Young voters flag affordability as top issue ahead of B.C. election

When B.C. voters make their way to the polls on Oct. 19, affordability is sure to be top of mind, particularly for some young people.

CTV News sat down with three University of Victoria students, who all said the cost of living is one of their main concerns going into the provincial election.

“Affordability is essential for me … because I can barely afford to live sometimes,” said Andrew Loe, 21.

Despite working full-time and having a scholarship, he sometimes struggles to cover the cost of groceries and rent.

“You can’t really afford to live anywhere in Victoria as a student without, like, four other roommates,” he said.

As for owning a home? That’s a dream Loe and his peers don’t think they’ll be able to achieve for at least a couple of decades, if ever.

“The way that our wages and our cost of life kind of interact with each other, it would be impossible to sustain a minimum base lifestyle and also save up to be able to put a down payment on a house,” said Isabelle Easton, 18.

Nearly 90,000 young voters registered

Elections B.C. says there are 88,762 registered voters between the ages of 18 and 22. Of those, 11,086 live in Vancouver Island ridings.

“If a young person votes in their first election, it’s more likely they’ll go on to form the habit of voting and participating in elections moving forward,” said Elections B.C. spokesperson Andrew Watson.

“A fairly established trend over several elections is that young voters participate at lower rates than older voters.”

As the future of this province, the UVic students said young people must be considered.

“Certain parties are doing an OK job at … representing the younger generation and kind of addressing our needs when it comes to housing,” said Daichi Larocque, 21.

“I don’t think enough is being done, though, to really help us.”

CTV News brought the students’ concerns to three candidates in the Oak-Bay Gordon Head riding, which encompasses UVic and Camosun College’s Lansdowne campus.

Candidates weigh in

B.C. Green Party candidate Lisa Gunderson said her party wants to implement vacancy control. The policy would tie rent to a physical unit instead of a tenancy agreement, so landlords can’t hike the price when someone moves out.

“Which is really important for students, because we move in and out of places all the time,” Easton said.

“I want to go home and visit my family this summer. I want to be able to come back and not have to pay $1,000 more for my rent.”

The Green Party also wants to commit $1.5 billion annually to building non-market housing.

“One of the things that we’re proposing to do is … 26,000 new units, 3,000 of those for Indigenous communities, immediately,” Gunderson said.

Conservative candidate Stephen Andrew said his party is dedicated to building more homes and reducing taxes.

“Taxes are a major driver of making our province less affordable,” he said, noting the cost of living is pushing young people out of the province.

The Conservatives are also pitching a rebate that would eventually exempt up to $3,000 a month in housing costs from provincial income taxes.

B.C. NDP candidate Diana Gibson is highlighting the party’s previously implemented rent cap and its efforts to build more homes as big wins for young people.

“Continuing to build affordable housing — market and non-market, including student housing — that’s the way we’re going to be able to bring the vacancy rate up and the cost of rent down,” she said.

The NDP is also promising an annual tax cut of roughly $500 for low- and middle-income individuals.