Defend Broadway Tenants

A cartoon building appears to be falling on a tenant standing underneath.

The city and developers promise they will solve the housing crisis with a spread of towers along the Broadway corridor - and Tenant Relocation and Protection policies for those of us displaced by the proposed developments.

What we are seeing, instead, is the destruction of our homes, tenants harassed to leave or forced to chase down developers for compensation, while others find ourselves out in the cold due to loopholes in the policy.

The impacts of the Broadway Plan have been felt by tenants since its inception, and tenants living in this area are increasingly seeing these claims for the myths they are. Written by tenants living in the Broadway Plan area, this page details and debunks five common myths about the Broadway Plan.



MYTH #1: The Broadway Plan will provide affordable housing for Vancouver

REALITY:

  • In most new rental buildings proposed under the Broadway Plan, 80% of units are market-rate units. Some new buildings proposed now are 100% market-rate rental housing.
  • “Below-market” units, which make up the remaining 20% of units in many new rental buildings, are also not affordable housing. When these units aren’t claimed by tenants exercising their right of first refusal, units will be priced at 80% of the CMHC city-wide average rent calculation. The city claims that these below-market units are meant to be affordable for moderate-income households, which they define as households earning $30,000 to $80,000/year. However, if we look at the most recent CMHC city-wide average rents (Oct. 2024), even a studio apartment priced at the below-market rate would not be affordable (i.e. costing ⅓ or less of one’s monthly income) for an individual earning less than $45,000/year.
  • The city’s Below-Market Rental Housing Policy for Rezonings document does not require landlords to reserve below-market units for households earning less than $80,000/year. It is not clear what would prevent landlords from renting out all of these units to higher-income tenants. 



MYTH #2: Increasing density will make rental prices affordable

REALITY:

  • The idea that increasing density will decrease rental prices is widespread. But it depends on a simplistic ‘supply and demand’ view of economics  that has been discredited by economists and planning experts.
  • The City of Vancouver has been courting developers and the creation of high rises since the 1970s, tripling the amount of housing units (more than any other North American city). None of this has alleviated the housing crisis in Vancouver.
  • Densification re-shapes the nature of a neighbourhood in the process, as smaller scale landlords often raise their rents to narrow the price gap with new developments. These inflationary gains bolster the speculator market with only minimal affordable rentals offered in exchange.
  • The ability of densification to lower rental prices depends on what kind of housing is being built. But densification usually means the building of privately owned, for-profit housing. This often displaces tenants in truly affordable housing in order to build new high-income housing. 



MYTH #3: The Tenant Relocation and Protection Plan protects tenants living in the Broadway Plan area 

REALITY:

  • Major gaps in the TRPP leave many years-long tenants ineligible for protections. In some proposals, ⅓ of the tenants would be displaced without support finding a new place to live, without the right to return to new buildings, and without rent top-ups or financial compensation as outlined in the TRPP. They have no guarantee of being able to stay in their neighbourhoods or in Vancouver after getting demovicted.
  • For those who are eligible, it is unclear how existing protections can be enforced. While the city claims that staff will work with developers through the TRPP process, there are currently no laws in place to ensure that renters receive the Broadway Plan protections they are owed.
  • The policy gives developers a pass to destroy our homes and an incentive to force long term tenants out. Landlords frequently pressure tenants to leave early and do everything they can to delay or avoid providing tenants compensation they are owed. To do so, Tenant Relocation “Specialists” are hired by developers to accelerate the displacement process.
  • Further, the implementation of these protections depends upon there being places for tenants to go while a new tower is built where they used to live. Vancouver has a very low vacancy rate, meaning there are not many options for tenants looking for new places to live. And, there is currently no limit on the amount of development applications submitted in the Broadway Plan area. As a result, Vancouver may have even more tenants looking for a place to live in the coming years. 



MYTH #4: The Broadway Plan area offers the strongest renter protections in Canada

REALITY:

  • Other places in Canada have policies protecting tenants that we don’t have here in BC, including in the Broadway Plan area. One of these policies is vacancy control, which prevents landlords from raising rents as much as they want in between tenants. Vacancy control regulations existed in BC between 1974 and 1984, and many have been fighting to bring them back. 
  • In 2022, the Vancouver Tenants Union published a detailed report that outlines what stronger renters protections could look like in Vancouver. Those include a right to strike, rental transparency and the right to remain.



MYTH #5: People who oppose Broadway Plan rezonings are NIMBYs.

REALITY:

  • It’s true that some people are against the Broadway Plan because they are wealthy homeowners who primarily want to protect the property value of their homes. But many tenants are against the Broadway Plan because it will result in them losing their homes and because it doesn’t address the root cause of the housing affordability crisis in Vancouver: profit-driven developers and landlords.  
  • We may need more housing in Vancouver. But the answer to this problem isn’t to tear down existing affordable housing, to target areas that are already dense, and to leave empty lots empty. We should instead prioritize the building of non-market and co-op housing. 



Ok, so our neighbourhood is under attack and the city is on the developer’s side. What do we do then? 

  • We talk to our neighbours, organize and fight! Our strength is in our numbers!
  • From experience, we know that the Broadway Plan protections were not simply given to tenants by City Hall. They were fought for and won by tenants organizing to protect their homes. 
  • Starting in 2015, tenants in Metrotown - a majority of working class and immigrant communities - held rallies and actions against Mayor Corrigan’s approval of the destruction of Metrotown’s three and four stories walk up. After a squat, the occupation of the mayor’s office and becoming a major force of change in Burnaby, Derek Corrigan lost his 27 year reign to his anti-demoviction opponent, Mike Hurley, who hurried to start Burnaby’s Tenant Relocation Policy in 2019.
  • In Vancouver, as soon as the Broadway Plan was announced, the Vancouver Tenants Union led actions and a massive door knocking effort to connect with the tenants affected by the plan. Organizers spent over 330 hours speaking with hundreds of tenants along Broadway. The resulting report, the Renters Plan, outlined principles which informed Vancouver's own watered-down TRPP policy, which includes no. No vacancy control or right to organize, but a limited financial protection and right to return. 
  • Despite media articles drooling over the “strongest renter protections in Canada”, the reality is grim for those of us caught in the path of Vancouver council’s real estate dreams. As tenants in the Broadway Plan area know too well by now, the Plan prioritizes profit over our homes. Protections for tenants that do not include vacancy control, an end to street sweeps, or the recognition of tenants unions and the right to collective bargaining are and will always be weak because they center housing as a commodity and not a necessity. This is why we continue to fight and call on every tenant in the city to organize and join us!



Sources and further readings:

Comments on application for 2245-2283 W Broadway, Shape Your City

 

See next page: What can I do?

DONATE to the Vancouver Tenants Union

Mailing Address:
Unit 216 - 268 Keefer Street
Vancouver, BC V6A 1X5

Unceded and occupied territory of the səl̓ílwətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.

Email: [email protected]

Sign in as an admin

Created with NationBuilder