Joanne Lee-Young is a staff reporter at The Vancouver Sun specializing in the intersection of municipal policy, real estate development, and economic trends. With over two decades of experience—including early career posts at The Asian Wall Street Journal—she brings global perspective to hyperlocal stories about housing, infrastructure, and community governance.
“Archiving is also the history of ordinary people.” – Joanne Lee-Young, quoting historian Henry Yu in a 2025 piece on Vancouver’s Chinatown archives
**Pitch Tip**: Ground proposals in specific Vancouver neighborhoods (e.g., Marpole, Burnaby) and provide access to city staff or small-scale developers. Lee-Young prioritizes stories that reveal how policies materialize in streetscapes and household budgets.
Joanne Lee-Young’s journalism career spans decades, marked by a commitment to unpacking complex policy issues through a hyperlocal lens. After graduating from Queen’s University, she began as a news assistant at The Globe and Mail’s Beijing bureau, where she honed her ability to navigate cross-cultural narratives. This early exposure to global reporting informed her later focus on how macro-level policies—from trade tariffs to housing legislation—ripple through communities.
Her tenure at The Vancouver Sun and The Province solidified her reputation as a journalist who bridges the gap between municipal decision-making and public accountability. For instance, her 2025 investigation into Burnaby’s stalled $200-million community centre redevelopment revealed how shifting political priorities directly impact taxpayer investments[2][4].
“The cost of the housing development fund is listed as $5 million a year, which amounts to just under $5 per household.” – Joanne Lee-Young, The Vancouver Sun[3]
This 2025 analysis dissects how global economic uncertainty—particularly Trump-era tariffs and stock market volatility—has reshaped Metro Vancouver’s real estate landscape. Lee-Young traces a 25–30% drop in rental building prices alongside rising maintenance costs, interviewing brokers like Mark Goodman to explain why investors now view these assets as “safe havens.” The article stands out for its dual focus: macro-economic triggers (e.g., interest rate stabilization) and micro-level consequences for renters facing dwindling affordable units[9].
A masterclass in accountability journalism, this piece examines the potential cancellation of a major infrastructure project just months before its scheduled start. Lee-Young contrasts the city’s initial promises of upgraded recreational facilities with emerging concerns over budget overruns and shifting political priorities. By embedding cost-benefit analyses from municipal staff reports, she highlights the tension between long-term urban planning and short-term fiscal pragmatism[4].
This 2024 investigative report unpacks a pivotal regulatory shift aimed at accelerating housing construction. Lee-Young interviews architects and fire safety experts to weigh the trade-offs between cost efficiency and emergency preparedness. Her analysis extends beyond the policy itself, exploring how the change could reshape neighborhood density profiles and developer profit margins[3].
Lee-Young consistently prioritizes stories that reveal how local governance shapes housing markets. A 2025 piece on Surrey’s delayed development cost charge calculations exemplifies this[3]. Pitches should foreground municipal documents (e.g., council meeting minutes, budget drafts) or stakeholder conflicts, such as disagreements between city planners and developers over fee structures.
Her coverage of Metro Vancouver’s rental building sales boom demonstrates an appetite for data-driven narratives that personalize macroeconomic shifts[9]. Successful pitches might highlight, for example, how interest rate fluctuations affect small-scale landlords or renters in specific neighborhoods like Marpole or East Vancouver.
The Building Code revision analysis shows Lee-Young’s skill in translating technical updates into public-interest stories[3]. Propose angles on pending legislation (e.g., zoning bylaw amendments) with clear ties to affordability, safety, or community character. Provide access to architects or engineers who can demystify code requirements.
While Lee-Young occasionally touches on national issues like interprovincial trade barriers[3], her focus remains firmly on implementation at the city or provincial level. Pitches about federal housing grants, for instance, should emphasize how funds are being deployed locally rather than Ottawa-level policymaking.
Her frequent use of embedded videos and interactive maps (e.g., in coverage of Vancouver’s view-cone policy changes[4]) signals openness to multimedia collaborations. Propose partnerships with data visualization experts or photojournalists to enhance complex policy stories.
At PressContact, we aim to help you discover the most relevant journalists for your PR efforts. If you're looking to pitch to more journalists who write on RealEstate, here are some other real estate journalist profiles you may find relevant:
