British Columbia’s housing minster says the province needs to shift away from accommodating vulnerable people in privately owned rooming hotels — but it won’t be fast or cheap.
Ravi Kahlon’s remarks come after the jury in a coroner’s inquest into the deadly 2022 Winters Hotel fire in Vancouver made more than two dozen safety recommendations on Monday.
They include phasing out public funding for single-room occupancy hotels — often referred to as SROs — in privately owned buildings, and ramping up fire safety bylaw enforcement.