Victoria City Council Decisions
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When a demolished rental building is replaced, what rent should a returning tenant pay?
Estimated time: 3 minutes (3 questions)
When a rental building is demolished to make room for new development, the existing tenants must move out. Victoria’s Tenant Protection During Redevelopment Bylaw sets out what a developer must provide for displaced tenants, including compensation based on length of tenancy, moving costs, and help finding a new home; compensation is covered under Survey (add name when decided).
The bylaw also gives each displaced tenant the right to return to the new building at a reduced rent if the building includes rental units. The developer must offer the tenant the chance to return to a comparable unit, with the same number of bedrooms and a reasonably similar size as their previous unit.
The rent for a returning tenant is set by formula, not by the tenant’s old rent. It must be at least 20% below the market rental rates the City prescribes for new rental buildings; because those rates reflect rents for new buildings, the discounted rate may still be significantly above what a long-term tenant would have been paying in the building that was demolished.
As of March 5, 2026, the City’s prescribed rate for a new one-bedroom rental unit is $2,160 a month, so the most a returning one-bedroom tenant can be charged is about $1,728.
In April 2011, CMHC’s rental market survey put Victoria’s average one-bedroom rent at $796. A tenant who had rented that unit since 2011, with rent increasing by BC’s maximum allowable amount each year, would be paying about $1,190 today. If the building were demolished and the tenant returned to a one-bedroom in the new building at the required discount, the new rent would be about $540 a month higher, an increase of roughly 45%. A longer-term tenant could face an even larger increase.
In July 2026, City staff reviewed the bylaw and recommended keeping the right-of-first-refusal rent discount at 20% and advised Council that any changes leading to more tenants returning to the new buildings “would quickly erode feasibility for rental housing redevelopment.”
Staff proposed one adjustment: where a returning tenant’s previous rent and the discounted rate differ, the tenant would pay whichever amount is higher, a rule the City’s Tenant Relocation Guide already states. Council members approved the full package of recommendations unanimously on July 30, 2026.
The revised bylaw is not currently in force and will come back to Council for a final vote in the fall of 2026.
The staff report contains no statistics regarding how many tenants who have been displaced due to development have ever used the right-of-first-refusal option.
Primary sources: City of Victoria Tenant Protection During Redevelopment Bylaw No. 25-044 • City of Victoria Affordable Housing Standards Bylaw • City of Victoria staff report, “Review of Tenant Protection Bylaw Compensation Requirements,” July 15, 2026 • Meeting agenda, staff report and meeting video, July 30, 2026, Committee of the Whole • CMHC Rental Market Survey, Victoria average rents, April 2011 • BC Residential Tenancy Branch, maximum allowable annual rent increases, 2012 to 2026 • City of Victoria Tenant Relocation Guide
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