VICTORIA, B.C.: Despite months of public assurances the Province is listening to neighbourhood concerns by implementing Residential Tenancy Act exemptions to allow for the removal of problematic tenants, the NDP government is quietly continuing to advance their agenda of allowing drug use in government-funded supportive housing projects.
The NDP Ministry of Housing released a new Minimum Requirement Checklist for Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for permanent supportive housing. Under the new checklist, proponents must confirm the following:
- Residents are entitled to full tenancy protections under the BC Residential Tenancy Act;
- The project will operate under a minimal-barrier harm reduction model;
- And residents will be allowed to use illegal substances on-site.
These requirements reveal the Province is not changing course, but instead is doubling down on a supportive housing model that has failed residents, workers, and neighbourhoods across British Columbia.
“Conservatives oppose the NDP supportive housing model that allows open drug use on-site,” said Claire Rattée, Critic for Mental Health, Addictions and Housing Supports.
Rattée continued, “Supportive housing, as designed and implemented by this government, has normalized drug use, entrenched those struggling with addiction, and created serious public safety issues while offering no clear pathway to recovery.”
Steve Kooner, Critic for Attorney General said “while the NDP claim they are responding to public concern by tightening tenancy rules, these RFP requirements quietly lock-in policies that make accountability nearly impossible and place communities at risk. Full tenancy protections combined with minimal-barrier harm reduction and on-site drug use leaves operators with few tools to address dangerous or disruptive behaviour.”
British Columbians were promised change. Instead, they are seeing the same failed approach repackaged and implemented behind closed doors.
“We should be investing in treatment-focused housing, recovery-oriented supports, and real accountability, not expanding a system that enables ongoing drug use,” Rattée. “Communities deserve honesty, transparency, and a housing strategy that prioritizes safety, recovery, and responsibility,” she added.
“Permitting on-site drug use while granting full tenancy protections leaves operators with few tools to address dangerous or disruptive behaviour. That lack of accountability fuels disorder and puts communities at risk,” added Kooner.
The NDP government must explain why it continues to advance this destructive agenda despite an abundance of evidence that supportive housing, as currently structured, is simply not working.
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Media Contact:
Francesca Guetchev, Communications Officer
Francesca.Guetchev@leg.bc.ca
+1 (672) 922-0948
