Ottawa Puts $53.4 Million Into Climate-Proofing East Vancouver's Aging Rental Stock

The federal government announced more than $53.4 million this month to renovate six aging apartment buildings in East Vancouver, part of a broader push to make Canada's rental housing more resilient to extreme heat, wildfire smoke and other climate impacts while keeping units affordable.

The funding will support the renewal of 276 homes in total, with work ranging from deep energy retrofits and upgraded ventilation and cooling systems to structural repairs that extend the buildings' lifespan by decades. Vancouver's older rental stock, much of it built in the 1960s and 1970s, was never designed to handle the kind of sustained summer heat the region has experienced in recent years, making retrofits a growing priority for both tenant safety and long-term affordability.

The projects are being financed through the federal government's existing affordable housing programs, which prioritize retrofits that reduce greenhouse gas emissions alongside straightforward repair work. Officials framed the investment as a way to protect existing affordable units rather than only building new ones, arguing that preserving older rental buildings is often cheaper and faster than replacing them.

The announcement is the latest in a string of federal housing investments across British Columbia this summer, following a separate climate-resilience funding round earlier in the year and complementing the province's own retrofit incentives. Housing advocates in Vancouver have welcomed the funding but note that the scale of the city's aging rental inventory means tens of thousands of similar units still await upgrades.

For tenants in the six buildings, the renovations are expected to proceed in phases to minimize displacement, with officials aiming to keep existing residents in place throughout construction wherever possible.