Dear Residents of British Columbia, 

I am writing to request your help in petitioning multiple Members of Legislative Assembly in the Vancouver area, with the intention of banning BC landlords from evicting tenants who acquire pets during the duration of their stay. For the purposes of presenting this to our representatives, I am focused on collecting signatures within British Colombia, Canada only. Thanks to all others for your interest, and keep up the fight!

The British Columbian guidelines around petitioning state that "residents of the Province of British Columbia have the right to petition their legislators", and that "a petition is a request that the Legislative Assembly take some specific action... to redress an alleged public grievance" (Petitions, n.d.). The grievance referred to, in this instance, is the lack of support for BC pet owners in an already notoriously difficult housing market. More specifically, the intention of this petition is to have British Columbian laws updated to match those surrounding the issue in the Province of Ontario. 

As per Section 14 of The Residential Tenancies Act of Ontario: 

"A provision in a tenancy agreement prohibiting the presence of animals in or about the residential complex is void."

(Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, SO 2006, c 17, <http://canlii.ca/t/54r12>)

This section, while not applicable to any municipal or residence-specific by-laws, ensures that any stated ban on animals contained within a rental listing is void, including when explicitly listed in a rental contract (Renting with Pets, n.d.). 

Pet-friendly housing is not a privilege, it is inherently vital to our communities. In a province that is lucky enough to have sufficient animal re-housing services (i.e. the BC SPCA), which reduce the number of strays, and provide animal protection, education, and rehabilitation, an absence of laws securing pet-friendly housing reduces the intended effectiveness of these already-overwhelmed institutions. According to the SPCA's own 2018 petition to the Rental Housing Task Force, "1706 animals were surrendered to the BC SPCA for housing-related reasons" in 2017, "representing one out of every five pets surrendered by their owners" (SPCA, BC, 2017). Additionally, the financial and otherwise inaccessible nature of pet-friendly housing places an undue burden on British Columbia's pet-owners, particularly in large cities. 

However, with your help, we can help to end this unfounded discrimination, and provide safe housing for animals and owners both. With the ever-increasing rates of rental inflation in British Columbia, reducing as many housing barriers as possible has become more important than ever before. Thank you, and please consider signing below!

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Articles Cited

“SO 2006, c 17 | Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 | CanLII.” 2022. Canlii.ca. 2022. http://canlii.ca/t/54r12

Renting With Pets | Can A Landlord Refuse My Pet In Ontario? (n.d.). Oduraa Legal Services. Retrieved July 4, 2022, from https://www.oduraalegalservices.ca/blog/can-landlords-refuse-pets-in-ontario

“Petitions.” n.d. Www.leg.bc.ca https://www.leg.bc.ca/content-parliamentary-business/Pages/Petitions.aspx

SPCA, BC. “BC SPCA | June 2018 | Rental Housing Taskforce Written Submission.” https://spca.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/BC-SPCA-Rental-Housing-Taskforce-submission-June-27-2018.pdf 2018. https://spca.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/BC-SPCA-Rental-Housing-Taskforce-submission-June-27-2018.pdf

 

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