FOI Data Showed Significant Number of Vacant Publicly-Funded Housing Units
Monday, April 14, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VANCOUVER, BC – Data obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request indicated that as of December 31, 2024, a combined 191 units of supportive housing and single-room occupancy (SRO) housing operated by PHS Community Services Society and Lookout Housing and Health Society were recorded as vacant.
An additional 151 units were categorized as having “data update pending”, meaning their status—occupied, vacant, non-habitable, or unavailable—was not confirmed. Units with missing data may have included those under renovation or otherwise unsuitable for occupancy, but their precise status remained unverified.
Together, this FOI reflected 2,086 supportive housing and/or SRO units managed by these two providers. The overall vacancy rate across both portfolios was 9.16% with an additional 7.24% of units having unverified occupancy status.
The average last known occupancy across all 191 vacant units was 353 days prior to the reporting date. On average, these units were vacant for 11 months and 18 days before the report was produced.
Some buildings recorded significantly higher vacancy rates. When excluding units with data pending, five buildings had confirmed vacancy rates exceeding 20%:
- PHS’s 844 Johnson Street: 20.41%
- Lookout’s Tamura House Redevelopment: 21.3%
- Lookout’s Canada’s Best Value Inn: 21.74%
- PHS’s The Hazelwood Redevelopment: 23.36%
- Lookout’s The Walton Residence Redevelopment: 27.66%
Provider Breakdown:
PHS Community Services Society
- Total units considered: 1,235
- Occupied: 977
- Vacant: 112 (9.07% vacancy rate)
- Units with data pending: 146 (11.82%)
- Last recorded occupancy dates:
- Maximum: August 31, 2020; Average: January 7, 2024
Lookout Housing and Health Society
- Total units considered: 851
- Occupied: 640
- Vacant: 79 (9.28% vacancy rate)
- Units with data pending: 5 (0.59%)
- Last recorded occupancy dates:
- Maximum: November 30, 2022; Average: January 2, 2024
Weather conditions on December 31, 2024, reached a high of 5°C and a low of 3°C, according to AccuWeather.
There were 37 buildings surveyed: 21 buildings in Vancouver totaling 1,309 units; 3 buildings in New Westminster totaling 87 units; 4 buildings in Victoria totaling 314 units; 2 buildings each in North Vancouver (71 units) and Abbotsford (72 units); and 1 building each in Surrey (61 units), Langley (46 units), Campbell River (40 units), Duncan (34 units), and North Cowichan (52 units).
This point-in-time FOI release, limited to two BC Housing-funded non-profit providers, raised significant questions about how vacancies are tracked and how long supportive housing and SRO units remain inaccessible. The study faced limitations in accessing real-time occupancy data and indicated potential delays in both unit turnover and reporting. The figures pointed to a need for more transparent and consistent occupancy monitoring across supportive housing programs—particularly in light of the high combined vacancy rate of 9.16% during the coldest part of the year.
This project was privately funded by individual members of the BCHAC. The fee for accessing the enclosed FOI records was $270.
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Media Contact:
Ashley Shapiro
Chairperson
British Columbia Housing Action Coalition
admin@bchac.org