Update May 29, 2022:
BCA Councillor Sav Dhaliwal, Pietro Calendino, and myself are advocating for a policy review, focused on the minimum sizes of non-market units. This policy will mean that it's a non-negotiable for developers.
At previous council meetings, BCA Councillor Pietro Calendino and myself raised issues around the sizes of the units that developers were putting forward. Many of these applications had a discrepancy — for equivalent bedrooms, stratas were significantly bigger than those that were non-market, CMHC median rental, and even some market rentals.
Our comments asking for equivalency in unit sizes have meant that staff are now asking developers to ensure that those living in rentals and affordable units weren’t forced into smaller apartments.
I also made a number of comments about our Tenant Assistance Policy and ensuring that we’re protecting those who may be precariously housed. The Tenant Assistance Policy will be reviewed this Fall, when we’ll hopefully strengthen an already good policy.
