City Council Votes to Shut Down Renter Office

Photo Credit: Shutterstock via CNN

Vancouver’s city council, composed of an ABC majority, made its decision in mid-January to permanently close the Vancouver renter office. 

The renter office provided resources, referrals, and information on tenants rights, including answering questions, providing information on city policies and permits, and referring renters to other organizations that can help. 

The decision to shut down the office was made by amendments put forward by ABC councillor Lenny Zhou, who questioned the city’s role in renters rights and the efficiency of the office. When the council voted, all eight ABC councillors voted in favor of the closure, with councillors Pete Fry and Adrianna Carr of the Green Party, and Christine Boyle from OneCity Vancouver voting against.

Since the renter office opened in 2018, it has cost the city about $1.8 million in taxpayer dollars. Shutting it down will leave the work mainly to non-profit organizations and the provincial government. 

Councillor Zhou has argued that the city should not be responsible for renter issues as issues like these fall under provincial jurisdiction and city officials do not have the extensive knowledge and experience needed to properly help tenants. The city has, however, put forward a six month transition plan in closing the office and approving $750,000 in grants for non-profit rental organizations. These grants will be paid for through the empty homes tax. The city has also provided the Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre (TRAC) with office space, so that the organization can work towards establishing their own renter resource centre to replace the city’s office. 

Those opposed to this decision are still concerned with the impact of the closure, afraid that it will hurt the most vulnerable renters and that a patchwork network of resources will cause these renters to be left behind. 

According to an article by City News, shutting down the renter office could have the most impact on older tenants who have lived in their place for a long time, renters whose first language isn’t English, and other newcomers and low-income renters. These renters are most at risk because it is challenging for them to move and find a new suitable place at a certain budget level. This gives landlords power, which could potentially be abused through renovictions and demovictions, if the tenant is unprotected and unaware of their rights. 

Pete Fry, a Green Party councillor opposed to the closure, stated that the decision “...shows that ABC Vancouver dismisses tenants rights out of hand.” 

The Vancouver renter office was originally created when there was an extreme increase in illegal renovations, rental units being converted to short-term rentals, and landlords failing to maintain safe and honourable upkeep or defying and scamming fixed tenancy agreements. Now, renters are still facing these extreme challenges as vacancy rates sit around one per cent, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and Vancouver is once again deemed the most expensive city to rent in Canada, according to a report by Rentals.ca.