'It sucks': Former NFL player is struggling to find a home in Vancouver
Even professional athletes struggle to find housing in Vancouver.
A former NFL player who is now a cornerback for the CFL's BC Lions used social media to ask for help in his search.
Delvin Breaux vented his frustrations on Twitter Sunday, writing, "Boy it's hard looking for places in Vancouver!"
Breaux, who has also played with the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the NFL's New Orleans Saints, told CTV News he’s been looking all over Metro Vancouver for two months.
"It definitely tough and it sucks," Breaux said from Lions' training camp in Kamloops. "I just want a place to lay my head."
He’s not looking for anything fancy.
Breaux would like a two-bedroom home, somewhere in the $2,000-a-month range, and he "would love to have a balcony to oversee the beautiful city of Vancouver."
The athlete said he sent out dozens of inquiries, but very few landlords got back to him.
"I guess a lot of people are busy, if that’s the word I want to use," he said, describing how no one has picked up the phone. Instead, responses are always through email.
Despite his career as a pro athlete, Breaux’s struggle isn’t a surprise to Jill Atkey, CEO at B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association.
She said it just shows how difficult it is to find a place to rent all over the Lower Mainland.
"He’s got a better chance than most at finding a place, but his struggle is still real," said Atkey. "He is going to be competing with Amazon workers, tech workers, who are coming in and who are likely going to have a much higher income."
A few people responded to Breaux’s post over the weekend, one of whom suggested he give up and move back to Hamilton. Another suggested South Surrey or White Rock, and someone told him to move further east, to Chilliwack.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Group tied to Islamic State plotted fatal Ontario restaurant shooting: Crown
A gunman who is accused of killing a young Ontario man and shooting four of his family members at their small Mississauga restaurant in 2021 was allegedly part of a trio who had pledged allegiance to the listed terrorist group Islamic State, a Crown attorney said in an opening statement in the Brampton murder trial this week.
Board orders deportation for trucker in horrific Humboldt Broncos crash
The truck driver who caused the horrific bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team has been ordered to be deported.
'We recognize there's more to do': Trudeau responds to U.S. senators' defence spending letter
Stopping short of offering the assurance U.S. senators are seeking, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government is aware there's more work to do in order to see Canada meet NATO's defence spending target.
Italian teenage computer wizard set to become the first saint of the millennial generation
Pope Francis paved the way for the canonization of the first saint of the millennial generation on Thursday, attributing a second miracle to a 15-year-old Italian computer whiz who died of leukemia in 2006.
Top Russian military officials are being arrested. Why is it happening?
It began last month with the arrest of a Russian deputy defense minister. Then the head of the ministry’s personnel directorate was hauled into court. This week, two more senior military officials were detained. All face charges of corruption, which they have denied.
'A really bad car crash': Why health experts are raising concerns over surging syphilis cases
A sexually transmitted infection (STI) that was once thought to be a thing of the past is now a public health priority for North American doctors.
Morgan Spurlock, Oscar-nominated director of 'Super Size Me,' dies at 53
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life's work, famously eating only at McDonald's for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53.
Milk sold in Canadian grocery stores tested for avian influenza; results released
As avian flu spreads south of the border, Canadian officials are now testing samples of milk sold in grocery stores across the country.
Leaving time on the table: Surveys show unused paid vacation, 'quiet vacationing'
'Quiet vacationing' is the latest new term to describe the rough edges of office culture, and survey data shows it's widespread among North American workers.