Whereas the Province of British Columbia regulates annual allowable residential rent increases through the Residential Tenancy Regulation, BC Reg. 4772003, to protect lower income renters from housing insecurity; And whereas there is currently no similar provincial policy to protect small businesses or community-serving commercial tenants from unsustainable, unpredictable, and increasingly significant rent increases: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the Province of British Columbia to provide local governments with the legislative authority to enable special economic zones where commercial rent control and demorenoviction policies could be applied to ensure predictability in commercial lease costs, so local small businesses and community-serving commercial tenants can continue to serve their communities.
Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs The Province does not intend to enable local governments to intervene in commercial leases. Commercial tenancy agreements are private contracts. They are governed by the Commercial Tenancy Act and the Rent Distress Act, not the Residential Tenancy Act. While commercial and residential tenancies are contracts between landlords and tenants, there is variation in the nature of the agreement between landlords and tenants in both types of tenancies. Commercial tenancies can vary substantially depending on what the landlord and tenant agree to and, as such, there are no set terms for commercial tenancy agreements. In 2022, the Community Charter was amended to add section 198.1 Development Potential Relief. Municipal councils may, by bylaw, apply a reduced tax rate to the assessed land value of certain occupied commercial and industrial properties in Class 5 Light Industry andor 6 Business and Other. The intent is to provide business occupiers of properties with development potential a reduction in property taxes where warranted.