Housing Justice in a Climate Emergency: Intersecting Tenant Vulnerabilities to Extreme Weather

Climate change has complicated the fight for affordable and secure housing in British Columbia. The 2021 heat dome, for example, was responsible for the deaths of 595 people making it the deadliest weather event in Canadian history. Almost all of these deaths occurred at home or in a hotel and disproportionately impacted marginalized communities, many of them tenants living without proper ventilation or cooling. Such inequality is occurring in a province that is already home to the eviction capital of Canada: Metro Vancouver. In this intersecting housing and climate emergency, marginalized BC tenants exposed to extreme weather face unique vulnerabilities. Housing advocates currently lack the data to push for equitable climate-focused changes to tenant protections. UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice (CCJ) and BC’s Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre (TRAC) are partnering to build a relationship and a foundation for the co-creation of research-driven tenant advocacy in BC’s intersecting housing and climate emergencies.

Faculty Supervisor:

Mohammed Rafi Arefin;Naomi Klein

Student:

Partner:

Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

The University of British Columbia

Program: