NEWS RELEASE: Taxpayers Federation calls on B.C. government to keep its promise, close Luugat SRO 

VANCOUVER, B.C.: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is calling on the province of B.C. to immediately close the Luugat SRO on Granville street. It has now been 57 days since the province promised its closure. Meanwhile, it has cost taxpayers $101,000 in July for a single tenant. That’s approximately $3,260 per day. 

“We’re spending three grand a day to keep a collapsing SRO open for one tenant,” said Carson Binda, B.C. Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “It’s been 57 days since the province promised to close it. This delay is bad for both taxpayers and the remaining resident who’s living in a substandard facility.

“How much more time and money is the government going to waste?” 

A lone resident remains in the 110-unit SRO that the province purchased for $55 million with a neighbouring parking lot in 2020. Recent assessments value the site at $27.5 million. 

The province promised to close the Luugat by June 30.  

Taxpayers are spending $101,000 a month to keep the building staffed and open for that one resident, according to an investigation by Global News.

The resident has been offered other housing by the province, but he has not yet moved. 

“We can’t keep spending money like this forever, especially not when the tenant has been offered other better options,” Binda said. “The government is hiking taxes on families and cutting spending on things like old-folks care homes and funding for kids with autism, while wasting money because it’s procrastinating on its promise to close this crumbling facility.” 

For comparison, the $101,000 wasted last month is equivalent to: 

• Rent for five West Vancouver estates
• The average monthly rent for 39 Vancouver apartments  
• The total annual provincial tax bill for 31 working families

“The province is spending the annual tax bill of dozens of families keeping the Luugat open for one person,” Binda said. “The province said it would be closed at the end of June, but it’s still costing us thousands of dollars a day.”  

Video footage from the SRO shows unlivable conditions, with holes in the roof and a visibly deteriorating structure. 

“The province is failing the last resident at this facility and it’s failing taxpayers,” Binda said. “Housing Minister Christine Boyle needs to immediately keep her government’s promise, close the SRO and move the tenant somewhere livable instead of wasting even more money with no end in sight.”