Under the current law, when a rental apartment becomes vacant, the landlord can jack the rent as high as they want.

Over the past four years, the average tenant in Vancouver was paying $1,560 in monthly rent, but if they had to move they found that the average rent for available apartments was $1,820. Any tenant who had to move by necessity or force faced a 17% rent increase. 

But with rent control, when a landlord rents out an apartment, the rent has to be the same as it was for the previous tenant.

Rent control will make a huge difference in tenants’ lives:

1. It eliminates the economic incentive for landlords to evict long-time tenants.
2. If you have to move, you’ll find that rents for available apartments will be much lower than they are today.
3. Citywide rent control will stop rents from spiraling out of control over the long term, saving governments billions of dollars compared to building replacement social housing units.
4. Reduced rents will put money back in the pockets of tenants, allowing you to shop at local businesses and support local arts and culture.