Lək̓ʔəŋən [LEKWUNGEN] TERRITORY / VICTORIA, B.C. — Leader of the BC Greens and candidate for Saanich North and the Islands, Emily Lowan, has released a statement on the National Rent Report showing that British Columbia rental rates are climbing, while new Canadian Housing Survey data shows that one in three B.C. renter households cannot find suitable, affordable housing—a number that hasn’t budged since 2022:
“Renters in British Columbia have faced a deeply hostile environment. While Eby’s NDP has touted minor reductions in asking prices, it comes as a cold comfort when those asking prices were wildly inflated to begin with. This government has failed to provide renters any tools for renters to reap the benefits of their touted lower rents and, on average, one in three renters in Canada are spending beyond the 30% recommended monthly income threshold for rent.
With less affordable housing funding, and no tools for renters to dig themselves out of this vicious monthly cycle, we are being told things are getting better. But, as B.C. reclaims its position as the most expensive province in the country for apartment or condo rents, it’s clear that we are living in the consequences of failure. After cancelling the Community Housing Fund, failing to pass vacancy control at the urging of the BC Greens, and committing to bailing out condo developers, British Columbians are now forced to live with the collapse of the BC NDP’s approach.
While British Columbia needs more housing of all types, a market-only approach is not a silver bullet, and will not deliver the affordability British Columbians desperately need. That’s why the first commitment the BC Greens made this election was to protect renters, through restarting the Community Housing Fund, building and protecting 26,000 units of affordable non-market housing annually, and passing vacancy control.
These measures are for the thousands of renters across cities like Vancouver, Victoria, Coquitlam, Burnaby, Langley, New Westminster, and Surrey, which are now among the top 20 most expensive places to rent in the country.
This is unacceptable, and it’s why the BC Greens are focused on making housing affordable, and making the most expensive province in Canada one where working people can actually build a life.”
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Media contact
Prym Goodacre, Media & Campaigns Officer
+778 650 0597
newsroom@bcgreens.ca