Eviction: A Top Contributor to BC’s Housing Instability

You might be surprised to learn that eviction poses a threat to renters across income levels, sometimes even affecting those with a household income of $100,000 and up. BC renters are facing record-low vacancy rates in Canada, so staying in their current homes is often the key to staying housed. Unfortunately, many renters aren’t given the option to stay.

When renters are forced to move out of their homes, it’s not easy, and sometimes not even possible, to find a new place to live. In the lowest income households, 92% of BC renters were forced to leave their neighbourhoods after eviction, according to BC’s Eviction Crisis: Evidence, Impacts and Solutions for Justice, a report by First United. More often than you’d expect, there are simply no good options, forcing individuals and even families to live out of their vehicles following an eviction.

In that same study by First United, it was found that Indigenous people make up 14% of evicted renters, even though they only make up 6.5% of renter households in British Columbia.

The Most Common Reasons for Eviction in BC

Whether an eviction is technically “no-fault” or “at-fault,” renters are often not prepared to move on to another stable living situation.

The top three reasons for eviction in BC are:

No-fault evictions — “landlord’s use”

• “Landlord’s use” evictions are when landlords claim that they or a new owner will be occupying the rental unit. According to UBC researchers, “landlord’s use” evictions are why BC has the highest eviction rate in Canada. Renters evicted for “landlord’s use” are more likely to face larger rent increases than other types of evictions. This worsens housing instability, or forces renters to get into debt or leave their communities behind.

At-fault evictions

• At-fault evictions involve a breaking of the lease agreement, and are either behavioural (e.g. property damage or illegal activity) or economic (e.g. rent has gone unpaid). At BC Rent Bank, we understand and acknowledge the systemic factors that can contribute to eviction issues, such as discrimination, inadequate wages, and low rates of social assistance.

Informal evictions

• According to First United’s report on BC’s eviction crisis, just over a quarter of renters (who responded to the survey) were evicted by “informal” means. This is when the landlord has used illegal methods of eviction, such as changing the locks, refusing maintenance, or harassment. Renters who are evicted informally don’t have a clear path forward to assert their rights.

According to a study by UBC’s housing research collaborative, “no-fault” evictions are often financially motivated. A popular reason given for evicting tenants was once “renovictions,” where landlords could claim they needed the rental unit vacated for renovations. Legislative changes, where applications and evidence from landlords became a requirement, have led to this particular type of eviction disappearing almost entirely. Further progress was made when the BC Government implemented more residential tenancy changes in July 2024, including increasing the amount of notice a tenant receives, and the amount of time they have to dispute an eviction. Unfortunately, eviction rates continue to be a problem.

How do Rent Banks Provide Eviction Prevention and Shelter Diversion Support?

Rent banks are one part of a broader system of eviction prevention and shelter diversion that helps people hold onto their housing when times get tough.

At BC Rent Bank, we partner with a network of local rent banks. Services are available through this network to not only provide financial assistance, but also to connect renters with government and community benefits focused on increasing their housing stability, and helping them get back on their feet.

Rent Banks Provide Eviction Prevention and Shelter Diversion Support By:

• Advocating on behalf of individuals to landlord/tenancy boards and utilities corporations.
• Mediating and guiding conversations between individual renters and their landlords.
• Referring renters to other agencies for access to food, clothing, transportation support, and other services that support physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
• Helping renters access government subsidies, grants programs and/or benefits for which they may be eligible.
• Connecting renters to financial literacy and debt relief services.

Our network’s comprehensive services and non-judgmental approach help alleviate stress and ensure people have a plan to maintain their housing.

Working to Address Eviction for Indigenous Renters

We also understand and acknowledge that Indigenous renters are disproportionately impacted and face higher rates of eviction. With guidance from Lauren Brown at the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AHMA), we’ve shown our commitment to address these realities with the following actions:

• We’ve surveyed each of our partners to understand their relationships with local Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led organizations, to help inform the cultural safety training being provided to front-line staff.
• We’ve adapted our onboarding materials to ensure they’re culturally appropriate.
• We’ve held a series of conversations with groups like AHMA, Metis Nation BC, Hiyam Housing, and others to ask how we might better serve Indigenous renters.
• We’re exploring the possibility of partnering with Indigenous-led organizations to deliver rent bank services.
• We’ve introduced a demographic survey to our online applications to understand better who we are (and are not) serving.
• This fall, we’ll gather all of our rent bank partners together and provide two days of training focused on cultural safety and vicarious trauma.

Eviction prevention increases housing stability for renters. What’s more, the benefits gained by the people we support have a ripple effect throughout the province.

Who Else Benefits From BC Rent Bank’s Eviction Prevention Work?

Communities

• Housing and health are interrelated. Safe, affordable housing is a building block for the wellbeing of any individual and it costs everyone when people in our communities become unhoused.

Other Renters

• Each time an individual leaves a rental property, the landlord is allowed to increase the rental rate. This means that, while keeping a renter will not free up a new rental space, reducing rental turn-over helps keep rental prices lower.

Landlords

• Landlords have to absorb the cost of missed rent payments and, if a renter is evicted, incur the expenses of finding new renters.

Social Service Agencies

• Fewer individuals are seeking support from services that are already often at capacity, such as shelters.

Experiencing eviction first-hand can be traumatic for renters, and looking at the bigger picture, housing instability erodes communities.

Find out how you can support our program to improve housing stability in BC.

Are you a renter experiencing housing instability? Find your nearest rent bank to learn more about your legal rights and responsibilities, and get support.