290 search results for
Homeless & housing insecure people
Recommendation 78:
The sector has identified increased substance use and overdoses as a result of the pandemic. The Coalition recommends low-barrier services that are implemented through a harm reduction lens, providing youth with a safe supply, and increasing the number of youth-specific treatment programs. The lack of treatment supports for youth is compounded by the risks associated with Bill 22 without the appropriate services for youth to transition into after being detained.
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Recommendation 7:
The relevant provincial ministries should engage in extensive education and outreach to legislators and staff across the provincial government, and local governments to introduce the stigma-auditing tool to law and policymakers, and to train stigma auditors.
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Recommendation 103:
The provincial Residential Tenancy Act needs to be amended as follows:
- The Act must cover all housing, including residents of social housing, nonprofit SROs, supportive housing, and temporary modular housing. People living in supportive housing should not be subjected to restrictive rules that violate their basic tenancy rights.
- The Act must tie rent to the unit, not the tenant, so landlords cannot renovict tenants to increase rents. The Act must also tie landlord rights to increase rent with obligations to maintain property and to comply with orders made by the Residential Tenancy Branch.
- Extend the ‘right of first refusal’ to tenants to return at their renovated unit at the previously payable rent in order to prevent renovictions. Also extend right of first refusal to all tenants, not just those living in residential complexes of more than five units.
- When evicting a tenant on grounds that the landlord or a close family member intends to move in, require the landlord to file a statutory declaration indicating their relationship to the family member and that they intend to occupy the unit for at least six months.
- Extend the grace period for non-payment of rent to 20 days; eliminate the Direct Request Process for non-payment of rent; and allow arbitrators discretion to consider contextual factors and refuse an order of possession for failure to pay rent.
- Provide tenants the right to a warning before getting an eviction notice for cause and require automatic dispute resolution hearings for all evictions, where landlords initiate eviction proceedings by applying with the Residential Tenancy Branch in order to receive a registered eviction notice and schedule a mandatory hearing.
- Develop a property maintenance policy that outlines a breadth of health, safety, and security standards.
- Create more robust enforcement mechanisms at the Residential Tenancy Branch to stop fraudulent evictions and to ensure landlords are adhering to maintenance obligations; amend criteria and lower the threshold for accepting investigation requests; increase the deadlines and expand the grounds for Review Consideration; and introduce a wider breadth of penalties that are imposed more often.
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Recommendation 69:
The Province should work with financial institutions, municipalities, and People of African Descent community groups and housing experts to support the establishment of land trusts, social enterprise housing corporations, and rent-to-own units that will provide credible alternative approaches to house and land ownership, beyond conventional mortgage financing.
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Recommendation 71:
The Province should increase funding for People of African Descent organisations and tenant support agencies to provide free advice on housing investments, and rent support programs targeted at People of African Descent in economic precarity.
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Recommendation 72:
The Province should commit to working with the Hogan’s Alley Working Group to deepen the long term involvement and investment of the Black Community in the future life of the historic 898 Main Street block in Vancouver through the exploration of land trusts, long term leases, or other arrangements as appropriate.
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Recommendation 58:
The Province should advocate to the Federal government to ensure ineligible youth who have accessed the CERB are not accumulating debt during the pandemic. Youth should obtain a pass and not have to pay back CERB or be given longer grace periods.
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Recommendation 1:
The Province of British Columbia must amend the Human Rights Code, RSBC 1996, c 210 to prohibit discrimination and harassment based on social condition.
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Recommendation 3:
The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction must make immediate changes to BC’s Income Assistance and Disability Assistance programs including:
- increasing income assistance rates to the Market Basket Measure and indexing them to inflation;
- reviewing the processes that are currently in place for reporting “welfare fraud” to provide greater accountability and ensure that people receiving income assistance are not denied survival income without due process;
- increasing access to in-person services for income assistance and disability applicants; and d. ensuring that people living with disabilities can access disability support by:
- simplifying the application process to reduce wait times and lessen reliance on advocates;
- providing provincial guidelines for doctors/service providers on how and when to fill out disability forms; and
- ensuring that hospital social workers are resourced and directed to work with patients in need to apply for disability benefits.
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Recommendation 11:
The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, in partnership with the MHMA, should issue a directive stating that no public funds may be used for private security patrols on public property, including in public parks.
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