Ken Lyotier

Kenneth Hugh Lyotier (February 7, 1947 November 27, 2021) was a Canadian social worker who led recycling and community development initiatives in the Downtown Eastside neighborhood of Vancouver. He started the Vancouver-based social venture United We Can which provided opportunities for binners to bring in containers for deposit refunds. He was also a founder of the Binners Project in 2016.

Lyotier received the Canadian Meritorious Service Medal in 2005, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He was also a torchbearer for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and was the recipient of an honorary doctor of laws degree from the University of British Columbia in 2011.

Biography Lyotier was born into a working-class family on February 7, 1947 in the Lynn Valley neighborhood of North Vancouver in British Columbia.

Addiction would lead him to a life of poverty and income assistance, which included moving to the Downtown Eastside neighborhood of Vancouver. During this time he would supplement his welfare income by dumpster diving. He continued this life until he was 40, when he had intestinal surgery that took him out of chronic pain. He was also an advisor to the City of Vancouver on various issues including homelessness, de-addiction and medical services, and poverty alleviation. Lyotier was also associated with the Save Our Living Environment, a Vancouver-based organization aiming to improve urban living conditions for the homeless.

Lyotier received the Canadian Meritorious Service Medal in 2005, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He was also a torchbearer for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He famously took the torch with him to United We Can facility for binners to take pictures with the torch.

Lyotier died a medically assisted death in Vancouver on November 27, 2021. He was aged 74. He had been diagnosed with a form of cancer.