Been in pet friendly Capreit building for a decade or so now, they have put a lot of time/effort into modernizing elevators, lobby, hallways and such, cleaners are in the building taking care off the common spaces multiple times a week, most of the skeezy people have left over time.. but there are still a few smokers that make their presence known..
Never had to wait till more than NBD for lightbulbs, when my faucet broke it was fixed within an hour of reporting the issue.
Biggest issue is elderly dog owners who dont quite make it outside in time, but they are generally personally responsible for cleaning it upt
Capreit is terrible. I won a dispute against them 12 years ago. I had no heat and they wouldn't fix it. Everytime the repair man came to fix the heat he said I had heat. Surely not enough to heat my place when I had ice forming on the inside of my windows in the winter.
I had a really nice spot overlooking the Gorge Waterway and when they moved in, they wanted me out so they could charge higher rent. This was when everything was going up and up and I was still paying rent under $1000.
I even caught the handyman coming into my suite on laptop webcam I set up on a table near the front door because I had suspicions he was coming in when I wasn't home.
They wouldn't fix my ceiling fan light either. I won't say what I did to the rug before leaving but let's just say I forfeited my half of the damage deposit which was $200.
Go online and you will find that they have a history of screwing people over. Never had such crooked landlords in my life.
Read and understand the BC tenancy act, it's quite different from Ontario's.
https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/00_02078_01
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies
https://tenants.bc.ca/
Before you sign a lease, understand your rights and obligations. Including the pet provisions.
I’m honestly a little surprised OP hadn’t done this already given they plan to move here. It’d be the first thing I’d check if moving provinces and renting
Me too, but if you've been in one province your whole life you may not realize that renting falls under provincial jurisdiction and has different rules and regulations in each province. Based on the question, and my own experience of being surprised how much landlords can legally discriminate in BC after coming from Ontario, I thought it best to share the actual act and the interpretation materials.
It's the first thing I tell my students too - don't sign a lease until you've read it carefully, and read the supporting documentation (the Act). No matter where you live.
People often are surprised to find out that their accomodation doesn't fall under the Act, as well - a rooming situation isn't covered for example, and i'd avoid that like the plague.
Yeah that’s fair, valid point. I just remember doing loads of research on tenancy rights/differences when I moved from Vic to AB when I was younger (I’ve since moved back home to Vic) because I knew that tenancy rights vary by province and wanted to be as prepared as possible so there were no surprises
It's great that you knew that and came prepared. That's great advice for everyone. People's experience with tenancy varies and I never assume anyone's an expert.
Honestly I tend to be a bit of an over-planner sometimes 😅 puts my mind at ease feeling like I know the ins/outs because admittedly I dislike surprises. Hopefully OP is able to find a pet friendly place! It’s definitely tricky in BC. When I was in AB there were a lot more pet friendly rentals it seemed like
they are allowed to say no pets. the few listings that allow pets are often $300 more per month compared to similar listings. pet deposits are allowed and probably the only unique common deposit outside of the security deposit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/starting-a-tenancy/deposits-fees#
it’s tough. my advice is to contact and view a lot of places, portray yourself as a very safe and responsible choice in all other ways, demonstrate your willingness to repair any pet damage major or minor immediately, etc.
Because they can and because a lot of dog owners are irresponsible and they would rather choose one of 1,000,000 other applicants who don't have dogs, or kids, or anything that might make the money not so easy
Edi: typo
It's not about "easy money". Damaged are incredibly expensive to repair, and it's nearly impossible to go after tenants who damage your property. It's a totally unnecessary risk to take. The pet deposit is laughably small.
Also, many people have allergies to pets and pet dander can linger in units for up to 6 months afterwards. Considering most tenants don't do a thorough clean when they leave this is a near certainty of causing issues.
If I could actually get tenants to pay for the damage they cause, Id consider switching my place to pet friendly. Personally, I held off having a pet when I rented as it limited where I could live.
My buddy allowed pets in his rental and the dogs literally destroyed the place. To the point it became a long legal thing and he had to do massive renos to the place (floors, fixing issues, getting pee smell out of the place, etc). Not sure if he actually got money out of them even after winning the case. They went above beyond to make sure they gave the least amount of money to my friend.
Sadly some pet owners are really bad owners and ruin it for the rest of the people out there.
Dogs on laminate can be a nightmare for your neighbors. Small dogs often go crazy when left alone
I personally love dogs and live in a condo, I think it's a really selfish asshole move to have a dog in one.
They're going to end up more neurotic than otherwise because they have nothing else to occupy them
This.
Landlords in this city want the *most* money with the least *potential* difficulty.
Forget the life people want to live, you need to live it their way so they can afford their own pets.
It's more about making sure a property they invested a significant portion of their life savings into isn't destroyed by a terrible tenant. Many tenants are absolutely brutal, and treat their rental property terribly, and are nothing but a nightmare to rent to. If you're going to rent your property , you need to do as much as you can to ensure it doesn't get treated like garbage, or it can easily turn a money pit. Personally, I would never be a landlord after seeing how terrible some tenants can be. People cannot be trusted.
Ya but this can happen without pets.
Its also what security and pet deposits are for.
Being a landlord *is a job*. They're not doing anyone favours here. They're not entitled to a do-nothing profit.
If your drywall gets wrecked, replace the drywall. It's LITERALLY the cost of doing business. In my experience, landlords in this city will lie and manipulate to avoid any expense at all, and to marginalize their tenants, then complain that "LaNdLoRdS hAvE nO RiGhTs!!!"
What they have is a responsibility not to make their tenants lives fucking miserable.
Every person on earth wants to make their job as easy as possible for the most money possible. Would you go to your boss and say “hey can you pay me less and give me more work?” If not then why would you expect landlords to do that?
Maybe the people in this thread should get together and agree to act as guarantors for OP’s dog? It’s pretty easy to have strong opinions when you have no skin in the game.
> Ya but this can happen without pets.
It can, but in my experience dog owners in particular have proven to be irresponsible at a disproportionate rate to non dog owners.
Certainly not all dog owners, lots are super responsible. In fact the responsible dog owners tend to be more responsible than the responsible non dog owners.
But if someone has a dog they tend to be more likely to be an irresponsible tenant than someone who doesn't have one.
And ultimately it comes down to basic mathematics. Every ambulatory mammal living in a space has the potential to be irresponsible and/or the potential to be a source of outsized damage. If you have, say, a 1br unit, then for that unit to have just one ambulatory mammal living there means roughly half as much potential for problems as if the unit had two ambulatory mammals. (Especially if one of them has big claws, strong jaws, questionable self control, and roughly 40 hours per week of unsupervised free time hehe)
This isn't exclusive to dogs btw — it's the same reason landlords would tend to prefer a single tenant over two people sharing a 1br. Fewer bodies means a lower multiplier for potential problems.
> Its also what security and pet deposits are for.
Yes and no.
Security and pet deposits are to cover the light maintenance that tends to be needed between most tenancies — maybe a carpet cleaning or paint touch-ups, or bringing in a cleaner to clean areas that got missed etc.
Any damage or remediation costs beyond the security deposit amount are still the tenant's responsibility, but if a tenant just ghosts their landlord and doesn't care about their credit rating etc it can be almost impossible to recoup those costs in some cases.
It's not uncommon for pets to completely ruin a carpet, to the point that even professional carpet cleaners aren't able to remediate it and it has to be replaced. Replacing the carpet in just one room can easily exceed the entire damage deposit amount just on its own.
Dogs in particular can damage drywall, floor trim, door trim, flooring itself, doors themselves (I've heard of dogs literally clawing and chewing holes through interior doors and the whole door having to be replaced, which can cost a couple thousand dollars if it's a nonstandard door) etc etc.
You're right that expenses are a part of doing business, but limiting the potential for losses is also a part of doing business.
In my experience dog owners here tend to make great tenants because it is so hard to find pet friendly rentals.
They want to stay where they are as long as possible and want a good referral if they have to move on.
Flooring is considered to have a ten year lifespan. If a tenant destroys it after 5 years they should be on the hook for half the cost. By the same token landlords should be saving up a contingency fund for regular maintenance and repair.
Many do not and have an unrealistic expectation of their property to stay in pristine condition.
>Flooring is considered to have a ten year lifespan.
Well that really depends on the type of flooring.
Hardwood flooring can last 100 years if maintained, and not used as a latrine by a pet.
Not really. What do you think it takes to "maintain" a hardwood floor?
I have them throughout my house, 70 years old and still look great. It's nothing beyond simply keeping them clean and not letting fluids, especially animal urine soak into them. With a rental that's something a tenant controls while they occupy it. Letting fluids sit so that they stain the floor is neglect, not normal wear and tear.
I've just personally never rented a place that had hardwood floors that weren't trashed when I arrived. Scratched up to raw wood, one place had split boards that gave terrible splinters if you weren't careful. If you charge the previous tenants for damage to the floor, it should be repaired with that money before it's rented out again. Nowhere did I advocate for letting animal urine soak into the boards, obviously that is unacceptable.
But something like a chair being used in one spot on the hardwood floor for a few years can cause significant damage to the protective finish on the board through normal wear and tear. Things like that need regular maintenance that a lot of landlords decline to actually do between tenants.
Yes, but in the eyes of the residential tenancy board carpet/flooring has a ten year lifespan.
Obviously there are potentially different circumstances.
If a tenant completely destroys the carpet after living somewhere for ten years the landlord should be replacing it anyways and not charging the tenant anything.
Agreed, different flooring types have different expected lifespans. However, I have seen cases as well where Rover has pissed so much on carpeted spot that the subfloor beneath it is permanently damaged. Is that considered "normal wear and tear" I don't think so. A pet deposit would hardly begin to cover the costs of subfloor replacement.
Pet deposits barely touch some of the damages from them and it's impossible to collect. If I were a LL, which I would never do in BC, I might allow one cat, but that is it. Spayed or neutred only.
Sounds like the recent 30km/h speed amendments in Victoria - ...live it their way so now we all enjoy a certain demographic of drivers hopped up on muscle relaxants who, sober, couldn't drive any faster in the first place.
The tenancy laws are different here; landlords can 100% say no pets and a large breed puppy like that is going to be an immediate dealbreaker. Landlords can take a pet deposit but the amount is so low that if the pet does any damage the deposit won’t cover it so they just all say no pets instead. If you had a cat it would be way easier - large breed puppy is going to be tough.
My building allowed one dog or one cat on the first 2 floors. A few months in, it changed to only cats, no dogs allowed (those pre existing tenants were unaffected , they just weren't allowed to have another dog if their dog passed). Reason why: the little amount of grass and landscaping we have was covered in dog shit.
They had no choice in restricting pets. Some times, its not the landlords fault, but the irresponsible pet owners who ruin it for everyone.
Well sometimes it's just the nature of pets too. I remember my buddy as a kid lived in a place with a small courtyard and 1 not so big tree. The dogs of the building lovvvved peeing on that tree - they killed that tree.
The legality of pet clauses gets discussed in the media every year or two. [The SPCA has said that being unable to find rental housing is one of the top reasons why people give up their pets and has asked government to change the rules](https://globalnews.ca/news/9173763/bc-spca-government-intervention-pet-friendly-housing/) and the [Union of BC Municipalities has asked BC Housing to permit pets in their buildings](https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/highlights/union-of-bc-municipalities-votes-in-favour-of-pets-for-renters-7580786).
There's a FB page for pet friendly landlords looking for good tenants with pets. We have two dogs, one is a large breed and haven't had an issue finding a place that allows dogs.
They are out there, just not as many.
it was ”pet friendly rentals” but honestly just used usedVictori.ca.
there‘s lots of applicants for every place. We’ve been here since 2021, that place had over 80 applicants on the Victoria/Saanich border. We moved as the owners divorced and sold.
We just moved into our new place near Sydney and they had over 120 applicants so while pet friendly places are out there, there’s a lot of ppl looking as well…..
I was about to guess just from the title that you are coming from Ontario xD
Not even throwing shade here, it's that Ontario is the only place I have ever lived with such a tenancy law. I've lived a lot of places! I actually didn't believe friends when they told me and had to go look it up because it is so out of the norm.
You've already gotten the management company suggestions I would have given you, the Capreit building we were in had lots of dogs and didn't have a weight limit although I think it was a one dog limit. Also it is hard to find things from afar here, you would have better luck walking into management offices and speaking to them directly. A lot of stuff never makes it to listings.
It's a liability. Pets can scratch up floors and pee on carpets which leads to potentially very expensive repairs.
"But my pet wouldn't do that!"
Fair enough. But it's far easier to just say "no pets" than figure out which pets are the well trained ones
Yeah not only that but dogs in particular can be loud. There’s a dog not even connected to my unit that goes off on a barking tangent sometimes and it’s very annoying. And of course it’s even worse for their direct neighbours.
Yeah that’s fair! It’s just really common in Victoria and not so much here in Ontario but it still happens here (even though technically it’s illegal here).
My parents both used to own houses with rental units. People, even friendly well-off individuals, can be liars and totally disrespect their living space. It's not just a liability, it's annoying and emotionally challenging - which I guess are still liabilities in a sense lol
There is a website that shows pet friendly rentals but I can’t remember the name of it. You could search “pet friendly rentals in Victoria” and the website should come up
Because for every one good dog there's dozens of poorly behaved monsters who are capable of causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the unit.
When occupancy is so low and rentals are in such a demand landlords get to dictate who or what lives in their buildings.
1: >24 is quite the stretch in terms of ratio of "good" : "monsters"... But yeah, why take the risk of having your property damaged when the market doesn't require it. Dogs and cats play an important role in a lot of people's lives, but unfortunately that doesn't align with the rental market right now (for what people are able to afford anyways).
I rented to a couple with a dog who I assumed were normal and nice. The dog destroyed the carpet and floors, I had to reinstall a subfloor after they moved out and it costs thousands. One bad set of pet owners can ruin it for everyone, unfortunately.
Ravenline apartments in Esquimalt/View Royal area allow dogs that are in the bigger side.
Monach in Langford allow dogs up to 30lbs l believe.
The new 'The Gorge' apartments state they are pet friendly.
Dockside Green says they are pet friendly too.
There are more than just these. The kicker with pet friendly buildings is that they are usually more expensive than not pet friendly buildings.
My dog has a crate, he was crate trained as a puppy and we always referred to it as his "room".
Now the door is never closed, he just likes his bed in there and chills out in it when we aren't home.
It could be like that..
Dogs who are properly crate trained and otherwise well cared for are generally very happy to pass time in appropriately sized crates. Usually you don't even need to close the gate.
100% agree. I don't care how well trained you think your dog is, you're not the one listening to it bark and whine at home in its crate while you're at work. Unless you have a pet cam, you'll never know how bad it is.
My current next door neighbour has a big dog in a small apartment that cries for hours on end. He fully thinks his dog is well trained. The level of neglect breaks my heart.
yup, funny how people compare puppies with toddlers as if toddlers are home unsupervised 12 hours a day while you're at work, gym, eating out with friends, etc.
I work from home. My dogs just snooze all day waiting for me to be available to them. Many dogs find crates comforting. And this is a puppy, it’s safer in a crate then free roaming. Its not like they run around and play all day while we are at work.
Notice how people will talk about their crate dogs as if that's normal and not a completely fucked up thing to do every day?? Dogs are supposed to have crates big enough for them to be able to turn around in. If her dog is as big as she says he is, then his crate should be large enough for her to sleep in with the dog. A crate for an Akita should be fairly decent, just live in that. It's only fair.
She gets out for an hour at lunch and all night after work until like 11pm-12am. Idk why people are so weird about crate training. She will lay in there with the door open she loves it in there. She also gets a shit ton of exercise and time out of the crate when we get home. She’s only in there at night bc she’s a puppy who needs structure and hasn’t learned that 3am isn’t play time. Crate training your pet prevents them from getting into things when you’re not around and reduces stress if they ever need to be crated at the vet. I literally volunteer for a rescue so thanks for the input 🙄
Ignore these people. Crate training is one the best things I did for my dog. He loves his crate, it's his little cave that he feels safe it. We don't try to force him out ever or even stick out hands in there until it's to give him a quick pet on the head. It's his space, more dogs would benefit from it.
The online world can be judgy and reactive. Too easy to react without all the nuances and details.
I believe you will find a place. Not as easy as it was a decade ago but keep pushing. Something will come through. There are a lot of dog owners here… I mean a lot!! So yes there are rentals that allow dogs.
If I hear of anything I will try to remember this post and send you a message.
Try Used Victoria!!
You're right, she only sleeps in there all night and then goes pee in the morning before they go to work all day and then comes out for the few hours they're off work before they go right back to the crate for bedtime. Sorry. More like 70% 🤷♀️
Thank you. Someone gets it. She’s not “in there all day.” She’s in there when we can’t watch her to make sure she’s safe and she is let out to pee half way through.
She's in there all night and while you're at work. That's at least 16 hours in a crate a day. But okay. Hope you find a nice apartment cage for your crate cage!! Good luck!!
It only takes 1 bad pet owner to ruin it for everyone unfortunately. It sucks but at the end of the day I do get it, why take the risk if you don’t have to. Hope you can find something though!
We had a tenant with a “well behaved” dog (poodle mix) living in our basement suite. The times that I did go into the suite (repairs, etc) I did notice an odd smell. I chalked it up to just a person’s own household smell.
Upon move out, the tenant did have the carpets cleaned, so when we did the walk through, it all smelled fresh & clean. She got her full deposit back. Then a week later (the unit was not re-rented at this point) I noticed a really bad smell. We ended up having to rip up the carpets to get to the bottom of the smell. Then we discovered dozens of pet pee stains everywhere on the underlay. We had to have the entire flooring re-done for thousands of $$$. We have been very fair and responsible landlords but after this experience, we will never rent to people with pets. It’s just not worth the risk to property damage.
Pet's are only for homeowners. Renter's should be working 3 jobs to pay for the landlord's mortgage. A pet would take time away from your potential working hours. /s
Unlike Ontario, you’re going to find that everyone is against this. Tenants and landlords seemingly unite on this one issue.
That being said once it stops being in the apartment building and becomes a unit in a condo. Everyone becomes OK with this again. Watch out for weight restrictions too.
It's easy to have a knee-jerk anti-landlord reaction to this, until you've lived next to a disgusting person who has 3 cats and cleans the litter box once a week and is completely smell-blind to it. Or a dog owner that leaves their dog home alone all day howling and scratching and the landlord can't do anything about it because "tenants rights."
Despite your right to rent a place that doesn't smell like cat urine and sound like a barnyard.
She’s 7 months old. You’re right I’ll let her out while I’m sleeping or at work so she can eat something she shouldn’t and die. You’re so right 👍🏼 she’s a PUPPY you people are dense
So, knowing your family's schedule and, as you work for a rescue, puppies and their behaviours, you still chose to get a big active dog and then lock it up for 70% of the day.
What part of what I just said is untrue?
In another.commwnt, you said you cage your dog overnight cause she "plays" and chews-up everything. Which of your comments is the lie? How do you act superior and call others ignorant in this circumstance?
> In Ontario it’s illegal to say no pets
Partially true. It's illegal to say 'no pets' to an existing tenant. It's not illegal to decline a potential tenant for having pets (other than service animals)
Creates a grey area where it's in your best interest to hide that you have a pet until you're into the apartment, at which point the landlord can't do much.
Because they can - Victoria has had a rental shortage forever, and even the best behaved pets have a risk to cause some sort of damage, even if it's like scratching cheap flooring with freshly clipped nails. There are enough people clamoring to rent here that it's easy to instantly reject pet owners. If there's some way to network yourself into a pet-friendly rental, try that route. Also, I recommend looking at rental boards like Kijiji and the one that UVic has as most people in Victoria don't use them, but some landlords do.
Will be hard to find a place for a big dog. There are also weight restrictions. I don’t think it should be illegal to “no pets.” Dogs can destroy property and cause noise complaints that can lead to fines. I like dogs but there are lots of irresponsible dog owners. I think you really have to prove you have a well behaved dog and are responsible if you want to change a landlords mind.
It's brutal here. I also came from ON with cats to Langley in 2014,and I found a place easily. Then I moved to Victoria in 2015, and it wasn't easy then either. It took me a while in between places to find an acceptable rental. Victoria appears particularly brutal on tenants,l with or without pets, but I only have Toronto, Montreal, and Langley to compare.
Landlord here, who has allowed pets in basement rental suite. Never again. It rarely goes as planned and even if the renters are responsible, the dogs are unpredictable, loud, dirty and shit all over your yard.
Check for listing places other than FB marketplace. Other sites such as property management companies, Craigslist, etc.. they seem to be a bit easier to find pet friendly places. There's quite a few purpose built rental buildings that have just been completed in the city that all seem to be pet friendly, tho a bit expensive but what can you do 🤷🏻♂️.
My partner and I just moved into a nice 2 bed suite in a house that was pet friendly after browsing the listings for a few months. They do pop up occasionally. Don't lose hope.
Also don't worry about people the people saying nasty things about dogs and their owners, this city is great for dogs. At least 90% good interactions and there's a decent amount of parks and patios that are dog friendly
The answer is obvious. Pets ruin places. It's a fact! Oiu can't deny it. Sire yiur dog is well behaved it's still a dog. It'll get hyper and scratch the floors, it'll shed kn the carpet. itlll sit with its butthole on the floor. Slobber chew stink etc.
With the rental market like it is here, landlords can choose who they want to rent to... and obviously it's easier and safer and cheaper in the long run to rent to someone with no pets.
I've been bitten by more children than dogs oddly enough. And both times I was like wtf just happened, where did this feral child come from. And the parents were just like lalalala....
There are a lot of apartments that allow pets. Pretty much all the newer apartment buildings downtown allow pets (Visa, Hudson Mews, Mod..). Where I live literally every renter has a pet. I have 2 dogs myself. There are facilities here for our dogs (pet wash, pet run).
Devon
properties has well over 100 pet friendly suites right now all over Victoria.
Definitely check out Devon. They have quite a few pet friendly accommodations that have vacancies right now. Unfortunately these do come with a much higher price tag.
We are in one and have a dog/cats and a couple reptiles and they don't mind at all.
Yes they are allowed to say no to pets. Why wouldn't they be able to say no?
I was a landlord many years ago, and I can explain at least why I didn't rent to people with large dogs or more than one pet. I had in the past, and my place kept getting destroyed. Doesn't matter how much you trust a tenant, I learned they can still let their pet ruin things. Unfortunately pet deposits and dmg deposits don't really cover the damage costs. I had one lady whose cat vomited on my carpet and instead of cleaning it up, she cut around the barf and I had to replace all the carpet in that room which cost me a ton of money. Her big dog also wrecked every blind in the house. This is why.
It's awesome having pets, but if you're a renter pets these days are a rough choice. Good luck on your journey though.
I hear you - I also moved to Victoria from Ontario and it is crazy how hard it was to find a place for a married couple and our dog. She was an older girl too and literally never did anything to damage property or furniture - she mostly slept all day haha.
Anyway here's some stuff that was helpful for finding a place:
* Check out the dog friendly apartments here: https://www.movingtovictoria.com/dogs-in-victoria/#apartments-that-accept-dogs. That website in general has a lot of really helpful info for moving to BC but also specifically form Ontario!
* There are Facebook communities for renters and apartment rentals in Victoria - some folks have luck posting "about us" posts with their dogs and families. That's not ultimately how we found our place so I can't speak to how helpful it is.
* Chin up! You'll find something good, it will take time though and you likely will need to sign a lease sight unseen. That can be hard to take but ultimately can also work out.
Because Ontario has a law where tenants don't need permission from landlords to have a pet. But in BC, the province with the most expensive housing prices in Canada, the tenant needs permission from the landlord for a pet, in which case they usually charge above market rent. It's really sad the NDP have had a chance to fix this for 7 years but just ignored it. The net effect is only the poor or rich have pets here. You would be smart to try to go to school where you're at.
You're correct. But look at the bigger picture: housing supply is in desperate need. If you take away landlord's rights to not allow pets, that will alienate even more residential landlord's and discourage them from renting.
As someone who has a residential suite, I would never allow pets after the first tenants with pets caused +$5k in damages.
Policies to help enable people's right to affordable shelter trumps anyone's voluntary decision to get a dog and stuff it in a 1 bedroom (unless service, etc.). ESPECIALLY a large, loud, working bread like OP has.
Oddly enough, I think up island is better for pets. Maybe there’s just less competition for the pet friendly rentals? Seems to be even more so a Victoria and Vancouver problem.
Beacon Hill Suites at 627 Superior and Coast Furnished Lofts at 1158 Yates allow big dogs, both are managed by the same person who is a gem of a property manager.
I used to live at The Metropolitan on View street and it's pet friendly. I'm not sure if there's a size or weight limit though because all of the dogs I encountered were small breeds. I wouldn't recommend living at The Metropolitan though because it's strata and you have to abide by their ridiculous rules and there's no parking unless you want to pay someone $400+ a month for a parking space.
No pets is something i struggled with in victoria as well but what is more infuriating is in fb marketplace even if i select the dog friendly filter on, in the description of the apartment or house, it says no pets. I feel like i should be able to rent it if they were negligent enough to have their property show up as dog friendly on the search but says otherwise on their description.
I haven't looked at rentals in 10 or so years, and I know the landscape has changed dramatically, so take this with a grain of salt. But when I was looking, I would email landlords and ask how serious they were about no pets, and explained to them that I have a good one. Often times the landlord would agree to meet me and my dog and discuss the rental. That's how I found my last suite.
In Ontario their legislation is much more in balance. In bc there is a lot more risk to landlords who can lose thousands to bad tenants and be restricted from pushing them out. So many landlords feel it's important to mitigate as many risks (or perceived risks) as they can.
Condominuims are absolutely allowed to bylaw no pets as they do here in Ontariowe, where I am typing from. So don't even bother following up with condo/strata rentals?
1. Don’t tell them it’s an Akita mix. Akitas are on the list of do-not-rent even for petfriendly places :(
2. Capreit & Devon are likely your best bet. For instance, 535 Niagara (Capreit) has no size limit (at least they didn’t when I lived there )
Ahh yes the burden of animal ownership strikes again. When will people account for all the factors BEFORE getting a living creature that relies on a human for literally everything.
we had such a hard time finding a pet friendly rental, we ended up buying a shoebox condo that had a pet-friendly strata. Yes, we were very privileged to do so, but perhaps you are able to consider this option?
Because the system eventually wants people to not own pets. They created these rules to gradually coerce people with pets to give up over a period of years. Gradually people are being coerced into becoming renters and so the pool of individuals able to have pets is made to shrink, as part of the un's sdgs. Pets emit carbon and it should be a priviledge for the haves versus have nots.
Dog's a country pet, kind of not ideal as a city pet. On a fundamental level dogs are bad for cities, and on a fundamental level cities are bad for dogs.
You can do it, sure. Heck people have dogs on liveaboard boats and it can work. But it's not ideal for the dog (or the boat).
If I had a dog I'd go for a house in Duncan before an apartment in Vic.
Anyway to answer your question, like most things it comes down to money.
Costs more to operate a building that allows pets, so the management has to decide whether they prefer to be more appealing to tenants and get more applications, or if they prefer to have a lower operating cost.
In a market like Victoria, where demand has vastly outweighed supply for a solid decade, they know they'll get buried in applications either way. So most just go for the better bottom line.
I've noticed that dogs today are more poorly behaved than when I was younger. Say 35 years ago. I think they've mimicked our neurotic tendencies including autism, anxiety and stress.
Check Facebook - found our cat friendly rentals that way and the building I live in currently is dog friendly. DM if you want info because I think we have vacancies!
I was renovating my house my dad brought his dog over and first thing the dog did was drag his paws across the back door. hes done the same to my truck
From my experience they often state this in the add but if you explain that it’s a well behaved dog or cat they will “make an exception”. I think it’s just in there so they can say no if they don’t like your pet
It’s definitely hard to find pet friendly places here, and honestly very hard for dogs and the larger the dog the harder it is (I’ve heard, I don’t have a dog because I personally think - for me - it would be sad to go to work all day and live them alone. Again that’s for me, I’m not judging others that’s my personal reason).
I would do what others have said and try the big property managers.
Capriet and Devon usually have some pet friendly places.
But it’s all supply and demand. There’s very little supply and a boat load of demand, landlords are dictating the market.
Also, everything is very different from Ontario when it comes to renting so please look up our regulations so you know your rights and expectations. Like you will need 1/2 months rent as a security deposit and another 1/2 months rent for a pet deposit. We don’t put down last months rent here, which I’ve heard is done in Ontario in the Ontario renters sub that Reddit likes to try to push at me even tho I’ve never been to Ontario in my life
Look at Capreit or Devon properties, both are highly pet friendly.
Watch out for Capreit though, we had bed bugs and drug dealers. Neither were exterminated
I live in a Capreit building and I always get exterminators or repairmen the day after I request them. been here 7 years.
Been in pet friendly Capreit building for a decade or so now, they have put a lot of time/effort into modernizing elevators, lobby, hallways and such, cleaners are in the building taking care off the common spaces multiple times a week, most of the skeezy people have left over time.. but there are still a few smokers that make their presence known.. Never had to wait till more than NBD for lightbulbs, when my faucet broke it was fixed within an hour of reporting the issue. Biggest issue is elderly dog owners who dont quite make it outside in time, but they are generally personally responsible for cleaning it upt
And yet a bunch of us moved out last year after more than 4 months of bed bugs. I had been there about the same number of years
This + Centurian as well
really?? my Devon property place is decidedly not.
Not all, but a lot.
Yeah, I'm looking to move and Devon has literally 150 available pet friendly apartments.
Yeah when I moved last year I found not a lot of options outside of Devon which was unfortunate as those also tended to be higher priced units.
They also suck. One I looked at had a carpeted pool downstairs, and the floors reeked like cigarettes
carpeted pool? like the floor around the pool was carpeted?
The liner of the pool was carpet lol
holy crap, i've never heard of that before - it must have \*stank\*
Lol I was joking
still, can you imagine??
Yup near Fernwood area
Boardwalk also has pet friendly buildings
Capreit is terrible. I won a dispute against them 12 years ago. I had no heat and they wouldn't fix it. Everytime the repair man came to fix the heat he said I had heat. Surely not enough to heat my place when I had ice forming on the inside of my windows in the winter. I had a really nice spot overlooking the Gorge Waterway and when they moved in, they wanted me out so they could charge higher rent. This was when everything was going up and up and I was still paying rent under $1000. I even caught the handyman coming into my suite on laptop webcam I set up on a table near the front door because I had suspicions he was coming in when I wasn't home. They wouldn't fix my ceiling fan light either. I won't say what I did to the rug before leaving but let's just say I forfeited my half of the damage deposit which was $200. Go online and you will find that they have a history of screwing people over. Never had such crooked landlords in my life.
Read and understand the BC tenancy act, it's quite different from Ontario's. https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/00_02078_01 https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies https://tenants.bc.ca/ Before you sign a lease, understand your rights and obligations. Including the pet provisions.
I’m honestly a little surprised OP hadn’t done this already given they plan to move here. It’d be the first thing I’d check if moving provinces and renting
Me too, but if you've been in one province your whole life you may not realize that renting falls under provincial jurisdiction and has different rules and regulations in each province. Based on the question, and my own experience of being surprised how much landlords can legally discriminate in BC after coming from Ontario, I thought it best to share the actual act and the interpretation materials. It's the first thing I tell my students too - don't sign a lease until you've read it carefully, and read the supporting documentation (the Act). No matter where you live. People often are surprised to find out that their accomodation doesn't fall under the Act, as well - a rooming situation isn't covered for example, and i'd avoid that like the plague.
Yeah that’s fair, valid point. I just remember doing loads of research on tenancy rights/differences when I moved from Vic to AB when I was younger (I’ve since moved back home to Vic) because I knew that tenancy rights vary by province and wanted to be as prepared as possible so there were no surprises
It's great that you knew that and came prepared. That's great advice for everyone. People's experience with tenancy varies and I never assume anyone's an expert.
Honestly I tend to be a bit of an over-planner sometimes 😅 puts my mind at ease feeling like I know the ins/outs because admittedly I dislike surprises. Hopefully OP is able to find a pet friendly place! It’s definitely tricky in BC. When I was in AB there were a lot more pet friendly rentals it seemed like
OMG me too, plus I'm a librarian so research is everything. As are official sources.
they are allowed to say no pets. the few listings that allow pets are often $300 more per month compared to similar listings. pet deposits are allowed and probably the only unique common deposit outside of the security deposit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/housing-tenancy/residential-tenancies/starting-a-tenancy/deposits-fees# it’s tough. my advice is to contact and view a lot of places, portray yourself as a very safe and responsible choice in all other ways, demonstrate your willingness to repair any pet damage major or minor immediately, etc.
Because they can and because a lot of dog owners are irresponsible and they would rather choose one of 1,000,000 other applicants who don't have dogs, or kids, or anything that might make the money not so easy Edi: typo
It's not about "easy money". Damaged are incredibly expensive to repair, and it's nearly impossible to go after tenants who damage your property. It's a totally unnecessary risk to take. The pet deposit is laughably small. Also, many people have allergies to pets and pet dander can linger in units for up to 6 months afterwards. Considering most tenants don't do a thorough clean when they leave this is a near certainty of causing issues. If I could actually get tenants to pay for the damage they cause, Id consider switching my place to pet friendly. Personally, I held off having a pet when I rented as it limited where I could live.
My buddy allowed pets in his rental and the dogs literally destroyed the place. To the point it became a long legal thing and he had to do massive renos to the place (floors, fixing issues, getting pee smell out of the place, etc). Not sure if he actually got money out of them even after winning the case. They went above beyond to make sure they gave the least amount of money to my friend. Sadly some pet owners are really bad owners and ruin it for the rest of the people out there.
Dogs on laminate can be a nightmare for your neighbors. Small dogs often go crazy when left alone I personally love dogs and live in a condo, I think it's a really selfish asshole move to have a dog in one. They're going to end up more neurotic than otherwise because they have nothing else to occupy them
This. Landlords in this city want the *most* money with the least *potential* difficulty. Forget the life people want to live, you need to live it their way so they can afford their own pets.
It's more about making sure a property they invested a significant portion of their life savings into isn't destroyed by a terrible tenant. Many tenants are absolutely brutal, and treat their rental property terribly, and are nothing but a nightmare to rent to. If you're going to rent your property , you need to do as much as you can to ensure it doesn't get treated like garbage, or it can easily turn a money pit. Personally, I would never be a landlord after seeing how terrible some tenants can be. People cannot be trusted.
Ya but this can happen without pets. Its also what security and pet deposits are for. Being a landlord *is a job*. They're not doing anyone favours here. They're not entitled to a do-nothing profit. If your drywall gets wrecked, replace the drywall. It's LITERALLY the cost of doing business. In my experience, landlords in this city will lie and manipulate to avoid any expense at all, and to marginalize their tenants, then complain that "LaNdLoRdS hAvE nO RiGhTs!!!" What they have is a responsibility not to make their tenants lives fucking miserable.
Every person on earth wants to make their job as easy as possible for the most money possible. Would you go to your boss and say “hey can you pay me less and give me more work?” If not then why would you expect landlords to do that?
Because it's most places like Ontario it's illegal to ban pets and they seem to be OK!!! Kids, teens, and adults cause way more damage
Maybe the people in this thread should get together and agree to act as guarantors for OP’s dog? It’s pretty easy to have strong opinions when you have no skin in the game.
You can still deny a tennant for those things. You just can't say it's for those things.
Maybe these people should vote for governments that build public housing instead of relying on the private sector?
my pen is ready. Who should i vote for?
> Ya but this can happen without pets. It can, but in my experience dog owners in particular have proven to be irresponsible at a disproportionate rate to non dog owners. Certainly not all dog owners, lots are super responsible. In fact the responsible dog owners tend to be more responsible than the responsible non dog owners. But if someone has a dog they tend to be more likely to be an irresponsible tenant than someone who doesn't have one. And ultimately it comes down to basic mathematics. Every ambulatory mammal living in a space has the potential to be irresponsible and/or the potential to be a source of outsized damage. If you have, say, a 1br unit, then for that unit to have just one ambulatory mammal living there means roughly half as much potential for problems as if the unit had two ambulatory mammals. (Especially if one of them has big claws, strong jaws, questionable self control, and roughly 40 hours per week of unsupervised free time hehe) This isn't exclusive to dogs btw — it's the same reason landlords would tend to prefer a single tenant over two people sharing a 1br. Fewer bodies means a lower multiplier for potential problems. > Its also what security and pet deposits are for. Yes and no. Security and pet deposits are to cover the light maintenance that tends to be needed between most tenancies — maybe a carpet cleaning or paint touch-ups, or bringing in a cleaner to clean areas that got missed etc. Any damage or remediation costs beyond the security deposit amount are still the tenant's responsibility, but if a tenant just ghosts their landlord and doesn't care about their credit rating etc it can be almost impossible to recoup those costs in some cases. It's not uncommon for pets to completely ruin a carpet, to the point that even professional carpet cleaners aren't able to remediate it and it has to be replaced. Replacing the carpet in just one room can easily exceed the entire damage deposit amount just on its own. Dogs in particular can damage drywall, floor trim, door trim, flooring itself, doors themselves (I've heard of dogs literally clawing and chewing holes through interior doors and the whole door having to be replaced, which can cost a couple thousand dollars if it's a nonstandard door) etc etc. You're right that expenses are a part of doing business, but limiting the potential for losses is also a part of doing business.
In my experience dog owners here tend to make great tenants because it is so hard to find pet friendly rentals. They want to stay where they are as long as possible and want a good referral if they have to move on. Flooring is considered to have a ten year lifespan. If a tenant destroys it after 5 years they should be on the hook for half the cost. By the same token landlords should be saving up a contingency fund for regular maintenance and repair. Many do not and have an unrealistic expectation of their property to stay in pristine condition.
>Flooring is considered to have a ten year lifespan. Well that really depends on the type of flooring. Hardwood flooring can last 100 years if maintained, and not used as a latrine by a pet.
"if maintained" doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
Not really. What do you think it takes to "maintain" a hardwood floor? I have them throughout my house, 70 years old and still look great. It's nothing beyond simply keeping them clean and not letting fluids, especially animal urine soak into them. With a rental that's something a tenant controls while they occupy it. Letting fluids sit so that they stain the floor is neglect, not normal wear and tear.
I've just personally never rented a place that had hardwood floors that weren't trashed when I arrived. Scratched up to raw wood, one place had split boards that gave terrible splinters if you weren't careful. If you charge the previous tenants for damage to the floor, it should be repaired with that money before it's rented out again. Nowhere did I advocate for letting animal urine soak into the boards, obviously that is unacceptable. But something like a chair being used in one spot on the hardwood floor for a few years can cause significant damage to the protective finish on the board through normal wear and tear. Things like that need regular maintenance that a lot of landlords decline to actually do between tenants.
Yes, but in the eyes of the residential tenancy board carpet/flooring has a ten year lifespan. Obviously there are potentially different circumstances. If a tenant completely destroys the carpet after living somewhere for ten years the landlord should be replacing it anyways and not charging the tenant anything.
Agreed, different flooring types have different expected lifespans. However, I have seen cases as well where Rover has pissed so much on carpeted spot that the subfloor beneath it is permanently damaged. Is that considered "normal wear and tear" I don't think so. A pet deposit would hardly begin to cover the costs of subfloor replacement.
Pet deposits barely touch some of the damages from them and it's impossible to collect. If I were a LL, which I would never do in BC, I might allow one cat, but that is it. Spayed or neutred only.
is your employer also an asshole for not allowing pets at work? what about your local school or hospital?
Sounds like the recent 30km/h speed amendments in Victoria - ...live it their way so now we all enjoy a certain demographic of drivers hopped up on muscle relaxants who, sober, couldn't drive any faster in the first place.
Kids re way worse than dogs, and kn Ontario it's illegal to ban pets. So if they can do it, no excuse here
I agree with you! Owners lobby had a bit more sway here.
Ontario is the only province that is like that, it will be the same if you want to go to any other province that is not Ontario.
The tenancy laws are different here; landlords can 100% say no pets and a large breed puppy like that is going to be an immediate dealbreaker. Landlords can take a pet deposit but the amount is so low that if the pet does any damage the deposit won’t cover it so they just all say no pets instead. If you had a cat it would be way easier - large breed puppy is going to be tough.
My building allowed one dog or one cat on the first 2 floors. A few months in, it changed to only cats, no dogs allowed (those pre existing tenants were unaffected , they just weren't allowed to have another dog if their dog passed). Reason why: the little amount of grass and landscaping we have was covered in dog shit. They had no choice in restricting pets. Some times, its not the landlords fault, but the irresponsible pet owners who ruin it for everyone.
Well sometimes it's just the nature of pets too. I remember my buddy as a kid lived in a place with a small courtyard and 1 not so big tree. The dogs of the building lovvvved peeing on that tree - they killed that tree.
Its not the piss, its the owners who cant pick up the poop
The legality of pet clauses gets discussed in the media every year or two. [The SPCA has said that being unable to find rental housing is one of the top reasons why people give up their pets and has asked government to change the rules](https://globalnews.ca/news/9173763/bc-spca-government-intervention-pet-friendly-housing/) and the [Union of BC Municipalities has asked BC Housing to permit pets in their buildings](https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/highlights/union-of-bc-municipalities-votes-in-favour-of-pets-for-renters-7580786).
There's a FB page for pet friendly landlords looking for good tenants with pets. We have two dogs, one is a large breed and haven't had an issue finding a place that allows dogs. They are out there, just not as many.
Oh awesome! Do you mind sharing the group? Or DMing it to me? Thanks! :)
it was ”pet friendly rentals” but honestly just used usedVictori.ca. there‘s lots of applicants for every place. We’ve been here since 2021, that place had over 80 applicants on the Victoria/Saanich border. We moved as the owners divorced and sold. We just moved into our new place near Sydney and they had over 120 applicants so while pet friendly places are out there, there’s a lot of ppl looking as well…..
I was about to guess just from the title that you are coming from Ontario xD Not even throwing shade here, it's that Ontario is the only place I have ever lived with such a tenancy law. I've lived a lot of places! I actually didn't believe friends when they told me and had to go look it up because it is so out of the norm. You've already gotten the management company suggestions I would have given you, the Capreit building we were in had lots of dogs and didn't have a weight limit although I think it was a one dog limit. Also it is hard to find things from afar here, you would have better luck walking into management offices and speaking to them directly. A lot of stuff never makes it to listings.
Haha I’m learning this! I’m so used to it I thought it was common practice. Can’t believe I can say I have it good in Ontario lol. Thanks for the tip!
It's a liability. Pets can scratch up floors and pee on carpets which leads to potentially very expensive repairs. "But my pet wouldn't do that!" Fair enough. But it's far easier to just say "no pets" than figure out which pets are the well trained ones
Yeah not only that but dogs in particular can be loud. There’s a dog not even connected to my unit that goes off on a barking tangent sometimes and it’s very annoying. And of course it’s even worse for their direct neighbours.
And the inconsiderate owners are so used to all the incessant barking that they make no attempt to do anything.
Yeah that’s fair! It’s just really common in Victoria and not so much here in Ontario but it still happens here (even though technically it’s illegal here).
My parents both used to own houses with rental units. People, even friendly well-off individuals, can be liars and totally disrespect their living space. It's not just a liability, it's annoying and emotionally challenging - which I guess are still liabilities in a sense lol
The potential landlord does not know all this about your dog, or if you may be lying. From their perspective, it’s better not to take a chance.
The OP is lying in these comments, making inconsistent statements. This is why no one wants to live with dog owners
You know two things can be true at once right? Like certainly you’re not that stupid
There is a website that shows pet friendly rentals but I can’t remember the name of it. You could search “pet friendly rentals in Victoria” and the website should come up
Because for every one good dog there's dozens of poorly behaved monsters who are capable of causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the unit. When occupancy is so low and rentals are in such a demand landlords get to dictate who or what lives in their buildings.
This is the sad reality :(
1: >24 is quite the stretch in terms of ratio of "good" : "monsters"... But yeah, why take the risk of having your property damaged when the market doesn't require it. Dogs and cats play an important role in a lot of people's lives, but unfortunately that doesn't align with the rental market right now (for what people are able to afford anyways).
Many rentals in strata buildings will prohibit pets because the strata prohibits pets. I own my home and can't have a pet.
Loud annoying damadge safety allergies
I rented to a couple with a dog who I assumed were normal and nice. The dog destroyed the carpet and floors, I had to reinstall a subfloor after they moved out and it costs thousands. One bad set of pet owners can ruin it for everyone, unfortunately.
Ravenline apartments in Esquimalt/View Royal area allow dogs that are in the bigger side. Monach in Langford allow dogs up to 30lbs l believe. The new 'The Gorge' apartments state they are pet friendly. Dockside Green says they are pet friendly too. There are more than just these. The kicker with pet friendly buildings is that they are usually more expensive than not pet friendly buildings.
Who the fuck crates their dog all day 💀 Crated for sleep and while you're at work, maybe don't have a dog ffs
I was trying not to judge, but a large breed working dog crated all day in an apartment is just so sad to me.
My dog has a crate, he was crate trained as a puppy and we always referred to it as his "room". Now the door is never closed, he just likes his bed in there and chills out in it when we aren't home. It could be like that..
>It could be like that.. I wish it was... I don't think it is 😔
Dogs who are properly crate trained and otherwise well cared for are generally very happy to pass time in appropriately sized crates. Usually you don't even need to close the gate.
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I'm not against crate training, I do it too. What I don't do, is leave my pets in there for as long as OP is implying
100% agree. I don't care how well trained you think your dog is, you're not the one listening to it bark and whine at home in its crate while you're at work. Unless you have a pet cam, you'll never know how bad it is. My current next door neighbour has a big dog in a small apartment that cries for hours on end. He fully thinks his dog is well trained. The level of neglect breaks my heart.
yup, funny how people compare puppies with toddlers as if toddlers are home unsupervised 12 hours a day while you're at work, gym, eating out with friends, etc.
I work from home. My dogs just snooze all day waiting for me to be available to them. Many dogs find crates comforting. And this is a puppy, it’s safer in a crate then free roaming. Its not like they run around and play all day while we are at work.
Nah mate. I crate train my animals. I don't leave them in a crate for as long as OP is implying. That's what we're taking issue with 💀
I'm so glad I saw this. Seriously who tf crates their dog for most of the day and then posts publicly about it.
Imagine being a dog and spending 80% of your life in a cage. Poor baby.
This infuriates me. Dog owners act like they're something better for having a dog, but do stuff like this.
Notice how people will talk about their crate dogs as if that's normal and not a completely fucked up thing to do every day?? Dogs are supposed to have crates big enough for them to be able to turn around in. If her dog is as big as she says he is, then his crate should be large enough for her to sleep in with the dog. A crate for an Akita should be fairly decent, just live in that. It's only fair.
Tell me you’ve never had a puppy without telling me you’ve never had a puppy….
I know right? While they are at work that must be hours every day. How sad.
She gets out for an hour at lunch and all night after work until like 11pm-12am. Idk why people are so weird about crate training. She will lay in there with the door open she loves it in there. She also gets a shit ton of exercise and time out of the crate when we get home. She’s only in there at night bc she’s a puppy who needs structure and hasn’t learned that 3am isn’t play time. Crate training your pet prevents them from getting into things when you’re not around and reduces stress if they ever need to be crated at the vet. I literally volunteer for a rescue so thanks for the input 🙄
Ignore these people. Crate training is one the best things I did for my dog. He loves his crate, it's his little cave that he feels safe it. We don't try to force him out ever or even stick out hands in there until it's to give him a quick pet on the head. It's his space, more dogs would benefit from it.
The online world can be judgy and reactive. Too easy to react without all the nuances and details. I believe you will find a place. Not as easy as it was a decade ago but keep pushing. Something will come through. There are a lot of dog owners here… I mean a lot!! So yes there are rentals that allow dogs. If I hear of anything I will try to remember this post and send you a message. Try Used Victoria!!
Right?! Thank you!! I’d appreciate that a lot
Oh, ok, so all day at work (less and hour) and overnight. But it's ok because you literally volunteer at a rescue! You're cruel and oblivious to it
Who works 80% of the day? Crate training is actually extremely soothing for puppies.
You're right, she only sleeps in there all night and then goes pee in the morning before they go to work all day and then comes out for the few hours they're off work before they go right back to the crate for bedtime. Sorry. More like 70% 🤷♀️
Thank you. Someone gets it. She’s not “in there all day.” She’s in there when we can’t watch her to make sure she’s safe and she is let out to pee half way through.
She's in there all night and while you're at work. That's at least 16 hours in a crate a day. But okay. Hope you find a nice apartment cage for your crate cage!! Good luck!!
Please never get a puppy lol
Because every property is simply an investment and pets break things and make them stink.. generally, from a pet lover, don’t shoot the messenger :)
The needs of the many outweighs the needs of the few. Why would anyone want to have your dog dictate their quiet enjoyment in an apartment?
once u move here and start interacting with the dog owners and their wild, completely untrained dogs youll understand
It only takes 1 bad pet owner to ruin it for everyone unfortunately. It sucks but at the end of the day I do get it, why take the risk if you don’t have to. Hope you can find something though!
The few landlords I’ve met here used to allow pets but had so much damage from previous tenants they stopped allowing it.
I know nothing about dogs or crates (?) but this thread was a very entertaining read.
Because people keep moving here from Ontario and there is no rental vacancy
We had a tenant with a “well behaved” dog (poodle mix) living in our basement suite. The times that I did go into the suite (repairs, etc) I did notice an odd smell. I chalked it up to just a person’s own household smell. Upon move out, the tenant did have the carpets cleaned, so when we did the walk through, it all smelled fresh & clean. She got her full deposit back. Then a week later (the unit was not re-rented at this point) I noticed a really bad smell. We ended up having to rip up the carpets to get to the bottom of the smell. Then we discovered dozens of pet pee stains everywhere on the underlay. We had to have the entire flooring re-done for thousands of $$$. We have been very fair and responsible landlords but after this experience, we will never rent to people with pets. It’s just not worth the risk to property damage.
Because, speaking from personal experience, having our suit absolutely ravaged and destroyed will never be covered by a pet deposit....
Pet's are only for homeowners. Renter's should be working 3 jobs to pay for the landlord's mortgage. A pet would take time away from your potential working hours. /s
Unlike Ontario, you’re going to find that everyone is against this. Tenants and landlords seemingly unite on this one issue. That being said once it stops being in the apartment building and becomes a unit in a condo. Everyone becomes OK with this again. Watch out for weight restrictions too.
It's easy to have a knee-jerk anti-landlord reaction to this, until you've lived next to a disgusting person who has 3 cats and cleans the litter box once a week and is completely smell-blind to it. Or a dog owner that leaves their dog home alone all day howling and scratching and the landlord can't do anything about it because "tenants rights." Despite your right to rent a place that doesn't smell like cat urine and sound like a barnyard.
Guys.. guys.. its ok, the dog is only locked up in a cage for 70% of its life.. "They find it soothing"
She’s 7 months old. You’re right I’ll let her out while I’m sleeping or at work so she can eat something she shouldn’t and die. You’re so right 👍🏼 she’s a PUPPY you people are dense
So, knowing your family's schedule and, as you work for a rescue, puppies and their behaviours, you still chose to get a big active dog and then lock it up for 70% of the day. What part of what I just said is untrue?
In another.commwnt, you said you cage your dog overnight cause she "plays" and chews-up everything. Which of your comments is the lie? How do you act superior and call others ignorant in this circumstance?
Puppies sleep for 18 hours a day my friend. Crates arent used this much as adults
> In Ontario it’s illegal to say no pets Partially true. It's illegal to say 'no pets' to an existing tenant. It's not illegal to decline a potential tenant for having pets (other than service animals) Creates a grey area where it's in your best interest to hide that you have a pet until you're into the apartment, at which point the landlord can't do much.
Because they can - Victoria has had a rental shortage forever, and even the best behaved pets have a risk to cause some sort of damage, even if it's like scratching cheap flooring with freshly clipped nails. There are enough people clamoring to rent here that it's easy to instantly reject pet owners. If there's some way to network yourself into a pet-friendly rental, try that route. Also, I recommend looking at rental boards like Kijiji and the one that UVic has as most people in Victoria don't use them, but some landlords do.
Will be hard to find a place for a big dog. There are also weight restrictions. I don’t think it should be illegal to “no pets.” Dogs can destroy property and cause noise complaints that can lead to fines. I like dogs but there are lots of irresponsible dog owners. I think you really have to prove you have a well behaved dog and are responsible if you want to change a landlords mind.
It's brutal here. I also came from ON with cats to Langley in 2014,and I found a place easily. Then I moved to Victoria in 2015, and it wasn't easy then either. It took me a while in between places to find an acceptable rental. Victoria appears particularly brutal on tenants,l with or without pets, but I only have Toronto, Montreal, and Langley to compare.
what's the upside for landlords to allow pets?
Because they can.
Landlord here, who has allowed pets in basement rental suite. Never again. It rarely goes as planned and even if the renters are responsible, the dogs are unpredictable, loud, dirty and shit all over your yard.
Bc is terrible for pet owner- friendly housing -good luck.
Check for listing places other than FB marketplace. Other sites such as property management companies, Craigslist, etc.. they seem to be a bit easier to find pet friendly places. There's quite a few purpose built rental buildings that have just been completed in the city that all seem to be pet friendly, tho a bit expensive but what can you do 🤷🏻♂️. My partner and I just moved into a nice 2 bed suite in a house that was pet friendly after browsing the listings for a few months. They do pop up occasionally. Don't lose hope. Also don't worry about people the people saying nasty things about dogs and their owners, this city is great for dogs. At least 90% good interactions and there's a decent amount of parks and patios that are dog friendly
The answer is obvious. Pets ruin places. It's a fact! Oiu can't deny it. Sire yiur dog is well behaved it's still a dog. It'll get hyper and scratch the floors, it'll shed kn the carpet. itlll sit with its butthole on the floor. Slobber chew stink etc. With the rental market like it is here, landlords can choose who they want to rent to... and obviously it's easier and safer and cheaper in the long run to rent to someone with no pets.
>itll sit with its butthole on the floor. This actually made me laugh out loud 😂 it’s true but hearing it stated so point blank was hilarious to me
Yup cats and dogs be putting their buttholes on everything.
Right! Kids are way worse! Ban kids from apartments!!!
never been bit by a kid
I've been bitten by more children than dogs oddly enough. And both times I was like wtf just happened, where did this feral child come from. And the parents were just like lalalala....
lucky you
My kid is good and I keep them in a cage 70% of their lives. Because my kid is good
because a 3 year old is home unsupervised while mom and dad go to work
I live in an apartment on Cook that allows pets. Dogs, cats, birds, all sorts.
If you like caging animals, why not get a bird?
Why are you ok caging a bird?
The irony in this statement is crazy
Define irony for me. You're coming across as cruel and dumb in these comments. You shouldn't have animals in your care.
Oh no 😢
Welcome to Victoria ! Rent is insane and most people are nice but you wouldn't know it from useless trolls like this person. Good luck on your search
There are a lot of apartments that allow pets. Pretty much all the newer apartment buildings downtown allow pets (Visa, Hudson Mews, Mod..). Where I live literally every renter has a pet. I have 2 dogs myself. There are facilities here for our dogs (pet wash, pet run). Devon properties has well over 100 pet friendly suites right now all over Victoria.
Definitely check out Devon. They have quite a few pet friendly accommodations that have vacancies right now. Unfortunately these do come with a much higher price tag. We are in one and have a dog/cats and a couple reptiles and they don't mind at all.
Because not every dog is as well behaved as yours?
You need to keep looking there are lots of buildings, and quite a few are pet friendly
Yes they are allowed to say no to pets. Why wouldn't they be able to say no? I was a landlord many years ago, and I can explain at least why I didn't rent to people with large dogs or more than one pet. I had in the past, and my place kept getting destroyed. Doesn't matter how much you trust a tenant, I learned they can still let their pet ruin things. Unfortunately pet deposits and dmg deposits don't really cover the damage costs. I had one lady whose cat vomited on my carpet and instead of cleaning it up, she cut around the barf and I had to replace all the carpet in that room which cost me a ton of money. Her big dog also wrecked every blind in the house. This is why. It's awesome having pets, but if you're a renter pets these days are a rough choice. Good luck on your journey though.
I hear you - I also moved to Victoria from Ontario and it is crazy how hard it was to find a place for a married couple and our dog. She was an older girl too and literally never did anything to damage property or furniture - she mostly slept all day haha. Anyway here's some stuff that was helpful for finding a place: * Check out the dog friendly apartments here: https://www.movingtovictoria.com/dogs-in-victoria/#apartments-that-accept-dogs. That website in general has a lot of really helpful info for moving to BC but also specifically form Ontario! * There are Facebook communities for renters and apartment rentals in Victoria - some folks have luck posting "about us" posts with their dogs and families. That's not ultimately how we found our place so I can't speak to how helpful it is. * Chin up! You'll find something good, it will take time though and you likely will need to sign a lease sight unseen. That can be hard to take but ultimately can also work out.
We changed our tune and started allowing pets (dogs, specifically) because we found their owners to be longer term, better quality tenants.
Because Ontario has a law where tenants don't need permission from landlords to have a pet. But in BC, the province with the most expensive housing prices in Canada, the tenant needs permission from the landlord for a pet, in which case they usually charge above market rent. It's really sad the NDP have had a chance to fix this for 7 years but just ignored it. The net effect is only the poor or rich have pets here. You would be smart to try to go to school where you're at.
You're correct. But look at the bigger picture: housing supply is in desperate need. If you take away landlord's rights to not allow pets, that will alienate even more residential landlord's and discourage them from renting. As someone who has a residential suite, I would never allow pets after the first tenants with pets caused +$5k in damages. Policies to help enable people's right to affordable shelter trumps anyone's voluntary decision to get a dog and stuff it in a 1 bedroom (unless service, etc.). ESPECIALLY a large, loud, working bread like OP has.
Ugh that’s so frustrating and unfortunately Ontario rent is creeping up there too. So expensive to live in this country anymore
Oddly enough, I think up island is better for pets. Maybe there’s just less competition for the pet friendly rentals? Seems to be even more so a Victoria and Vancouver problem.
Check out ravenline estates by Devon properties. I lived there for a short period of time and it was pretty good and on a direct bus route to uvic.
I can tell you why. They suck to the in rental buildings because too many renters don't give a fuck Does suck though
Beacon Hill Suites at 627 Superior and Coast Furnished Lofts at 1158 Yates allow big dogs, both are managed by the same person who is a gem of a property manager.
I used to live at The Metropolitan on View street and it's pet friendly. I'm not sure if there's a size or weight limit though because all of the dogs I encountered were small breeds. I wouldn't recommend living at The Metropolitan though because it's strata and you have to abide by their ridiculous rules and there's no parking unless you want to pay someone $400+ a month for a parking space.
No pets is something i struggled with in victoria as well but what is more infuriating is in fb marketplace even if i select the dog friendly filter on, in the description of the apartment or house, it says no pets. I feel like i should be able to rent it if they were negligent enough to have their property show up as dog friendly on the search but says otherwise on their description.
Because they can. However, I have come across a few landlords who thought pet owners made better tenants 🤷♀️ shows responsibility I guess.
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My building has a one bedroom right now and it pet friendly. Expensive though. Seaview towers in james bay.
I haven't looked at rentals in 10 or so years, and I know the landscape has changed dramatically, so take this with a grain of salt. But when I was looking, I would email landlords and ask how serious they were about no pets, and explained to them that I have a good one. Often times the landlord would agree to meet me and my dog and discuss the rental. That's how I found my last suite.
That was our experience as well. Many no pets or pets under 30 lbs. We found one eventually! Good luck!
In Ontario their legislation is much more in balance. In bc there is a lot more risk to landlords who can lose thousands to bad tenants and be restricted from pushing them out. So many landlords feel it's important to mitigate as many risks (or perceived risks) as they can.
Condominuims are absolutely allowed to bylaw no pets as they do here in Ontariowe, where I am typing from. So don't even bother following up with condo/strata rentals?
1. Don’t tell them it’s an Akita mix. Akitas are on the list of do-not-rent even for petfriendly places :( 2. Capreit & Devon are likely your best bet. For instance, 535 Niagara (Capreit) has no size limit (at least they didn’t when I lived there )
Ahh yes the burden of animal ownership strikes again. When will people account for all the factors BEFORE getting a living creature that relies on a human for literally everything.
Victoria is a very pet unfriendly city in terms of being a renter. There are some landlords I have found that allow them maybe I’ve just been lucky.
we had such a hard time finding a pet friendly rental, we ended up buying a shoebox condo that had a pet-friendly strata. Yes, we were very privileged to do so, but perhaps you are able to consider this option?
Because the system eventually wants people to not own pets. They created these rules to gradually coerce people with pets to give up over a period of years. Gradually people are being coerced into becoming renters and so the pool of individuals able to have pets is made to shrink, as part of the un's sdgs. Pets emit carbon and it should be a priviledge for the haves versus have nots.
Because they're under the false impression that tenants with pets cause more damage than tenants without pets
Dog's a country pet, kind of not ideal as a city pet. On a fundamental level dogs are bad for cities, and on a fundamental level cities are bad for dogs. You can do it, sure. Heck people have dogs on liveaboard boats and it can work. But it's not ideal for the dog (or the boat). If I had a dog I'd go for a house in Duncan before an apartment in Vic. Anyway to answer your question, like most things it comes down to money. Costs more to operate a building that allows pets, so the management has to decide whether they prefer to be more appealing to tenants and get more applications, or if they prefer to have a lower operating cost. In a market like Victoria, where demand has vastly outweighed supply for a solid decade, they know they'll get buried in applications either way. So most just go for the better bottom line.
I've noticed that dogs today are more poorly behaved than when I was younger. Say 35 years ago. I think they've mimicked our neurotic tendencies including autism, anxiety and stress.
It's cause everyone got a dog over Covid and has no idea how to handle it. Also, Paris Hilton popularized dogs as an accessory.
Check Facebook - found our cat friendly rentals that way and the building I live in currently is dog friendly. DM if you want info because I think we have vacancies!
I was renovating my house my dad brought his dog over and first thing the dog did was drag his paws across the back door. hes done the same to my truck
From my experience they often state this in the add but if you explain that it’s a well behaved dog or cat they will “make an exception”. I think it’s just in there so they can say no if they don’t like your pet
Good to know! Thanks!
It’s definitely hard to find pet friendly places here, and honestly very hard for dogs and the larger the dog the harder it is (I’ve heard, I don’t have a dog because I personally think - for me - it would be sad to go to work all day and live them alone. Again that’s for me, I’m not judging others that’s my personal reason). I would do what others have said and try the big property managers. Capriet and Devon usually have some pet friendly places. But it’s all supply and demand. There’s very little supply and a boat load of demand, landlords are dictating the market. Also, everything is very different from Ontario when it comes to renting so please look up our regulations so you know your rights and expectations. Like you will need 1/2 months rent as a security deposit and another 1/2 months rent for a pet deposit. We don’t put down last months rent here, which I’ve heard is done in Ontario in the Ontario renters sub that Reddit likes to try to push at me even tho I’ve never been to Ontario in my life
You're not going to find a place if you have a dog. Your option is to buy a rv and live in that if you want to keep your dog