u/Coq-Lover

I’d really like to know what the BC Conservatives plan to do with rent control if they win.

Last election, John Rustad was pretty open about where he wanted to go. He said he wouldn’t remove rent control right away because the rental market was too tight, but once vacancy rates improved, he wanted to look at getting rid of it.

That should be a massive red flag for renters in Metro Vancouver.

A lot of people are only able to stay in their homes because annual increases are capped. If those protections disappear, plenty of landlords would have every incentive to push long-term tenants toward current market rents.

Now we have a new Conservative leader, a new election, and a lot of talk about cutting taxes and red tape for housing.

But where is the clear promise to renters?

Do they still want rent control gone once they think the market can handle it?

Will they keep the current annual rent cap for the full term?

Because after what they proposed last time, silence on this is not reassuring.

Sources:

The Tyee — Rustad Would Scrap Zoning Reforms, Keep Rent Control
https://thetyee.ca/News/2024/09/20/Rustad-Zoning-Reforms-Rent-Control/

BC NDP — Rustad's plan to raise rent caps could cost renters hundreds of dollars a month
https://www.bcndp.ca/releases/rustads-plan-raise-rent-caps-could-cost-renters-hundreds-dollars-month

Good news for Rogers customers: starting April 27, 2027, the CRTC is finally making it easier to cancel or change plans. No more treating cancellation like an endurance test of hold music, transfers, retention pitches and mysteriously unavailable options.

Apparently the revolutionary idea that customers should be able to leave a telecom company without running a gauntlet had to be imposed by the regulator. Maybe Rogers will eventually discover the even crazier concept of keeping customers because they actually want to stay.

https://www.canada.ca/en/radio-television-telecommunications/news/2026/03/crtc-eliminates-fees-to-make-it-easier-to-switch-internet-and-cellphone-plans.html

Part of this change is that, starting April 26, 2027, providers have to offer a self-service way to modify or cancel your service without dealing with a live customer-service/retention rep. Website, app, email, etc.

So “just BYOD and switch” completely misses the point. The new rule is about making the cancellation process itself easier and removing the ability to force customers through a phone retention gauntlet.

Good news for Telus customers: starting April 27, 2027, the CRTC is finally making it easier to cancel or change plans. No more treating cancellation like an endurance test of hold music, transfers, retention pitches and mysteriously unavailable options.

Apparently the revolutionary idea that customers should be able to leave a telecom company without running a gauntlet had to be imposed by the regulator. Maybe Telus will eventually discover the even crazier concept of keeping customers because they actually want to stay.

https://www.canada.ca/en/radio-television-telecommunications/news/2026/03/crtc-eliminates-fees-to-make-it-easier-to-switch-internet-and-cellphone-plans.html

EDIT: There seems to be a little confusion here...

This isn’t about whether you were allowed to switch providers before. Of course you were. The change is that, starting April 26, 2027, providers have to offer a self-service way to modify or cancel your service without dealing with a live customer-service/retention rep. Website, app, email, etc.

So “just BYOD and switch” completely misses the point. The new rule is about making the cancellation process itself easier and removing the ability to force customers through a phone retention gauntlet.