Vancity Lookout

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA·LAUNCHED EARLY 2023·vancitylookout.com

Vancity Lookout is a Vancouver-based local news outlet publishing a free newsletter three times a week, founded by Geoff Sharpe as the second publication of Lookout Media.

Overview

Vancity Lookout is a Vancouver-based local news outlet publishing a free newsletter three times a week, covering city news, housing, transit, food and community issues across Vancouver, with dedicated coverage of East Vancouver. It is one of four active publications operated by Lookout Media, a Canadian local-news newsletter company.

History

Vancity Lookout was founded by Geoff Sharpe, who launched it as Lookout Media's second publication in early 2023, following the company's first newsletter, Ottawa Lookout. Sharpe, who runs a marketing agency and does not come from a journalism background, co-founded Lookout Media with Robert Hiltz. Sharpe has said he began writing about local Vancouver issues because he felt no one else was covering them the way he thought they should be covered.

Lookout Media operates without venture capital funding, relying primarily on paid reader subscriptions—which Sharpe has said account for roughly 75% of the company's revenue—supplemented by local advertising. By October 2025, Lookout Media had grown to four active publications across three cities (Ottawa, Vancouver and Whitehorse) with more than 65,000 combined newsletter subscribers and approximately $500,000 in annual revenue, according to independent case-study profiles of the company. Vancity Lookout added a second staff reporter, Maddi Dellplain, in 2025 as a part-time East Vancouver reporter, a position funded in part through Canada's federal Local Journalism Initiative program, joining reporter Nate Lewis, who covers Vancouver city hall.

Notable works

• February 2024Lookout Media's reader-funded business model was profiled as an industry case study by an independent newsletter-industry publication, which credited the company's reliance on paid subscriptions—rather than advertising or outside investment—as central to its financial sustainability across its local newsletters.

• October 2025A separate independent profile described Lookout Media, including Vancity Lookout, as illustrating "a sustainable model for journalism," built on reader trust and consistent local presence rather than on content that draws clicks but not paid subscriptions.

• 2023–presentVancity Lookout's local accountability coverage has included reporting on Vancouver city council's below-market rental housing decisions, fractures in Metro Vancouver's regional bike-share systems, and city hall's integrity commissioner proceedings.

Key personnel

• Founder, Publisher & Managing Editor Geoff Sharpe

• Co-Founder, Lookout Media Robert Hiltz

• East Vancouver Reporter (Local Journalism Initiative) Maddi Dellplain

• City Hall Reporter Nate Lewis

Audience

Vancity Lookout's main newsletter is read by more than 25,000 people, according to the outlet's own author page; a separate restaurant-focused newsletter segment reaches approximately 9,500 subscribers. Vancity Lookout is one of four Lookout Media publications that together reach more than 65,000 combined subscribers.

Location and contact info

Headquarters Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Parent Company Lookout Media

Website https://www.vancitylookout.com

Record Card VCLO

MAIN ID3a1f804c-7639

LAUNCHED EARLY 2023

FOUNDER GEOFF SHARPE

PARENT CO. LOOKOUT MEDIA

FUNDING READER‑SUPPORTED

Filed under

news‑organizationnews‑studio

Sibling publications (Lookout Media)

ottawa lookout yukon lookout capital eats

SOURCE: VANCITYLOOKOUT.COM, 2026