SRO

Three individuals seated outdoors in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, one smoking a substance, illustrating the public health and safety challenges linked to smokable drug use.
Policy

Rising Fires, Policy Clashes, and the Spread of Smokable Drugs

Smokable drug use is reshaping British Columbia’s overdose crisis, creating new risks for public safety and emergency response. As health officials push to expand ...
Street-level view of Atira Women's Resource Society's main office in Vancouver, highlighting their role in housing advocacy amidst recent legal and SRO controversies
Housing

Lawsuit Against Atira Highlights Vancouver’s SRO Housing Controversies

A new lawsuit against Atira Women’s Resource Society and its subsidiaries has cast a fresh spotlight on the ongoing controversies surrounding Vancouver’s Single Room ...
Exterior view of the vacant Regent Hotel, a former SRO building, standing in disrepair on East Hastings Street in Vancouver.
Housing

Stalled Projects and Vanishing SROs Expose Vancouver’s Housing Crisis

Vancouver’s housing strategy faces mounting criticism as Single Room Occupancies (SROs) continue to vanish without viable replacements. Despite years of public investment and promises ...
An aerial shot of aging housing infrastructure in East Vancouver, British Columbia.
Housing

The Broken Pillars of Housing Rights in British Columbia

In British Columbia, the promise of housing as a human right is cracking under the weight of systemic inequities and bureaucratic inertia. Behind the ...
An image of highly dense downtown core with different types of housing and public art
Housing

Canada Faces Tough Questions on National Housing Day

As Canada observes National Housing Day 2024, a day dedicated to awareness about housing and homelessness, the stark reality is that housing insecurity is ...
Image capturing a street in Eastside Downtown Vancouver housing many of the city's SRO hotels
Housing

Vancouver Landlords Fight Back Against Vacancy Control

Thirteen single-room occupancy landlords in Vancouver have launched a class-action lawsuit against the City of Vancouver, alleging that its vacancy control policy amounts to ...
An image of demolition of what left from the Winters SRO Hotel in Downtown Eastside Vancouver after a deadly fire
Community

Class Action Seeks Accountability in Deadly Downtown Eastside Fire

In the heart of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, tragedy struck when the Winters Hotel—a 100-year-old, single-room occupancy building—caught fire on April 11, 2022. The blaze ...
Photo of a man using the City of Vancouver's misting station installed in the Downtown Eastside are during the heat wave
Community

The Struggle for Air Conditioning in Vancouver’s SROs

With rising global temperatures, the urgency of providing air conditioning for low-income and vulnerable residents has become a pressing issue, particularly in Vancouver’s Downtown ...
A picture of the poor state of SROs located along East Hastings Street in Downtown Eastside Vancouver
Housing

Vancouver’s SROs: Shelter or Hidden Risk?

In Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Single Room Occupancy buildings serve as a last-ditch option for thousands of low-income residents facing housing instability. These aged, small ...
People are captured on a sidewalk in front of the Hotel Canada SRO in Downtown Vancouver
Housing

The Fight to Save Vancouver’s SROs

Single Room Occupancies (SROs) have long served as the last stop before homelessness. However, the 2023 Low-Income Housing Survey highlights a sobering reality: SROs, ...
People are captured in front of Ramada Inn Hotel in Vancouver, recently converted into SRO
Order

Five Vancouver SROs generate over 30,000 police calls

Over the past five years, a troubling trend has been emerging in the heart of Vancouver. Five single-room occupancy (SRO) and supportive housing properties ...