Owner of notorious North Vancouver hostel loses human rights argument to keep doors open

The owner of a North Vancouver hostel that’s been ordered by the courts multiple times to shut down has lost another attempt to keep its doors open.

Emily Yu had already been told by the Civil Rights Tribunal and the B.C. Supreme Court that she must shut down the illegal Airbnb listing for the 15-bed Oasis Hostel inside her three-bedroom townhouse in the Central Lonsdale area.

Globalnews.ca coverage of the Oasis Hostel

1:58 Neighbours say illegal Oasis hostel owner is defying law

• Neighbours say illegal Oasis hostel owner is defying law
• North Vancouver owner of illegal Oasis hostel lists townhouse for sale
• North Vancouver illegal hostel owner in court
• Scofflaw North Vancouver townhouse owner targeted by strata corporation
• North Vancouver Airbnb hostel battle goes to court
• North Vancouver ‘hostel’ still operating despite court order
• City of North Vancouver takes on illegal Oasis hostel
• Tenants share horror stories about illegal North Vancouver hostel
• Former tenant of illegal hostel speaks out

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She was eventually found in contempt of court in October for disobeying those rulings.

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But in the meantime, she applied to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal to have the decisions shot down. She told the tribunal that she has a mental disability as a result of a concussion and the hostel is essential to her income.

Yu said the strata bylaw that forbids her from operating the hostel discriminates against her on the basis of her disability.

But the tribunal said the issue at hand had already been before the CRT and the B.C. Supreme Court, who would have applied the Human Rights Act if they saw fit — and they couldn’t support re-litigation just because Yu was unsuccessful in her previous attempts.

In November, the townhouse appeared to be listed for sale for $1.1 million, but it was never sold.

Court documents show Yu was handed her punishment for disobeying the court rulings in April 2019. A B.C. Supreme Court judge fined her an additional $5,000 but stopped short of ordering her to sell the home.

“Although Ms. Yu’s conduct is deserving of rebuke, the fact is that she has paid outstanding fines and has been compliant with the order of this court since October 24, 2018,” said the judge.

“Ms. Yu has been a very bad neighbour and has made life difficult for her neighbours and the strata corporation, but her conduct has not, in my view, yet reached a level that requires the sale of her unit with the conduct to the strata corporation.”