Over 10 per cent of renters in B.C. report being evicted.
A new study out of the University of British Columbia finds the amount of evictions that take place in B.C. is far higher than in other provinces by B次元官网网址渁lmost four percentage points.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淲hen that number came outB次元官网网址� I was very surprised,B次元官网网址� said researcher Craig Jones. B次元官网网址淚 knew that was going to be the key finding of the work that we were doing.B次元官网网址�
The Sept. 2021 study is called . It looks at data collected in 2018 from the Community Housing Survey to determine the extent of evictions and to compare them between provinces.
B次元官网网址滻n that survey, they asked people a lot of really interesting questions that to our knowledge werenB次元官网网址檛 really being asked,B次元官网网址� Jones said, adding that before the survey, B次元官网网址渢here really was no way to compare that experience in B.CB次元官网网址� to the rest of the country. Now at least weB次元官网网址檝e got the beginning of an evidence base in this.B次元官网网址�
According to the study, 10.6 per cent of renters in British Columbia reported at the time being evicted within the past five years, B次元官网网址渕ore than any other province or territory whereas less than four per cent of renters were evicted within five years in Manitoba, Qu茅bec, and Nunavut.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淎fter controlling for other sociodemographic characteristics, being aged 45-54, living in British Columbia and having a shelter cost to income ratio above 50 per cent are risk factors for eviction,B次元官网网址� it continued.
The survey also concluded that people who are evicted have lower self-reported levels of health and mental health, as well as lower levels of life satisfaction and increased financial difficulty.
The way evictions work in B.C. is different than in other jurisdictions. Most of the time, landlords have to file a legal request to begin the eviction process. In B.C., the landlord just has to serve a notice to the tenant.
B次元官网网址淏ecause of that, there is a ton of cases where tenants may receive notices and then choose to move out and we wouldnB次元官网网址檛 know how many those are,B次元官网网址� said Robert Patterson, a lawyer with the Tenant Resource and Advisory Centre (TRAC). B次元官网网址淎t some point in most other jurisdictions, somebody in a position of power or decision making authority has to look at an eviction and say B次元官网网址榳ell this makes senseB次元官网网址� or B次元官网网址榯his doesnB次元官网网址檛 make sense.B次元官网网址� It meets the legal requirements or it doesnB次元官网网址檛. In B.C., our system doesnB次元官网网址檛 actually require anyone to do that.B次元官网网址�
Since many evictions do not get reported in B.C., the information from the survey provides a more accurate eviction rate, which could inform future policy.
One such route could be to change how landlords can evict tenants for B次元官网网址渓andlordB次元官网网址檚 own use,B次元官网网址� which are when the landlord wants to use the property themselves. A recent change to B次元官网网址渞enovictionB次元官网网址� rules could be an inspiration, Patterson says.
B次元官网网址淭he change that was made this summer is now that if a landlord wants to do thatB次元官网网址� They have to be the ones who pay the filing fee and begin the legal process and puts their evidence on the table first so the tenants can see what is actually going on,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淥ne of the ways we can tell itB次元官网网址檚 been successful is that we can see a massive uptick in clearly bad faith evictions of other kinds, especially the two month notice for landlord use, where they say theyB次元官网网址檙e moving in.B次元官网网址�
Not all evictions are in bad faith, but Patterson says that B次元官网网址渞equiring landlordsB次元官网网址� to begin the process with the Rental Tenancy Board, to file and provide their evidence first would be incredibly helpful in cutting down those bad faith evictions.B次元官网网址�
Some policy changes have already taken place since this data was collected. However, the pandemic, which started after the 2018 Community Housing Survey, has also had an effect.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e seen a 20-25 per cent increase in people contacting TRAC for all sorts of reasons since the beginning of the pandemic. The number one issue has always remained evictions,B次元官网网址� Patterson said. B次元官网网址淚t also just caused more stress on all the parties, which led to more conflict, tension and therefore evictions. ThereB次元官网网址檚 been a huge demand.B次元官网网址�
Another Canadian Housing Survey was conducted earlier this year, and Jones and his team plan to do a similar study of the data when it is available.
B次元官网网址淎s far as I know, we didnB次元官网网址檛 have any way of estimating what renter eviction rates are across the country,B次元官网网址� Jones said. B次元官网网址淲e didnB次元官网网址檛 know how the different provinces and territories compared to each other. The fact that B.C. has a pretty high eviction rate compared to the other provinces, and that difference is statistically significant.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 really hope this study brings more attention to how this process works and how many people are getting evicted,B次元官网网址� Patterson said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 pretty crazy.B次元官网网址�
The full study is available .
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