BC Housing is Broken — And People Are Hurting

 BC Housing is Broken — And People Are Hurting

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

BC’s housing crisis is not an abstract “policy challenge.” It’s real, it’s urgent, and it’s destroying lives right now.

The Reality on the Ground

• The shelter allowance for people on income assistance is still $500/month. That hasn’t been updated in decades. You can’t rent even the smallest room for that anywhere in BC.
• BC Housing has too many hoops — endless paperwork, income tests, and years-long waitlists.
• If you work part-time or gig jobs, you’re “too rich” for help but still far from being able to afford rent.
• If you go on assistance, you’re harassed to job-hunt in markets where there’s little or no work. In Surrey, for example, many jobs require fluent Punjabi, which shuts others out entirely.
• Even people working — walking dogs, cleaning homes, doing gig jobs — are forced to couchsurf, live in unsafe spaces, or face homelessness.

This is not a small gap. It’s a gaping hole in the safety net.

---

Unequal Access — A Divisive and Avoidable Problem

I want to be clear: this is not about blaming newcomers. Everyone deserves a safe, affordable home.

But I’ve seen with my own eyes that newcomers — refugees, immigrant families, international arrivals — are often placed quickly into co-op housing or other subsidized units. These placements happen through special programs that do not exist for low-income BC residents who have lived and worked here for years.

Meanwhile, locals — including seniors, people with disabilities, and the working poor — are left couchsurfing or waiting for years with no housing solution.

This is a policy failure. BC’s housing crisis should be addressed for everyone in need, equally and urgently. Helping one group faster while leaving another behind only fuels division.

---

What Needs to Happen Now

1. Raise the shelter allowance immediately to reflect real rental costs.
2. Expand housing benefits to all low-income earners, not just those on assistance.
3. Fix BC Housing’s application system so it results in actual housing, not just paperwork.
4. Build non-market housing and co-ops at the pace of the crisis — not at the speed of bureaucracy.

---

A Message to Leaders

Premier David Eby, BC Housing, Mark Carney, Elizabeth May — this is your responsibility.

People are hurting. Ignoring this crisis will have consequences for public health, safety, and trust in government. We are tired of being told to “wait” while the cost of living and homelessness skyrocket.

The time for polite delays is over.

---

Signed,
Tina Winterlik
Zipolita