Estimating no-fault evictions in Canada

tags

Housing

BC has an unusually high eviction rate, explained by no-fault evictions

Notes

Executive summary

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British Columbia continues to have the highest eviction rate in the country. 10.5% of renter households in British Columbia reported being forced to move from April 2016 to early 2021 (the five years prior to data collection), compared to 5.9% nationally.

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85% of evictions reported by renter households in British Columbia in the five years prior to data collection were no-fault evictions, compared to only 65% nationally.

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self-reported life satisfaction and mental health were significantly lower for tenants who had experienced an eviction

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Introduction

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Canada is an international leader in eviction rates, trailing only the US among 20 OECD countries.

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85% of eviction applications in Toronto in 2002 were for rent arrears.

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Between 2004 and 2017, only 4% of applications for eviction dispute resolution to the Residential Tenancy Branch in Metro Vancouver involved the landlord’s use of the property, while 39% involved disputes over rent payments.

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administrative data is not representative of all evictions.

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our research estimates the proportion of all evictions experienced by renter households in Canada, including evictions that are not recorded in administrative data,

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Methods

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Data

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relies on microdata from the 2021 CHS

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Estimating eviction rates

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the target population of these measures leaves out people who did not move into rental housing after being evicted,

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Regression analyses

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Results

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Evictions are concentrated in British Columbia

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No-fault evictions drive BC’s elevated eviction rates

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64.7% of renter households who reported an eviction within the past 5 years reported experiencing a no-fault eviction

NOTER_PAGE: (10 0.8183306055646482 . 0.11970338983050847)

In British Columbia, this proportion was significantly higher. 85.4% of reported evictions were no-fault evictions.

NOTER_PAGE: (10 0.8608837970540099 . 0.6822033898305084)

At-fault eviction rates are very similar across the country.

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significant differences in no-fault evictions across provinces.

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No-fault evictions explain the entire gap between British Columbia’s overall eviction rate and the national average

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Only 5.5%, or about 1 in 20 evictions, are exclusively due to tenants missing rent payments or other financial hardship.

NOTER_PAGE: (13 0.3068739770867431 . 0.5783898305084746)

COVID-19 and Evictions in Canada

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despite all the eviction bans that were implemented, at least 38,900 – 68,080 renter households were evicted during the first year of the pandemic in Canada.

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National eviction rates

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Among all renter households in Canada, 12.5% (1 in 8) indicated that they have ever experienced an eviction.

NOTER_PAGE: (15 0.4754500818330606 . 0.15889830508474576)

252,878 – 330,686 renter households containing 530,298 – 770,434 renters were evicted between April 2016 and April 2021.

NOTER_PAGE: (15 0.5924713584288053 . 0.1239406779661017)

Tenants with private landlords are most likely to have experienced evictions

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Eviction rates remain elevated for Indigenous peoples

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evictions are significantly less likely for renters over the age of 75

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Evictions are related to lower life satisfaction

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Life satisfaction is nearly a full point higher for renters who have not experienced an eviction

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Conclusion

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Appendix

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