A Vancouver SRO, operated by Atira, which receives most of its funding from the B.C. government, was recently kept open for months for only two tenants.
Now, the Gastown rooming house only has one tenant.
Robert, who did not provide his last name, is the last tenant of the 140-room Colonial Hotel in Gastown.
The building is now privately owned, and the government says that BC Housing has been working to find new homes for tenants, but Robert is refusing to move.
Robert told Global News that he likes the building, but he has been offered many other places.
B.C.’s Minister of Housing said she could not provide how much the Colonial Hotel has cost taxpayers and who is now paying for it.
“The work continues to support tenants in finding better housing, obviously, that doesn’t happen in a flash,” Christine Boyle said.
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“BC Housing and the provider work one-on-one with tenants to find the right location that they can move to.”
In a statement to Global News, Atira would not reveal how long the building has stayed open for two tenants or the cost.
“Atira’s agreement to operate the Colonial Hotel as an SRO ended on April 30, 2026,” the organization said.
It’s way past time for Atira to open their books and show us exactly what they have been spending the hundreds of thousands of tax dollars on that they receive for their “services” every single month.
That money is CLEARLY is not being spent on any upkeep/maintenance of the SROs they are being paid to run. So where IS it going to?
This is far from the first time Atira has been involved in questionable actions around the government funding they receive. It is time to stop throwing public money at groups like Atira who operate without any oversight or accountability for how they use that money.
Forcibly remove the moron. Why these people that contribute NOTHING to society continue this sense of entitlement. They are such a waste of space and money that we, as taxpayers, pay for.
Our taxpayers keeping this open for one clown… Toss his ass out or take the offer they give him. The dregs of society make the liberals/NDP hearts warm to spend our hard-earned money for non-contributors to the city. Welcome to Vancouver and BC.
How can 1 tenant hold a entire unhabitable mismanaged Atira building hostage!? That’s outrageous.
It would be nice if they explained why they couldn’t just evict him.
One word…Atira.
This should easy. Get the cops in, taser him and drag him out.
Throw him jail for obstruction and trespassing for few months and he will be glad to go the next SRO.