B.C. continues to have highest eviction rate in Canada

The University of British Columbia has released new data showcasing how difficult it can be to rent in B.C. (CTV)

The University of British Columbia has released new data showcasing how difficult it can be to rent in B.C.

The report shows B.C. continues to have the highest eviction rate in the country. More than one in 10 renters reported they had been evicted between 2016 and 2021.

Indigenous renters were nearly two times more likely than average to be evicted, while tenants in social housing were less likely to be evicted.

"We have a huge problem right now." said Margareta Dovgal, a renter advocate. "There's not enough supply and it's very tight.”

The vast majority of B.C. evictions in the analysis – 85 per cent of them – were listed as "no-fault", meaning tenants were told to leave for the landlord's purposes.

“We really couldn’t say what was driving the higher eviction rate in B.C., and now this survey lets us say, well it sure does look like those higher no-fault eviction rates is driving the overall rate of eviction,” said Craig Jones, an associate director with UBC’s Housing Research Collaborative.

"The main reasons (for eviction) we were looking at were for the sale of the property and the second response was personal use by the landlord and the third response that we grouped was demolition or conversion or renovation.”

Those reasons are often not entirely truthful, according to Premier David Eby.

"We know that in some cases, landlords are willing to bend or break the rules in order to remove a tenant in order to be able to remove rent control and remove the rent,” Eby said Monday when asked about the new UBC report.

A few years ago, the provincial government created new rules requiring landlords to compensate tenants 12 months in rental payments if they did not follow through with their reason for eviction.

But according to Sarah Marsden with First United – an organization that provides essential services in the Downtown Eastside – stricter rules are needed.

"Given the severity of the impacts we've seen on our communities, that would be the minimum standard when someone’s housing is at stake, is to have a hearing and require evidence to put that onus on the landlord,” said Marsden, who is First United's director of systems change and legal.

Marsden recently created the B.C. Evictions Map to pinpoint exactly where people are being forced to move and specific details about each circumstance. 

Her report shows 27 per cent of people who reported eviction said they then became homeless.

"Maybe we need to start looking at housing as a basic human need or a basic human right and not just as a commodity,” Marsden said.