Vancouver gives protections to renters who may be displaced by Broadway Plan

Renters in Vancouver’s Broadway plan area can keep paying the same rent or lower, if they ever get displaced by new development.

A unanimous vote at Vancouver Council on Wednesday night gives new protections to renters, including the right to go back to a replacement building at up to 20 per cent below the assessed market rates or their previous rent, whichever is cheaper.

“I think it’s huge. And I think it’s historic,” said Kit Sauder with the Renters’ Advisory Committee at the City of Vancouver.

“The reason that it’s viable is because of the density that’s being added in Broadway,” he added.

Sauder says these protections are possible because Vancouver is in store for sustained and predictable growth. The neighborhoods in the Broadway plan are slated for potentially massive redevelopment over the next 30 years.

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He adds these renter protections have been touted as the strongest in Canada.

“This is going to take the market, grab it by the scruff, and bring it towards a more predictable, reliable, and affordable level for renters — and hopefully for everyone else in the city.”

But one building in East Vancouver serves as a reminder for the Vancouver Tenants Union of why it doesn’t trust the city to protect renters.

The affordable units used to be $1,100 for a two-bedroom,” said Mazdak Gharibnavaz with the VTU.

“Tenants were demo-victed. They were treated badly, replaced by luxury rentals that are now going for $3,600 per month.

In 2018, when the previous building on the site was up for development, the VTU says tenants were promised relocation options with similar rent. It’s required under the tenant relocation and protection policy. But the group says the developer offered places that didn’t meet the policy’s requirements, costing 265 per cent more. That led to months of conflict between the developer and renters.

“The Broadway plan area is a big area. But even for the current protections, they’re not being enforced properly,” Gharibnavaz said.

“If municipal governments aren’t going to protect tenants, then tenants need to take action and protect themselves.”

Sauder says from what he’s heard from renters who have gone through the process, “they don’t feel like they’re getting what they need.”

According to Sauder, the city’s existing renter protections are strong on paper.

“[But] the process itself needs more transparency, more accountability. And I think that it’s important that we get to a place where it’s just easier to navigate our government services.”

Read more:

• Vancouver mayoral candidate wants decision for Broadway Plan to come after civic election

• Vancouver renter advocates push back against Broadway redevelopment

On Wednesday, City Council pushed back their vote on the Broadway plan yet again to June 22.