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When tenants are displaced due to redevelopment, what is an appropriate level of compensation?
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; it includes compensation based on how long the tenant has been resident in the building, coverage of moving costs, and help finding a new home.
The compensation in force today is detailed in the table below and provides a maximum of six months’ rent for tenancies exceeding 19 years.
The developer must also present the tenant with at least three comparable rental options in Greater Victoria. An additional one month of rent is required if no alternative accommodation is found. Moving costs must be covered, currently in the amounts of $800 for a bachelor or one-bedroom unit, $1,100 for a two-bedroom unit and $1,500 for three bedrooms or larger, or the developer can pay for professional movers instead.
An additional component relating to tenant assistance includes “right to return”: this aspect of the bylaw is covered under Survey – the right to come back. It pertains to the developer’s obligation to offer a displaced tenant the ability to return to the new building at below market rent if the new building includes rentals.
On April 25, 2025, Councillor Stephen Hammond brought forward a motion directing staff to consider increasing tenant compensation and setting guaranteed minimum amounts: no less than two months’ rent for a tenancy of up to two years, plus an additional month’s rent for each further year of tenancy, to a maximum of 18 months’ rent. The guaranteed minimums would have applied to every displaced tenant, whatever the project.
On May 1, 2025, Councillor Jeremy Caradonna moved to remove the specific minimums from the motion, and that amendment carried 5 to 4. The motion was left as a direction that staff study what the impact of an increase would be but with no specific minimums attached. Councillor Hammond voted against his own motion once the guaranteed minimums were removed.
The compensation study was returned to Council in July 2026, 14 months after the initial motion passed. Staff proposed the following incremental increases to compensation:
| Length of tenancy | In force today | Staff proposed (not in force) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 year or less | 2 months’ rent | 2 months’ rent |
| More than 1 to 5 years | 3 months’ rent | 3 months’ rent |
| More than 5 to 9 years | 4 months’ rent | 4 months’ rent |
| More than 9 to 19 years | 5 months’ rent | 5 months’ rent |
| More than 19 to 20 years | 6 months’ rent | 5 months’ rent |
| More than 20 to 30 years | 6 months’ rent | 12 months’ rent |
| More than 30 to 40 years | 6 months’ rent | 18 months’ rent |
| More than 40 years | 6 months’ rent | 24 months’ rent |
At the July 30 meeting, staff said their consultation focus was on the development community, but that they also spoke with a couple of other groups. Those groups are not mentioned in the written report.
On July 30, 2026, Councillor Hammond moved to add increases for mid-length tenancies to staff’s proposed compensation requirements, in steps every five years; that amendment passed 7 to 2.
The full package of recommendations passed unanimously, which included the new compensation tiers, increased moving-cost amounts, and an update to the rent rates for the right to return.
At this time, the increased compensation is not in force. The bylaw with revised wording and specified minimums and increments will come back to Council for a vote in the fall of 2026; therefore, a tenant displaced due to development before then will receive the compensation required by the existing bylaw.
Primary sources: City of Victoria Tenant Protection During Redevelopment Bylaw • Official meeting record and meeting video, May 1, 2025, Committee of the Whole • Official meeting record, May 15, 2025, Council • Meeting agenda, staff report and meeting video, July 30, 2026, Committee of the Whole
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