Tenant’s patio threatened amidst ongoing dispute with landlord

Good morning, 

Nate with you today. I went to the PNE this week for the first time in years, and had way more fun than I expected. I indulged in a whole mess of barbequed ribs (see my photo of the day), caught a concert, and even saw some fireworks to cap off the evening. It just felt like a really silly, unapologetic celebration, in a good way. 

Living on the border of Grandview-Woodland and Hastings-Sunrise, it was so easy to get to the fairgrounds (my love of the shared scooters has only grown), and it’s a great place for people of all ages to hang out and be merry with friends and family. 

Plus, I was pleasantly surprised at the relaxed (dare I say European) approach to alcohol on the grounds, where you can walk around with a drink and even enter concert venues with beverages you bought elsewhere. Cheers all around to this East Van staple. 

Shifting from east to west, in today’s story we’ve got an update on a West End renter whose sanctuary is being threatened by civic bureaucracy and a dispute with their landlord. 

Let’s get into it. 

— Nate Lewis, Vancity Lookout

P.S. In honour and celebration of everyone’s labour, we won’t be landing in your inbox this upcoming Monday.

As always, you can send your tips, leads, and story ideas to Nate at [email protected].

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WEATHER

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Sunday: 24 🌡️ 16 | 🌤️

Monday: 24 🌡️ 16 | 🌤️

EXCLUSIVE

West End tenant’s patio threatened amidst ongoing dispute with landlord

Read this story online here.

Donna Irwin has lived in the penthouse suite of an old West End apartment building for over a decade. Walking into Irwin’s suite, the most noticeable feature – apart from the immaculately clean white and pink furnishings – is a large rooftop patio, full of plants and outdoor furniture, surrounded by wooden fencing.

“It's just my little sanctuary,” Irwin, a senior, told Vancity Lookout, describing how, especially during the summer, she gardens and reads on her patio, and hosts get-togethers and parties with family and friends. 

“This is our home. Maybe we don't own it, but it's our home, and we've made it our home all these years,” Irwin said, referring to her and her neighbours.

However, in late spring this year, Irwin got some unexpected news. Despite being included in her original 2014 lease, and in the building’s sale listing when it was purchased by the current owners in 2022, the patio that Irwin had been using and upgrading for over 10 years was not permitted by the city, falling foul of two local bylaws. 

After receiving an anonymous complaint, the city inspected the property and ordered the building owner, Fan-Frazer Holdings Ltd., to “immediately restrict access” to the patio and “obtain the required permits to either remove or retain the structure,” within thirty days of the city’s June 5 order. 

“Ongoing use [of the patio] raised concerns about weight loads and structural safety. In addition, the rooftop patio is enclosed by wood fences, but [part of the roof] lacks guardrails, creating a significant fall hazard for the occupants,” the city said in response to questions from Vancity Lookout.

A representative for the building owner did not respond to Vancity Lookout’s questions about whether they planned to obtain the permits required to make the structure compliant; however the city said the “property owner is actively working to comply” with the order, as of late August. 

If the owner decides to remove the patio, Irwin would be eligible for a reduction in rent. The Residential Tenancy Act requires that if a landlord terminates or restricts a service or facility included in the tenancy agreement, they must also reduce the tenant’s rent “equivalent to the reduction in value.”  

Irwin’s patio is accessible through a door in the living room, and, after careful consideration, “temporarily sealing the door to restrict access was deemed necessary to support safety,” the city said.

But the owner and its property management company, Vancouver Management Ltd. (VML), didn’t act immediately, waiting over a month to inform Irwin they would be sealing the door shut. 

Irwin, 72, described her distress when she was waiting for the contractor to arrive to seal the door with members of the Vancouver Tenants Union (VTU), who she had invited to come support her.

“I was an absolute mess. At one point, we thought I'd have to go to St. Paul's because I was having a heart attack. That's how stressful it was, and not eating, not sleeping,” Irwin said. 

“At a very basic level, we understood that it's an unfair situation for a tenant to be alone when facing a situation like that, and Donna was particularly feeling really overwhelmed and stressed about the prospect of having her door sealed,” Jon Petrov, who was there that day as a member of the West End chapter of the VTU, told Vancity Lookout. 

When the contractor showed up to seal the door – with a hammer and nails, Petrov and Irwin said – Petrov and Irwin pushed back, saying Irwin needed to be able to open the door for cooling purposes, to water the plants, and to escape the unit in an emergency. 

The rooftop patio “is not a viable emergency exit,” the city said, while declining to answer Vancity Lookout’s questions about balancing the use of the door for cooling and plant watering purposes.

Petrov and Irwin described how the contractor eventually refused to seal the door, calling VML’s property manager in front of them and informing VML he would not complete the assigned work. 

“I don’t want to do this at all,” the contractor told Irwin, based on evidence reviewed by Vancity Lookout. 

Due to Irwin and Petrov’s advocacy, and the contractor’s decision not to complete the work, the patio door still remains functional, despite the city’s order. This means that, despite the stress caused to Irwin, she can still water her plants from inside through the open door, and keep it open for airflow on hot summer days. 

But not being able to use the patio all summer has been a significant challenge for Irwin.

“I've missed out on all the summer parties that I have. I had to cancel two of my Pride parties. My grandkids [visit], and they're going to wonder why they can't sit on the patio and have a marshmallow roast like we always do. They've taken my whole summer away from me,” Irwin said tearfully.

“I don't know when the next shoe is going to drop,” Irwin said.  

Representatives for the owners and for VML did not respond to an interview request and, prior to the time of publication, did not answer written questions from Vancity Lookout. 

The patio issue is part of a series of disputes between building tenants, including Irwin, the owner, and the property management company. 

After Irwin had been without heat in her unit for several years, an arbitrator with the Residential Tenancy Board (RTB), a provincial body that rules on disputes between landlords and tenants, ruled that she didn’t have to pay rent until her heat was fixed.

“Donna was very fortunate in a really rare instance where she [as a tenant] had success… with an arbitration decision at the RTB,” Petrov with the VTU said. 

That decision came in mid-February 2025. However, according to Irwin, VML continued to withdraw rent in March 2025, contrary to the RTB decision, and have not repaid just over $2,700 owed to Irwin for about six weeks of rent. Even when Irwin got Seniors First BC, a non-profit seniors’ advocacy group, involved on the issue in June there was no response from building ownership. 

However, after repairs to the radiators in her unit in early June, Irwin didn’t pay her rent that month, disputing that they were “fully and permanently restored,” as required by the RTB decision.  

In a response that highlights the uneven power dynamics of landlord-tenant relationships, VML served her with a 10-day eviction notice for unpaid rent, despite owing Irwin repayment for more than a month of rent. 

“It just hurts that they think they have the right to treat me this way, with no respect, after the life I've lived… now I just want peace and quiet, and I don't have it,” Irwin said.

After receiving the eviction notice, Irwin has been paying her rent under objection while seeking legal advice. 

“I'm not gonna stop fighting,” Irwin said. “It’s not just for me, it's for a lot of people… for other seniors… because it's rampant in this city right now.”

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THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

50%

That’s the stake the Canadian Pension Fund OPTrust will now hold in the Sen̓áḵw development in False Creek after OPTrust acquired Westbank’s interest in the project’s first two phases. The first towers, which are scheduled to open next year, will include more than 1,400 rental units. Read more. [Squamish Nation]

THE AGENDA

🌊 The park board is keeping Kits Pool open for an extra week, till Sept. 7th. Vancouver’s other outdoor pools will close on September 2nd. Read more. [City of Vancouver]  

📄 After Vancouver city councillors were found to have breached city policy, the provincial government is looking at making codes of conduct mandatory for B.C. municipalities before next fall’s municipal elections, which experts say are currently too weak. Read more. [Vancouver Sun] 

👮 New data suggests that nearly one-third of Vancouver Police officers weren’t prepared for drug decriminalization because they had not completed the “strongly recommended” training prepared by the province before the pilot project began in January 2023. Read more. [The Tyee]

💰 A recent agreement between CUPE Local 15 and the City of Vancouver will give some city workers a 6.5 per cent pay increase over two years, if the settlement is ratified by union members at a vote next month. Read more. [TheBreaker.News]

🌻 Organic waste and compostables have been banned from Metro Vancouver landfills for the past decade, but still make up 22 per cent of garbage. This is an improvement from 2021, but on average, 70 kg of compostable materials per resident are making their way to landfills. Read more. [CBC]

🚧 Starting early next week, a block of Chilco St. near English Bay will be closed until November as part of construction for Metro Vancouver’s water supply tunnel upgrades happening in Stanley Park and the West End. The road will reopen this winter and close again temporarily next spring. [Metro Vancouver]

🏠 Omni Group has submitted a zoning amendment to build four towers up to 40 storeys around the new Great Northern Way-Emily Carr Station site. The project is currently slated to include nearly strata and rental units, hotel rooms, and social housing units, as well as commercial and cultural spaces. Read more. [Storeys]

👮 A cost-saving measure that allows coroners to close a crime scene remotely is facing questions after two additional bodies were missed in a 2022 investigation of a death that occurred in a downtown SRO. Since at least 2019, field coroners have voiced their objections to the policy directive, adding that low pay, poor morale and competing priorities have been pushing the BC Coroners’ Service to the breaking point for years. Read more. [The Canadian Press]

WEEKEND GUIDE

fTAIWANfest | šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square, Granville Street & more | Aug. 30–Sept. 1 | Free downtown festival with live music, art markets & family fun | Free

Kathmandu World’s Biggest Hike | Cypress Mountain – 6000 Cypress Bowl Rd., West Vancouver | Aug. 30 | Guinness World Record attempt hike with live music & vendors | Free

Dutch Street Market | 500–600 Block Granville St. | Aug. 30–Sept. 1, noon–6 pm; Sept. 1, noon–8 pm | Dutch food, music, art, cycling culture and family fun downtown | Free

Vancouver Rise FC | Swangard Stadium - 6100 Boundary Rd., Burnaby | Aug. 30 | Pro women’s soccer team’s inaugural season continues with home match | Tickets $19+

Smut Slam | Chill Pill Comedy – 2270 Manitoba St. | Aug. 31 | Adult-only open mic where storytellers share five-minute true sex stories | $21

Jokers Canada | Hollywood Theatre – 3123 West Broadway | Aug. 31 | Travelling comedy club featuring top comics from CBC and Just For Laughs | Tickets $37

South Granville Summer Social Hub | South Granville (Granville Bridge to W. 16th Ave.) | Various dates until end Aug. | Italian-inspired open-air social hub with free community events | Free

Smut Slam Vancouver | Chill Pill Comedy - 2270 Manitoba St. | Aug. 31, 9 pm | Adults share real-life dirty stories at inclusive open mic night | Tickets $20

Car-Free Day Burnaby | Edmonds between Kingsway and Mary Ave., Burnaby | Aug. 31, 6–10 pm | Street festival with music, food trucks, vendors and family activities | Free

Prophecy Country Shindig | Prophecy Bar - 801 W. Georgia St. | Aug. 31, 7 pm–1 am | Western-themed party with music, whiskey, tattoos and photo booth | Free

Nikkei Matsuri Festival | Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre - 6688 Southoaks Cres., Burnaby | Aug. 30–31, 11 am–7 pm | Japanese culture celebration with performances, food trucks and activities | Tickets $12–15

Gastown Sunday Set | Water Street in Gastown | Sundays until Aug. 31, 11 am–6 pm | Car-free Sundays with DJs, art crawl, patios and flower market | Free

A Doll’s House | Stanley Stage - 2750 Granville Street | September 4–October 5, 2025 | A play about addressing taboo subjects | Tickets $29 to $127

Want to see your event here? Submit them to our event calendar.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Top Chef Canada season 11 winner Chanthy Yen is opening a Cambodian restaurant on Alberni St., in the space previously occupied by Archer. [Daily Hive]

• There’s a new Italian restaurant that’s turning heads, especially because it’s embracing the local neighbourhood.

• The fourth year of the stɑl'əw̓ Pow Wow will take place this September 12-14, celebrating Indigenous culture. All are welcome. [Georgia Straight]

• This $23 million West Point Grey home just got $3 million cheaper. What a bargain! [Vancouver is Awesome]

• RIP Yves Veggie Cuisine. The beloved Canadian brand offering plant-based meat alternatives created by Vancouverite Yves Potvin, is being discontinued by parent company Hain Celestial Group. [Vancouver is Awesome]

Want to have your announcement featured? Learn how here.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

A sincere thanks to the pig that fed me at the fair this week 🐖 🙌

VANCOUVER GUESSER

The Catriona Jeffries gallery featured in last week’s Guesser was a tough one, with many of you guessing it was in Mount Pleasant or False Creek Flats (and that’s not a bad guess, given its industrial surroundings). However, the correct answer, which a third of you got right, was Strathcona. 

For this week, can you tell me which well-used community park this is?