In July 2018 the BC Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) made a submission to the provincial government's Rental Housing Task Force recommending measures to expand and better protect the supply of rental housing in the province. Today, the Task Force released its report and 23 policy recommendations that will help to improve life for tenants in B.C.

The BCGEU's submission focused on three main areas: resourcing and reforming the Residential Tenancy Branch; reforming residential tenancy law and regulations; and increasing the supply of affordable rental housing.

In today's report, the union is pleased to see a recommendation to empower the Residential Tenancy Branch to be more responsive, accessible and proactive in meeting the needs of renters as well as recommendations to stop renovictions and speed up the return of damage deposits. However, the BCGEU is disappointed the report does not move forward on important issues like vacancy control which applies existing rent control policies to new tenants as well as existing ones, adequately addressing rental supply, and implementing a land value capture tax across the province.

In the coming days, the BCGEU will conduct an in-depth analysis of the report, particularly to examine recommendations relative to the union's report Building an Affordable B.C., co-authored by CUPE 1767 President Jared Melvin and Vice President Harpinder Sandhu.

View the BCGEU's submission to the Rental Housing Task Force here: https://www.affordablebc.ca/rental_housing_task_force_submission
 
View the report Building an Affordable B.C. here: https://www.affordablebc.ca/our-plan
 
The BCGEU is one of the largest and most diverse unions in British Columbia, representing over 77,000 members across the province.

This release was originally posted to the BCGEU's website. The original release can be found here.