June 26, 2019 Via email: [email protected] Kennedy Stewart, Mayor 3rd Floor, City Hall 453 West 12th Ave Vancouver BC V5Y 1V4 Dear Mayor Stewart and City Councillors, Re BCGEU Statement on Proposed Short-Term Rental Motions for Vancouver City Council On behalf of over 79,000 members of the BCGEU, thousands of whom live and work in Vancouver, I am writing to express our opposition to the proposed changes to short-term rental regulations brought forward by Councillors Fry and De Genova. We are concerned about the effects the proposed motions will have on the availability of long-term rental supply as well as the impact on workers in the hotel industry. We regularly hear from our members how difficult it is to afford to live and work in Vancouver. Many are left with no option but to leave the region and in some cases, our province altogether. The current regulations restricting short-term rentals to primary residence must remain in force to ensure desperately needed long term rental supply is not lost to the more lucrative short-term rental industry (such as Airbnb). Research from the McGill University School of Urban Policy shows that the regulations on short-term rentals in Vancouver returned roughly 300 apartments to the long-term rental market, citing these regulations as some of the most effective in North America. We also oppose the proposal to allow developers to convert whole floors in rental buildings to rent out as hotel suites. This not only temporarily reduces the supply of long-term rentals but also impacts the quality of work for hotel workers who remain in a precarious position with short-term rental agreements. In this, we fully support the position of Unite Here Local 40. The solution to the issue of dwindling hotel availability is to address the root issue as laid out by Unite Here Local 40: the use of hotel suites as condos or luxury rental housing. Council needs to address this Page 2 issue through expanding the short-term rental regulations, taking steps to protect traditional hotels (ensuring they are used as hotel suites), and keeping short-term rentals out of residential buildings. We urge council to look for solutions that continue to protect long-term rental supply and the quality of work for the very people who provide the excellent services that make Vancouver hotels so prosperous. Sincerely, Stephanie Smith President EP/sg MoveUP cc Vancouver City Councillor Rebecca Bligh [email protected] Vancouver City Councillor Christine Boyle [email protected] Vancouver City Councillor Adriane Carr [email protected] Vancouver City Councillor Melissa De Genova [email protected] Vancouver City Councillor Lisa Dominato [email protected] Vancouver City Councillor Pete Fry [email protected] Vancouver City Councillor Colleen Hardwick [email protected] Vancouver City Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung [email protected] Vancouver City Councillor Jean Swanson [email protected] Vancouver City Councillor Michael Wiebe [email protected] .