Advocacy Issues

In honour of National Pet Day on April 11, we’re partnering with the BC SPCA to improve conditions for tenants and their animal companions by encouraging the BC Government to prohibit no-pet clauses in multi-rental unit housing.

Both FIRST UNITED and the BC SPCA have witnessed the heartbreaking impacts of a lack of pet-friendly housing.

For tenants, we’ve seen that blanket pet bans contribute to displacement and homelessness in B.C. and have a particularly negative impact on vulnerable groups like women escaping violence, youth, 2SLGBTQAI+, and seniors.

For pets, housing challenges are one of the primary reasons the BC SPCA sees for surrender requests of healthy animals, despite these animals already having loving families that desperately want to care for them. Since 2014, over 12,400 pets have come into the BC SPCA’s care for housing reasons.

To address this issue, we’re partnering with the BC SPCA to encourage the Ministry of Housing to make necessary changes to the Residential Tenancy Act and follow through on the BC NDP’s 2024 election promise to “end bias against pet owners in purpose-built rental housing.”

In September 2025 and March 2026, we submitted recommendations to amend the RTA to prohibit pet restrictions in rental buildings with five or more units. See a summary in the box below.

In terms of landlord compensation for potential pet damage, the existing mechanisms are more than adequate, and pet bans are not necessary. Research also shows that tenants with pets provide stability and economic benefits to landlords.

Landlord lobbyists have expressed, without evidence, the idea that pet damage exceeds the pet damage deposit. However, we conducted a detailed review of the RTB decisions on pet damage and the compensable damage was less than tenant deposits in more than 82% of cases. On average, the compensation awards amounted to 71.3% of the dollar value of deposits already held by landlords.

We propose a balanced solution in which only landlords with five or more units of housing are prohibited from using blanket pet bans. This change recognizes the difference between small and large landlords and the important role that single-unit owners play in the rental housing market in BC. For a landlord that owns a large building, or even a few units, it’s illogical to forego hundreds of thousands of dollars in rental revenue based on speculations about pet damage.

Research and data collected through our BC Eviction Mapping Project documents displacement, homelessness, and inadequate housing due to not being able to find housing where the landlords would allow pets. This causes harm to individuals, families and communities, and social and economic harm; we’ve documented construction and healthcare workers unable to live in the communities where they work due to pet bans.

Through the Eviction survey, we heard from respondents who were negatively impacted by the lack of pet-friendly housing:
o“I have a government registered service dog, and even with the SD designation, it was nearly impossible to find housing with a dog. I was only able to find one rental that would take me in the lower mainland.”
o “It is incredibly difficult to find a rental that allows pets. As an aside, I work as an ICU/ER nurse; Vancouver is hemorrhaging healthcare workers desperately needed because of the housing crisis.”
o “It took over a year to find this rental as we have a pet. After one year it was put up for sale and started having showings.”
o “It was difficult to find something I could afford. I also have a dog and pet friendly places are few and far between and more expensive.”

Our policy submission demonstrates that removing pet bans is a matter of equity and inclusion, providing evidence that the vast majority of pet damage, when it does occur, is covered by pet deposits. These barriers and impacts are preventable and could easily be reduced by moving forward on the promised legislative amendments, making pet-friendly rentals the norm, rather than the exception.

“While we recognize that some landlords and housing providers have legitimate concerns about allowing pets, FIRST UNITED’s ground-breaking research proves that these are the exception, not the norm, and not a valid reason for widespread pet bans and restrictions,” says Sarah Herring, government relations officer for the BC SPCA. “Studies from other jurisdictions have shown that, on average, tenants with pets do no more damage than tenants without, and now we know this is also true in British Columbia. Landlords and housing providers should be more confident about housing people and pets together, knowing that over 82% of pet damage claims in the past eight years were fully covered by the pet deposits permitted by the Residential Tenancy Act”.

To help create more opportunities for people and their pets to access safe, affordable housing together, the BC SPCA recently published a Pet-Friendly Housing Toolkit for Non-Profit Housing Providers. The resources in the Toolkit were developed based on input from non-profit housing providers; however, they encourage market rental owners, managers and stratas to use the Toolkit to create their own pet-friendly programs. To learn more about the BC SPCA’s pet-friendly housing advocacy and the importance of housing people and pets together, go to https://www.spca.bc.ca/pet-friendly-housing.

“People should not have to choose between surrendering their pet and having a home,” says Sarah Marsden, Director of Systems Change and Legal for FIRST UNITED. “The BC SPCA’s new Pet-friendly Housing Toolkit provides an invaluable resource to address the most common challenges that housing providers face in offering pet-friendly housing, including pet agreements and pet care resources for tenants. By setting up both housing providers and tenants for success, this toolkit helps ensure that people and pets have access to the secure, long-term housing that everyone needs.”

FIRST UNITED and the BC SPCA are not the only ones calling for these important changes:

• Representative polling conducted on behalf of the BC SPCA in 2022, 2024 and 2025 indicated that the majority (over 60%) of British Columbians want the provincial government to take action on pet-friendly housing.
• In 2023, the Union of BC Municipalities, which serves as a common voice for B.C.’s local governments, and the provincial Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services called for the provincial government to engage with housing stakeholders to find solutions to increase the availability and affordability of pet-friendly housing while providing appropriate protections for landlords.

We’re calling on British Columbians to contact their MLA to urge them to follow through on the government’s promise to create more pet-friendly housing across the province. We also encourage everyone to share the toolkit with their landlord, strata or housing provider to help start a pet-friendly housing conversation.

Residents of the Downtown Eastside are in danger of experiencing major displacement and homelessness. Zoning changes in the DTES are being tabled at City Council next week (Dec. 9) and we need to mobilize to resist gentrification that will cause more harm to low-income members of our city.

The City is proposing zoning amendments that will drastically reduce the number of social housing units and affordable housing for low-income residents in the Downtown Eastside/Oppenheimer District (DEOD).

Click to expand for details on what the changes include.

Changes include:

Decreasing the amount of social housing units required to be part of new developments in the area. Right now, developments are required to have 60% of their stock dedicated for social housing and the remaining 40% can be rented at market rate. Proposed policy changes would require only 20% units be for social housing, and 80% at market rate. This will change developers’ obligations when they replace Single Resident Occupancy (SRO) buildings, which provide housing of last resort for our neighbours who would otherwise be homeless. Right now, anyone redeveloping this kind of building has to replace each unit on a 1:1 basis. With the proposed changes, developers will only be required to replace 50-80% of those critical housing units.

“Social housing” would go from currently requiring at least 33% of units be rented at “shelter rates” ($500 per month for an individual) to just 20%. For example, under the proposed amendments, a new 100-unit development would only have 4 units available at shelter rates.

Public ownership of social housing units would no longer be required. Developers would own 100% of the building and lease back the social housing portion, meaning any public money or incentives (like government grants) end up subsidizing private ownership.

More market rate units in the neighbourhood will mean increased speculation in the area and increased land values. This will make building social housing more expensive, property taxes will increase, and rent will go up. This will no doubt lead to accelerated evictions and displacements.

We need your help to show Council that Vancouverites are standing up against gentrification and land speculation and that we need MORE, not less, affordable housing options!

Send a pre-written email below to City Council that you DO NOT support zoning changes in the Downtown Eastside as it will lead to devastating impacts for residents of the community.

You can also sign up to speak at City Council on December 9 at: https://vancouver.ca/your-government/request-to-speak-at-a-public-hearing-form-3.aspx.

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“I had to sell all of my belongings and now I live in my vehicle, as I need to stay in the lower mainland but cannot find a house in my price range that will accept a pet.”

No one should have to choose between their pet and their home. But in BC 1.6 million renters bear the brunt of the housing crisis and with the lack of affordable housing options, there are even fewer for people who have pets.

The lack of pet-friendly rental options in BC is a barrier to safe housing for pet owners, especially those with lower incomes.

Pets are valued and loved members of many households across the province. Because of the physical and emotional benefits of pet ownership as well as the health and accessibility aspects, restricting pets in rentals is a fairness and human rights concern.

The lack of pet-friendly rental housing was a common theme we found in our BC Eviction Mapping Project. Tenants reported displacement, downsizing and even homelessness due to not being able to find housing that would accommodate their pet.

“[I had] Difficulty finding somewhere to move that allowed pets, had to move to a rougher neighbourhood, further away from work.”

In the BC NDP’s 2024 provincial election campaign, Premier David Eby promised to “stop pet evictions in purpose-built rentals” and recognized that no person should have to choose between their pet and their home.

We call on the provincial government to uphold that promise and prohibit pet bans in rentals. This will help protect the most vulnerable tenants, uphold their rights, and save them from having to choose between safe housing options or homelessness.

“The worst part this time around is that I think [I] have to leave my dog for a few months … We’re looking for pet friendly housing, but I just can’t afford the upfront costs all at once right now when inflation is hitting so hard.”

Use your voice and join us to stand up for tenants and pets across BC. Send a letter to your MLA asking them to prohibit restrictions on pets in any rental housing with five or more units.

You can read more about our suggestions for amendments to the RTA, outlined in our new law reform platform.

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