World · North America · 7 hrs ago
Vancouver landlords fined $90,000 over overcrowded rooming house
Vancouver landlords were fined $90,000 after authorities found serious problems at a rental home in East Vancouver.
An inspection in July 2025 found the home near Commercial Drive had been divided into 21 rooms for at least 17 tenants.
The city ordered people to leave the property the following month.
The Residential Tenancy Branch found the landlords failed to meet legal health and safety standards and did not complete urgent plumbing and electrical repairs.
The fine was $85,000 for one violation and $5,000 for another.
A city councillor and tenant advocates say illegal subdivisions and unsafe changes have been seen in multiple Vancouver buildings, and argue fines may not match the harm to tenants.
The house could bring in $11,000 a month in rent and is listed for sale for $1.4 million.
Landlords in Vancouver were ordered to pay $90,000 after subdividing a single-family home near Commercial Drive into a rooming house.
A July 2025 inspection found 21 rooms and at least 17 tenants, as well as bathrooms and plumbing fixtures added without permits.
The Residential Tenancy Branch found the landlords failed to meet health, safety and housing standards and did not complete urgent plumbing and electrical repairs.
The city issued an order to vacate in August 2025.
Tenant advocate and city councillor Stephanie Smith said the fine was not proportional to the harm tenants could face.
- Who
- The landlords of the property. Stephanie Smith, a Vancouver city councillor and former tenant advocate, commented on the case.
- What
- The landlords were ordered to pay $90,000 for violations involving an illegally subdivided rooming house.
- When
- The inspection took place in July 2025, and the city issued an order to vacate that August. Global News published its report on November 10, 2026.
- Where
- A house near Commercial Drive in East Vancouver.
- Why
- The Residential Tenancy Branch found the landlords failed to meet legal health, safety and housing standards and did not complete urgent plumbing and electrical repairs.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
An inspection found the house had been subdivided into 21 rooms with at least 17 tenants and unpermitted additions.
The City of Vancouver issued an order to vacate the house.
The Residential Tenancy Branch found the landlords had failed to meet required standards and ordered $90,000 in payments.
- Fine
- $85,000 for the first violation and a $5,000 penalty for the second
- Rooms
- 21
- Tenants
- At least 17
- Potential monthly revenue
- $11,000
- Listed sale price
- $1.4 million
What people are saying
The practices that I saw described in this decision are regrettably practices that I have seen elsewhere over the course of my time representing tenants, and then more recently from tenants in the Vancouver Tenants Union who have been organizing in buildings
I have noted and tenant advocates have noted, that the penalties that can be assigned by the RTB (Residential Tenancy Branch) Compliance and Enforcement Unit are not proportional to the harms that can be done to tenants
I think that this is a scene that actually is something out of Vancouver’s past from the 1800s, when they used to just stack people, new and young Canadians, into these places