Housing and Municipal Affairs
Landlords and renters will benefit from new measures that enhance supports, while disputes continue to be resolved quickly and fairly.
“Through our government’s investments in the Residential Tenancy Branch, we’ve reduced wait times for renters and landlords by an average of 70% since November 2022,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs. “Today, we’re introducing more measures to ensure landlords and renters receive additional supports, can continue to build strong partnerships, and have confidence they’ll be able to get advice and resolve disputes in a timely manner, should issues ever arise.”
The Province is introducing regulation changes and enhanced web content to further improve services and increase the confidence of renters and landlords. This includes:
- aligning notice periods to end a tenancy to be consistent with the recent change requiring homebuyers to give renters three months’ notice of eviction;
- creating more transparency for landlords and renters by publishing the outcomes of monetary orders;
- changing landlords’ requirements for holding onto a tenants’ abandoned property; and
- equipping landlords and renters with the guides and tool kits they need to better navigate hearings.
These changes build on significant improvements in Residential Tenancy Branch hearing wait times, reducing risk for renters and landlords, and ensuring faster resolutions when someone breaks the rules. These improvements have been funded through a $15.6-million investment to enhance services at the Residential Tenancy Branch.
Instead of waiting nearly three months for a hearing to resolve disputes for unpaid rent and utilities, these hearings are being heard in approximately a month. Among Canada’s provinces and territories, B.C. is now a national leader for low wait times for dispute-resolution hearings.
Since 2017, the Province has been providing stronger protections for renters, while also ensuring landlords can take action on problematic tenancies. This includes changes to deter and punish bad-faith evictions, implementing strict rules to prevent illegal renovictions and capping annual rent increases to inflation. This approach helps keep rental units on the market, while allowing more renters to find a home in the community they love.
Learn More:
To access the new Residential Tenancy Branch guides and tool kits, and other information sheets, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/calculators-and-resources/information-sheets-resources
To access residential tenancy resources, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies
To learn about steps the Province is taking to tackle the housing crisis and deliver affordable homes for British Columbians, visit:
https://strongerbc.gov.bc.ca/housing/
To learn more about other recent notice period adjustments, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024HOUS0141-001239
A backgrounder follows.
