Courtney Collins was shocked after transferring to Greater Victoria from Ontario and discovering that almost all B.C. leases say “no pets” of their listings.
“In Ontario, you don’t see that on ads,” mentioned Collins. “I don’t understand.”
After transferring to her mom’s home in North Saanich in 2021 together with her three cats, Kitten, Leo, and Morgy, she determined the flaw was inside the residential system quite than her proudly owning “too many pets.”
According to the B.C. Residential Tenancy Branch, Canadian legislation doesn’t acknowledge having a pet as a human proper. In Ontario, pet clauses are particularly banned. However, landlords in B.C. are inside their rights beneath the Residential Tenancy Act to ban pets of their rental models. This excludes renters with a incapacity who depend on an animal in reference to their incapacity.
Andrew Sakamoto of the Regional Tenancy Branch media centre echoed the sentiment.
“Under the Residential Tenancy Act, landlords are totally within their rights to restrict pets,” mentioned Sakamoto.
This domino impact can affect not solely the pet house owners but in addition the shelters. Collins, who works with native rescues, says it has elevated the variety of stray cats and dogs she tends to.
“There a lot of people who come into the SPCA, not just because of COVID when everyone got a pet but because people simply can’t find homes that will let them have pets,” mentioned Collins. “Cats, dogs and fish even.”
She says it’s put a stereotype on pet house owners, and whereas she agrees with a number of the causes, she added that individuals in B.C. appear extra involved with materialism than companionship. Collins says she even typically sees unhoused folks with pets, largely dogs.
Working in renovation building herself, she says that in her earlier rental suites, she has paid for any essential renovations out of pocket.
“It could be the most disgusting building, still no pets allowed,” mentioned Collins.
Frustrated with the shortage of ample housing, she sought suggestions from native landlords on-line and was much more upset with the responses she obtained.
Victoria resident and landlord Michelle Leblanc says she wouldn’t hire out a set to pet house owners or these with young kids due to the potential cost of repairs and utilities.
“The risk to our home isn’t worth it. We haven’t even touched on all the other risks like increased chance of fire or flood, or any other possible damage that could occur with the best of tenants,” mentioned Leblanc. “It’s not worth it to wipe out over a year’s profit for a risk I don’t have to take.”
Collins says a center floor may be reached between tenants and landlords.
“Maybe people can meet in the middle somewhere and pay higher deposits. I’ve been seeing a lot of abandoned animals, and it’s quite sad,” mentioned Collins.
On Oct. 10, the provincial authorities introduced that extra new properties for folks could be accredited sooner by eradicating paper-only software limitations that enable folks to use for secondary suites on-line. Despite extra housing quickly to be available, since it’s as much as the owner’s discretion to permit pets, many have nonetheless been left and not using a place to name home.
Collins finally discovered an affordable suite in Saanich, however mentioned the journey to get there was disconcerting.
“It’s just ridiculous,” mentioned Collins. “I find that B.C. has a huge sense of entitlement. It’s already hard enough to rent and it’s expensive, and then if you have pets, you’re pretty much screwed.”
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