Motion seeks to restore abolished Renter Office and give it a new mandate to identify gaps in Vancouver’s support of renters and fill them

VANCOUVER (Musqueam, Squamish and Tsieil-Waututh Territories) - OneCity Vancouver Councillor Lucy Maloney and Pete Fry will bring a motion to City Hall that seeks to resurrect the abolished Renters’ Office, providing tenants with a central resource focusing on their needs and interests, including a mandate to: develop new enforcement tools and impose penalties on bad actors when necessary.

“In the course of the by-election, I spoke to thousands of Vancouver tenants, and I heard over and over again that tenants do not feel heard or protected by the City,” said Lucy Maloney, OneCity Vancouver City Councillor. “Tenants need to know that the City has their back. A new tenancy centre within the City, with a mandate to ensure that tenants’ needs are taken into consideration in policy development and City projects, will demonstrate that tenants are a large and important group within our community and build confidence in the City’s ability to deliver on its promises.”

While the Broadway Plan includes strong tenant protections, the City of Vancouver does not have a dedicated office. Rather, enforcement is spread across departments, including the very busy Planning Department. The creation of a dedicated Tenant Office will allow the City to have a true focus on tenant protections and allow gaps in enforcement to be identified more easily. 

It will also ensure that City enforcement action is coordinated and effective at deterring bad actors, and effectively communicated to the public, building trust in the City’s enforcement regime.

Like the old Renter Office, the Tenant Office would have a mandate to advocate for renters at every level of City policy, and provide a first point of contact for tenants who are concerned about redevelopment. But unlike the old Renter Office, this Tenant Office would be endowed with the power to enforce the City’s rules, and bring bad actors to heel:

1. Enforcement of rules that benefit tenants that do not fall within the jurisdiction of the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB),

2. Creation of new enforcement powers, like financial penalties or bonds, that can be imposed throughout the development process should a developer be found in breach of their obligations,

3. Proactive monitoring of developers for compliance with their tenant protection obligations, and

4. Coordination with City permits, building inspections and licensing departments to protect tenants from illegal renovictions, and to monitor the rate of change to existing affordable housing.

When Ken Sim and ABC abolished the original Renter Office, they justified it by pointing to grants provided to organizations like the Tenant Resource and Advocacy Centre (TRAC). 

While TRAC is a very valuable resource to tenants, it is not an enforcement body. Neither TRAC nor the RTB can enforce renter protections that are particular to the City of Vancouver. Tenants are left to advocate for themselves in the courts - and many are not well-resourced enough to do so.

The City has unique protections. And it must take responsibility for enforcing them.

“As new developments are built in the Broadway Plan area and in the area around SkyTrain stations, these protections will be relevant to a steadily increasing number of tenants,” concluded Maloney.

The motion will be heard at the June 4 meeting of the Standing Committee on Policy and Strategic Priorities.