‘This is an emergency:’ BCGEU continues campaign for 2020 rent freeze

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Many renters in B.C. have already received notices of a 2020 rent increase but the BC Government Employees Union is continuing a campaign to freeze rents in the province as part of their push to make housing more affordable.

An online petition to stop the annual rent hike has gathered more than 12,000 signatures.

“We have as a province reached a breaking point and we need a break from the endless rent increases. Any more increases in rent will put many people at risk of losing their homes or forcing them to stay in bad living conditions because they have nowhere else to turn,” the petition reads, noting the average rent for a one bedroom in Vancouver has increased by 83 per cent since 2016.

RELATED: Vancouver rents reaching new highs: $2,200 for one bedroom, over $3,000 for two

The petition is part of a broader campaign by the union–which represent 80,000 members in both the public and private sectors–to make housing more affordable in the province, according to Treasurer Paul Finch.

“We realized this campaign was essential because regardless of what wages we were negotiating and continue to negotiate, our members income is still being eroded by these massive increases in the cost of housing,” he explains.

He says rents need to go down, not up in order for most British Columbians to afford housing.

“We’re in a housing crisis and this is an emergency. People can not afford these prices, so we need to freeze rents.”

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Finch says the fact some renters have already received notices of increase doesn’t mean advocating for this measure is unnecessary, nor does it mean that achieving it is impossible

“There’s many people who have received an increase but there’s many people who haven’t. There may be some people where you can’t roll back that increase, but we have to consider there’s a tremendous amount of other people who will see that frozen,” he explains. “Looking on a go-forward basis this would still be hugely beneficial.”

Rents are set to go up by a maximum of 2.6 per cent in 2020. The average rent for a Vancouver one-bedroom is $2,200 a month. The increase for someone paying that much will be $57.20 per month, or $686.40 per year.

RELATED: Maximum rent increases in B.C. set at 2.6 per cent for 2020

Finch says a rent freeze will not solve the housing affordability crisis, but identifies it as a crucial stop-gap measure.

“The rent freeze is just one avenue to acknowledge the public’s anger and the need for more action on affordability,” he says.”We are not only planning to continue to campaign to freeze rents.We believe we have the solution needed to fix this crisis.”

He points to two plans the union has produced outlining what they have determined government needs to do to make housing affordable, one for the province and one for local governments.