The bylaw, which will replace the existing tenant assistance policy, could require a tenant assistance plan as a condition of getting a demolition or development permit.
The District of Saanich is about to put some teeth into its protections for renters affected by redevelopment.
Council voted this week in favour of having its staff develop a tenant protection bylaw to replace its existing tenant assistance policy.
The policy — and eventually the bylaw — requires developers to provide assistance to tenants who will be displaced by redevelopment and can include financial compensation, assistance finding alternative rental housing, covering moving costs and offering the right of first refusal in the new development at 20% below market rent.
The tenant protection bylaw will be developed this year before coming back to council for approval.
District staff suggested a tenant assistance plan be required as a condition of getting a demolition or development permit.
The need for a plan would be triggered by any property re-development that would displace five or more tenant-occupied units. Non-market housing would be exempt.
Amanda Blick-McStravick, planning analyst with the district, said the bylaw will be stronger than the existing policy because the district will be able to better enforce it, possibly through ticketing and fines for developers or withholding of permits.
Blick-McStravick said staff will create a new tenant protection development permit area that would encompass the entire district, as part of the Official Community Plan.
That would mean developers have to comply with the tenant protection bylaw as a condition of their development permits, with the requirements to be triggered early in the redevelopment process.
“It would future-proof where pre-zoning is implemented going forward, as a development permit area would apply regardless of the zoning of the property.”
Demolition permits would not be issued until development permit area conditions are met and the district is satisfied tenants will be supported.
The tenant assistance policy is currently only triggered by rezoning applications.
Staff recently completed a two-year review of the tenant assistance policy, which was enacted in the summer of 2023. Only one rezoning application in that period fit the criteria for the requirement to provide tenant assistance.
Coun. Teale Phelps Bondaroff said people who are being “renovicted” — evicted for renovations — are in a vulnerable situation, and the district needs a bylaw that can adequately protect them. “And also I appreciate us being proactive in the district foreseeing potential challenges in the future.”
Coun. Zac De Vries said the bylaw will help protect renters at a time when the vacancy rate is low and the district is encouraging new housing development.
Some of the pressure is coming because Saanich has paved the way for new development in the district’s “villages” and “centres,” where a lot of rental is currently located, he said.
“We put them right in the crosshairs of new,” De Vries said. “We’re trying to reduce pressure on the types of rental housing that offer some of the most affordable rental and housing options in the district.”
Blick-McStravick said the tenant protection bylaw is important, as most of the district’s purpose-built rental stock is approaching the end of its life.
Renters who are displaced from that more affordable and secure housing are likely to face rent increases of $500 to $1,000 per month, she said, noting the October 2024 vacancy rate was still very low in Saanich at 1.4%.
“It’s very challenging to find alternative rental housing in our community.”
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