Vancouver SROs ‘not fit housing,’ are being addressed: Premier Eby

B.C.’s premier is calling residential hotel units in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside unfit to live in, saying they need to be replaced.

David Eby insists the province is working on phasing out some of these single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels, where conditions can be simply appalling.

The problems at SROs in the Downtown Eastside have been in the spotlight for years. Recent media reports have once again highlighted unsafe and inadequate conditions in some buildings, which can be owned by the province, the city, charitable organizations, or by private landlords.

Eby says SROs are “not fit housing” and should be replaced with “dignified” options, adding they can no longer be part of the solution for those experiencing homelessness.

Related articles: 

• B.C. premier’s plans for the new year include keeping rental prices from skyrocketing

• Eby resolves to keep spending in new year, remove Vancouver homeless encampments

• More housing units being built for Vancouver’s unhoused

• Volunteers in Vancouver’s DTES take a fresh approach to helping those in need

• Eby vows to transform Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

“The SROs are actually feeding into our homelessness problem because during the summer, when they’re unlivable for people, they move out and they sleep in the park instead, even though they have a place that’s technically fit for them to live. It is not acceptable to me, it is not acceptable to British Columbians,” he said Monday.

The premier insists planning to phase out SROs in the DTES is underway, noting first meetings have been had with service providers and stakeholders to try to come up with a unified vision for the community.

“For the Downtown Eastside as a whole, we need an integrated plan and we need someone to bottom line it, and that’s why the provincial government has stepped up to do that work,” Eby explained.

“We’re going to address it but it will take some time. We didn’t get here overnight in the Downtown Eastside — I was working on these issues when I was a baby lawyer in the Downtown Eastside many years ago. Disturbingly, the Downtown Eastside, I haven’t seen it worse. So we’re going to take the leadership, we’re going to make the commitment to British Columbians that we’re going to do the work that’s needed. The SROs are one symptom of the larger problem we face in the Downtown Eastside and we’re not going to let it slide, we’re going to work on it.”

Issues reported at SROs have ranged in severity over the years. In some cases, residents have reported broken heating systems and elevators for weeks, while others have raised concerns about cleanliness and sanitation. Many have also been destroyed by fires, with 2022 marking an especially trying year for SROs in Vancouver.

The Balmoral Hotel, located on East Hastings Street, was shut down in 2017 due to the terrible conditions at the SRO. The building is slated for demolition in 2023, with the city saying it hopes to complete that work by the late fall.