B.C. has highest no-fault eviction rate in Canada

British Columbia has the highest rate of no-fault evictions in Canada, but some landlords say the province's tenancy rules make it too hard for landlords to raise rent and evict tenants for valid reasons.

British Columbia has the highest rate of no-fault evictions in Canada, but some landlords say the province's tenancy rules make it too hard for landlords to raise rent and evict tenants for valid reasons.

No-fault evictions for landlords to renovate, demolish, sell or inhabit a unit, make up about 85 per cent of evictions in B.C., according to recent research from the University of British Columbia.

And they happen nearly twice as often in B.C. compared to the rest of Canada, with some housing experts citing low penalties and rising market rents as incentives for landlords to end tenancies under false pretences, in order to raise rents for the next tenant.

But LandlordBC CEO David Hutniak says the high rate of no-fault evictions is driven by landlords selling their properties to people who want to live in them themselves, because they are unable to raise rents to keep up with their mortgages.

"You cannot survive on negative cash flow year after year after year," Humeniuk said on Thursday (May 18).