Tenant Protection Bylaw

Hi E Hollingsworth, more information about rental redevelopment projects in the last 10 years are included in the "Report (2026-02-03)" under the Documents tab on p.3. 

Of the rental sites with redevelopment approved since 2017, five have been demolished with two of those five are intended to be replaced with new rental buildings. Two of the other sites were redeveloped with strata units, and one was redeveloped for a commercial building.

Hi Chris, thanks for your questions. Please see the responses below:

1. In recent years, the City has been informally involved in cases where older motels were demolished for redevelopment because the City processes the approvals for the redevelopment projects. The City was more directly involved in the tenant relocation for the former Sheilings Motel on Galt Ave, as it was purchased by the City for a road infrastructure project. A local non-profit housing provider supported tenant relocation before demolition. Through consultation with tenant groups, specific issues related to redevelopment evictions arose.

2. The Province purchased the Skaha Assembly motels over a period of time around 2021, although one site had been under provincial ownership since at least 2009. BC Housing is following their tenant relocation procedure as demolition was completed. Their procedure sets a higher standard than the proposed City bylaw by providing the equivalent number of units in Phase 1 of the Skaha Assembly project (i.e. right of first refusal for impacted tenants). More information on that project can be found here: Penticton – Skaha Assembly Redevelopment | Let's Talk Housing BC 

3. Feedback can be shared up until the March 3rd Public Hearing. Staff referred development industry and tenant groups in November 2025. While we did not receive formal comments form development industry groups, development industry partners informally shared the similarities of this proposal with City of Kelowna's bylaw, noting the regionally-aligned approach in terms of requirements and compensation. 

4. The range of compensation depends on the size of the building to be demolished, and the rents paid. In some case examples, it would be around 1-3% of the assessed land value.

5. Similar examples in the region are the City of Kelowna Tenant Protection Bylaw and the City of West Kelowna Tenant Protection Policy. Many more communities in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island have had policies for many years and are working towards bylaws under the new Provincial authority. City staff meet regularly with colleagues in other Okanagan communities to see how we can align on various housing policies, while recognizing each community has its own local context we need to take into account. 

6. The City has issued building permits for over 3,400 new units since 2017 (rental or ownership). In 2025 alone, over 300 new rental units were issued building permits.

Hi Cary, this proposed bylaw stems from Council's direction when considering the impacts of tenant displacement due to redevelopment of larger (5+ unit) long-term rental properties. 

The Council report included in the "Documents" section of this webpage provides more of the background information on this proposal. 

The bylaw intends to enhance housing security through transitions, mitigate the risk of homelessness upstream, and supplement baseline provincial requirements under the Residential Tenancy Act - which the province will continue to enforce.

Thanks, Frank. The City has narrow authority given by the Province under Bill 16 (2024) to supplement the Residential Tenancy Act with a tenant protection bylaw. Mobile/manufactured home parks are considered under different provincial legislation; the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act. The City does not have authority to have the proposed bylaw apply to mobile/manufactured home parks.

That said, in 2006 City Council approved a Mobile Home Park Redevelopment Policy, which is still in effect and would be triggered at the rezoning application stage for any proposed redevelopment of a mobile home park. Since that policy has been in place, no rezoning applications for mobile home parks have been submitted.

If you'd like to share comments directly with City Council on this matter, you may email publichearings@penticton.ca or attend the March 3 Public Hearing (virtually or in-person).

Thanks Cary. For additional background information, Council directed staff to explore this broad idea after considering the rezoning of the El Rancho site, recognizing the high number of affected residents displaced when that project redevelops and what would happen in other similar cases. 

The province, through Bill 16 in 2024, has given narrow, optional authority to local governments to pass bylaws to supplement the baseline Residential Tenancy Act requirements in the case of rental housing redevelopments only. 

Almost all new housing developments in Penticton are on vacant or underutilized sites which would not fall under this proposed bylaw's criteria.

If you'd like to share comments directly with City Council, you may email publichearings@penticton.ca or attend the March 3 Public Hearing (virtually or in-person).

Thanks for the comments, patgreig. If you'd like these comments to be considered by City Council before their decision on this proposal, you can email publichearings@penticton.ca or attend the March 3rd Public Hearing (in-person or online).

For clarity, the proposed bylaw would only apply to redevelopment (demolition) of rental housing with 5 or more units. It would not apply to redevelopment of single homes or buildings with 4 or less units, and it would not apply in cases where a landlord ends a tenancy for any other purpose than for redevelopment.

Hi 5050, thanks for question and comments. City Council is the decision-maker on this proposed bylaw. If you wish to share your feedback directly with Council, you may do so through email to publichearings@penticton.ca or at the March 3rd Public Hearing.

This proposed bylaw would only apply to the redevelopment (demolition) of rental buildings with 5 or more units. Looking at past data, we have seen 5 such properties demolished in the last 9 years. We expect a similar rate carrying forward, meaning additional staff will not be required to carry out the bylaw requirements. Supplementary compensation costs paid by the developer will be a small portion of a new development's overall cost to build, and the new development is likely to have more units/floor area than the demolished buildings, helping to offset the impacts.