Streets and bridges design and maintenance, including snow/ice removal and sanding;
2. Sewerage and drainage planning and maintenance,
3. Water supply and distribution,
4. Refuse collection and disposal,
5. Transportation planning and traffic management, including accommodating for special events,
6. Street lighting and utilities,
7. Inspection responsibilities (until the creation of the Permits and Licenses Department),
8. City planning responsibilities (under the direction of the Town Planning Commission) until the creation of the Planning Department in 1954,
9. Street Decoration (in conjunction with the Street Decoration Committee) since 1954.

The Department was established to administer social services, including allocating cash allowances, and providing a variety of supplemental services to citizens in need of, and eligible for, financial assistance. These social services, including relief and rehabilitation, were provided by legislation enacted by both the federal and provincial governments.

Through the department, individuals could make application for mother's allowances, old age assistance and security bonuses (though this function was later transferred to the province), as well as disability and blind pensions. In addition to these services, the department also arranged nursing and boarding homes placement for aged and chronically ill persons receiving social assistance. Besides providing direct financial assistance and rehabilitation, other services provided casework, medical services, housekeeping, and nutritional services. Aid to neglected children was provided by two denominational organizations which operated homes to which cases were referred by the Social Service Department. The City was financially responsible for wards of the court. Rehabilitation programs for alcoholics were also operated by the Department. Taylor Manor, a boarding facility for the elderly, was owned and operated by the City. Proceeds from the residents' pension cheques defrayed about half the costs, and clothing was furnished on the standard cost-sharing basis between the provincial and municipal governments.

Burial service for the indigent dead was also the financial responsibility of the City. The Department was headed by an Administrator who was responsible to City Council through its Social Service Committee, and was organized internally into two large services: Social Services and Office Services. Social Services consisted of an intake section, where case files were initiated, a medical section, where medical cards were issued to entitle holders to medical services, and four field units (Centre, West, East, and South). Each unit consisted of a director and professional caseworkers, some of whom were supervisors. Office Services consisted of a control section, which authorized social assistance vouchers for payment, two other accounting sections responsible for maintaining departmental accounts and a records section, which maintained case files and indexes. The Department had relations with various child welfare agencies, the Family Services Association, Family and Children's Court, and other provincial and federal agencies, as well as City departments, which played significant roles in the program over its history.

The Department was provided for in the City's budget and was answerable to the City's Relief Committee from 1915-1936, and to the Standing Committee on Health and Welfare from 1937-1973.

On January 8, 1974, the functions of the City Welfare and Rehabilitation Department, as it had been called since 1971, were transferred to the Vancouver Resources Board, an agency of the British Columbia government.