B.C. Government announces renter support, halts evictions

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Osoyoos Times Staff

The B.C. Government is issuing rental relief funding directly to landlords, halting evictions and freezing rent increases across the province in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

The government announced a supplement of up to $500 a month towards rent on top of federal and provincial financial supports already announced earlier this week. The funding will be delivered through BC Housing.

“We can’t guarantee it will be in (people’s) pockets by April 1,” said Premier John Horgan.

“You have a relationship with your landlord, let’s all hope that they’re good relationships and you’re going to have to find a way to work this out together,” Horgan said. “We are going to work to get the resources in people’s hands as quickly as possible and I want to also recognize that $500 does not seem like an enormous amount.”

However, the supplement comes on top of other funding initiatives announced by the province and federal government, Horgan said.

The province is planning for the worst, the premier said, with the rental supplement covering all of the roughly 500,000 renters in B.C. and will go towards renters experiencing a loss of income. The funding will be paid directly to landlords on renter’s behalf.

“People are feeling a lot of fear and anxiety and they need to be able to depend on the comfort and stability of home right now. Our government is taking steps to help take some of the pressure off renters and landlords and protect people’s health,” said Selina Robinson, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. “We’re helping renters pay rent and giving them the peace of mind that they have a stable home in these unprecedented times, and ensuring that landlords can count on some rental income right now to keep them afloat too.”

The province’s Residential Tenancy Branch will implement several additional actions, including adjourning and rescheduling hearings in situations where people need additional time to prepare and extending timelines for filing applications for dispute resolution.

The province is halting the enforcement of existing eviction notices issued by the Residential Tenancy Branch, except in “extreme cases where there are safety concerns,” Robinson said.

The smaller number of court-ordered evictions are up to the courts, which operate independently of government, she added.

Annual rent increases are now frozen during the state of emergency and landlords are now prevented from accessing rental units without the consent of the tenant (for showings or routine maintenance), except in “exceptional cases where it is needed to protect health and safety or to prevent undue damage to the unit,” the province stated in a press release.

The province is restricting methods that renters and landlords can use to serve notices as well to reduce the potential transmission of COVID-19 by disallowing personal service and allowing email.

Landlords are also ordered to restrict the use of common areas by tenants or guests to protect against the transmission of COVID-19.

Visit the B.C. Government’s COVID-19 provincial support and information page to access programs and information.