The Residential Tenancy Act (19:I)

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by the Law Students' Legal Advice Program on August 2, 2023.

Landlord-tenant law was written to protect the rights and identify the responsibilities of both landlords and tenants. The law serves to prevent and resolve disputes that may arise within a tenancy in the clearest and lowest-conflict manner possible. This guide seeks to provide basic legal information, including the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords and about the processes available for resolving disputes between tenants and landlords.

The primary source of landlord-tenant law in British Columbia is the Residential Tenancy Act [RTA]. The Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act, SBC 2002, c 77 [MHPTA] is a counterpart to the RTA that applies to owners of manufactured homes who rent the site on which their homes sit.

The RTA sets out the rights and obligations of landlords and tenants. When a tenancy starts, there should be a tenancy agreement in place. A tenancy agreement means an agreement, whether written or oral, express or implied, between a landlord and a tenant, respecting the possession of a rental unit, the use of common areas and services and facilities. It also includes a licence to occupy a rental unit.

A. Premises and Persons Subject to the RTA

1. Effective Date

The RTA applies to all residential tenancy agreements entered into before or after the date the Act first came into force. The RTA was modernized in 2004.

2. Infants

Tenancy agreements entered into by persons under the age of 19 are enforceable under s 3 of the RTA.

3. Excluded Premises and Agreements

s. 4 of the RTA sets out a list of situations which are not covered by the RTA.

Where a tenant is living in a cooperative housing facility and is paying rent, but is not a member of the cooperative, their rental unit may be subject to the RTA if the arrangement appears to fit the definition of a tenancy. For more information about what is covered by B.C.’s tenancy laws based on the housing types, visit the following website https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/is-my-tenancy-covered-under-bcs-tenancy-laws.

In situations where a tenant, named in the tenancy agreement, shares accommodations with a roommate who does not have an agreement with the landlord, only the tenant is protected by the RTA. Any roommates who do not have a tenancy agreement with the landlord are not covered by the RTA and do not have any recourse against the landlord under the RTA. Disputes between a tenant and a roommate cannot be brought to the RTB but may be brought to the Civil Resolution Tribunal if the disputed monetary amount is under $5000. Otherwise, the dispute can be brought to Small Claims Court if it is below $35,000, or to the Supreme Court if it is over $35,000. For more information, see Policy Guideline 19: Assignment and Sublet.

The determination of whether there is a tenancy depends on the circumstances of each case and can only be made by an RTB Arbitrator at a dispute resolution hearing.

A person who is not a tenant (i.e. someone whose housing is excluded from the RTA or who is an occupant, such as a roommate) may have a licence to occupy. Licensees’ rights and obligations are governed by common law.

Sometimes organizations that provide housing may claim that their accommodation falls under the emergency shelter or transitional housing exceptions. However, only the RTB can make such a determination, and such claims are not necessarily correct. The Residential Tenancy Regulations were updated in December 2016 to include a three-part definition of transitional housing. According to s.1 of the Regulations, "transitional housing” means living accommodation that is provided:

On a temporary basis;
By a person or organization that receives funding from a local government or the government of British Columbia or of Canada for the purpose of providing that accommodation, and
Together with programs intended to assist tenants to become better able to live independently.

Any accommodation must satisfy all three of these criteria to be excluded from the Act, even if a transitional housing agreement has been signed. “Emergency shelter” is defined in Policy Guideline 46 as a facility that “provides a homeless individual with temporary overnight shelter”. Residents of these shelters “may have an immediate need for support services” such as nutrition, hygiene, and health services, and “may be required to abide by house rules as a condition of their stay”.

A tenant in possession of a strata title lot (i.e., a condominium), whose landlord is the owner of the title and a member of the strata, is subject to both the RTA and the Strata Property Act. This is a frequent source of problems for tenants. See RTB Policy Guideline 21: Repair Orders Respecting Strata Properties.

Call the Residential Tenancy Branch information line (604-660-1020 or 1-800-665-8779) if you are unsure whether the rental unit comes under the RTA.
If your issue does not fall under the RTA, please see section XIX for additional resources.

4. No Contracting Out

Neither landlords nor tenants can contract out of the RTA or the Residential Tenancy Regulations. Any terms that are inconsistent with the Act or the Regulations are void.

5. Crown

Generally, the RTA applies to the Crown.

6. Hotel Tenants and Landlords

Hotel tenants are fully covered by the RTA if the hotel is the tenants’ primary residence. The following rules apply only to hotel tenants and landlords:

s 29(1)(c) permits entry into a hotel tenant’s room without notice to provide maid service at reasonable times;
s 59(6) permits an individual occupying a room in a residential hotel to apply for an interim order stating that the RTA applies to that living accommodation without notifying other parties.

See Policy Guideline 9: Tenancy Agreements and Licences to Occupy.

B. Discrimination Against Tenants

Although poverty is not a protected ground, a landlord must not discriminate against a (prospective) tenant based on a lawful source of income, such as Income Assistance or similar benefits. The prospective tenant may file a human rights complaint under the B.C. Human Rights Code, RSBC 1996, c. 210 [HRC]. Section 10(1) of the HRC also prohibits a person from denying tenancy or from discriminating with respect to a term of the tenancy against a person or class of persons because of their race, sexual orientation, colour, ancestry, place of origin, religion, marital status, physical or mental disability, or sex. Note also, that pets are not covered under discrimination rules. See Chapter 6: Human Rights for more information.

There are three exceptions:

1. Shared Accommodations

Section 10(1) of the HRC does not apply where a tenant and landlord will share the use of any sleeping, bathroom or cooking facilities in the space. See HRC section 10(2)(a) for more information.

2. Adults Only

The section does not apply to rental spaces in residential buildings in which every unit is reserved for rental by people who have reached 55 years of age or by two or more people, at least one of whom has reached 55 years of age.

3. Units Designed to Accommodate Disability

Section 10(1) does not apply as it relates to physical or mental disability if the space is a rental unit in residential premises, the unit and the residential premises are designed to accommodate persons with disabilities, and the unit is offered for rent exclusively to someone with a disability, or to 2 or more persons, at least one of whom has a physical or mental disability.