Tell Your MLA: BC Needs Vacancy Control Now!

Join in the fight for housing justice and demand real rent control in BC!

British Columbians are suffering from a worsening housing affordability crisis and it is time to demand that the government takes meaningful action.

The government’s current approach of addressing the housing crisis by building more rental housing is not enough: despite adding a record-breaking number of new rental units to the market in Victoria and Vancouver last year, the cost of rent has continued to soar. According to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, in Victoria in 2023 the average 2-bedroom apartment was rented for a staggering 41.5% more compared to occupied units in the same building. In Vancouver, a minimum wage worker renting at the average bachelor unit rent would have to spend over 50% of their monthly income on rent. Similar statistics are seen across BC.

We need Vacancy Control, a system of rent control that limits the amount a landlord can increase the rental cost of a unit after it becomes vacant. The current system provides BC landlords with huge financial incentive to evict tenants by any means necessary, earning BC the highest rate of no-fault eviction of any Canadian province. Vacancy control would help to:

Prevent bad-faith evictions,
Increase housing security for tenants, and
Preserve affordable housing stock across BC.

The high cost of rental housing is hurting our residents and it is imperative to the long-term health of our economy and social fabric that working people are able to afford to live in our communities. We are calling on the Provincial Government to act now and implement vacancy control and we need your help. Add your voice to this petition to tell your MLA that BC needs Vacancy Control now and join us in the fight towards housing justice for all!

4228

Goal: 5000

Send a letter to your Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) in support of vacancy control and urge them to take action to address the housing crisis in BC!

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The housing crisis in British Columbian has reached a boiling point. The economic health of our province and the emotional, mental, and physical health of its people are suffering as a result. This is an emergency, and we desperately need meaningful legislative change to address it.

Despite record numbers of new rental units hitting the market in Victoria and Vancouver each year, the cost of rent continued to soar and wages cannot keep up. According to The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation's 2024 Rental Market Report, in in 2023 Victoria the average 2-bedroom apartment rented for a staggering 41.5% more compared to occupied units in the same building. In Vancouver, a minimum wage worker renting the average bachelor unit would need to spend over 50% of their monthly income on rent. Similar statistics are seen in communities across BC. The situation is incredibly dire.

This data demonstrates that we cannot effectively respond to the housing crisis with the urgency it requires through building more housing alone. I strongly believe that BC needs Vacancy Control: a system of rent control that limits the amount a landlord can increase the rental cost of a unit after it becomes vacant.

The current system provides BC landlords with a huge financial incentive to evict tenants by any means necessary. As a result, BC has the highest rate of no-fault eviction of any Canadian province, and tenant organizations are seeing an alarming number of bad-faith, profit-motivated evictions. Together Against Poverty Society’s 'Vacancy Control Now' campaign is calling on the provincial government to implement rent control between tenancies to help prevent bad-faith evictions, provide tenants with housing security, and preserve affordable housing stock across BC.

Please prove to us that our government does not prioritize the profits of developers and landlords over our human right to safe and affordable housing by taking meaningful action to implement vacancy control. This cannot wait.

Thank you in advance for your timely response, and we look forward to hearing how you plan to address this issue.

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