July 29, 2022 

The Vancouver Tenants Union stands in solidarity with the Our Streets Statement on the Hastings Street Tent City Fire Order. The VTU calls on the City of Vancouver to immediately end the order to decamp unhoused residents in the Downtown Eastside.  

We are in the middle of a pandemic, a toxic drug supply crisis, and a heat wave. It is an act of sanctioned murder for the City to dismantle these encampments during an extreme heat warning, particularly when there is nowhere to go for shade or shelter. When Our Streets asked what housing options would be made available to residents being decamped, they were given no answer. This violates the City’s MOU on decampment and pushes unhoused residents into life-threatening danger.

***For immediate release***

March 2, 2022

At our General Meeting on February 20, VTU members passed a motion supporting the following municipal policy demands...

We beat the developer and put a fighting spirit back into the Union

Eight demovicted tenants at 326 Nanaimo St. fought to get the relocation they were promised by the City of Vancouver, with the organizing help of VTU, and support of the broader community. 

A Perspective from a Renovicted Tenant Who Qualifies for TRPP

https://soundcloud.com/vancouverhousingstories/episode-1-whos-got-the-power

Vancouver Housing Stories is a podcast mini-series where each episode takes a different approach to stories about renting in Vancouver. The series features six Vancouver-based storytellers and artists using pre-recorded tenant interviews to develop their own storytelling and audio practices, while considering the topic of housing.

Could changes in Vancouver’s municipal housing policy make a difference in a city of people battling skyrocketing rents and constant evictions?

Following Cllr Jean Swanson’s motion to protect tenants from renovictions and aggressive buyouts - which VTU members rallied council to pass last December - city staff completed their final report back and recommendations...

Five months after the disappointing Rental Housing Task Force report, the provincial government is still dragging its heels on action against renovictions and other tenant protections.

Vancouver Cllr. Jean Swanson is bringing a motion to City Council next Wednesday, April 3 to stop giving subsidies (in the form of Development Cost Levy (DCL) waivers) for the construction of luxury, unaffordable rentals incorrectly named "affordable for-profit market rentals".

On December 4th Vancouver city council voted unanimously in favor of an amended motion to ban renovictions.

It is a partial victory, but a victory nonetheless.