Short title

1   This regulation may be cited as the "SAFER Regulation".

Interpretation

2   (1) In this regulation:

"Act" means the Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters Act;

"adjusted income", in relation to a person, means the person's income less any exemptions that would be applicable to the person under section 5 (2) if that person were an eligible renter;

"adjusted rent", in relation to a person, means the amount that is the lesser of

(a) the person's rent, and

(b) the maximum rent that would apply to that person under section 6 if that person were an eligible renter;

"allowance" has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Old Age Security Act (Canada);

"benefit year", in relation to a person, means the 12 month period beginning on the first day of the person's month of birth;

"eligible renter" means a person who is determined to be eligible to receive shelter aid;

"guaranteed income supplement" has the same meaning as "supplement" in section 2 of the Old Age Security Act (Canada);

"income", in relation to a person, means

(a) the person's pension source income for the month of July that preceded the beginning of the person's most recent benefit year, plus

(b) the person's income from all sources during the calendar year that preceded the beginning of the person's most recent benefit year, minus the sum of the following, divided by 12:

(i) the person's pension source income for that calendar year;

(ii) shelter aid or any rent supplement payment received from the government or an agency of the government for that calendar year,

and, if the person has a spouse, means the combined income of that person and their spouse;

"individual" means a person who is not a spouse;

"maximum rent", for an eligible renter, means the maximum rent applicable to the eligible renter under section 6;

"old age security" has the same meaning as "pension" in section 2 of the Old Age Security Act (Canada);

"pension source income" means money received by a person from the following sources:

(a) old age security, guaranteed income supplement and allowance;

(b) Provincial senior's supplement;

"Provincial senior's supplement" means amounts paid under section 64 of the Employment and Assistance Regulation;

"rent", in relation to a person, subject to subsections (2), (3), (4) and (5), means money paid on a regular basis by the person for the right to possess living accommodation, calculated on a monthly basis, but does not include

(a) money paid by the person for meals, for housekeeping, laundry or emergency response services or for social or recreational opportunities,

(b) rent supplements received by the person from the government or an agency of the government, or

(c) a security deposit or pet damage deposit, both as defined in section 1 of the Residential Tenancy Act or a security deposit as defined in section 17 of the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act;

"spouse", in relation to a person, means

(a) a person to whom the person is married, or

(b) a person with whom the person resides in a marriage-like relationship,

but does not include a person described in paragraph (a) if the spouses are separated and living apart.

(2) If a person's living accommodation is a manufactured home and the person rents the manufactured home site on which the manufactured home is located but not that manufactured home, the manufactured home site is to be treated as if it were the person's living accommodation.

(3) If a person's living accommodation is a manufactured home and the person rents both the manufactured home and the site on which the manufactured home is located, the manufactured home and the manufactured home site are to be treated as the person's living accommodation.

(4) If 2 or more adults occupy the same living accommodation, the amount of rent paid for the living accommodation for an eligible renter is deemed to be

(a) for an individual eligible renter, the amount derived by equally apportioning the rent for the living accommodation among all the adult occupiers, and

(b) for an eligible renter who has a spouse, the amount calculated by multiplying by 2 the amount derived under paragraph (a) for the eligible renter.

(5) If the cost of heating a person's living accommodation is not paid by the landlord, the person's rent may be increased by up to $35 each month towards that cost or the eligible renter's share of that cost.

[en. B.C. Reg. 70/2014, s. 1.]

Repealed

2.1   Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 70/2014, s. 1.]

Applications

3   (1) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 70/2014, s. 2 (a).]

(2) The eligibility committee may require an applicant for shelter aid or a trustee or other person administering the assets or income of the applicant to furnish documentary evidence or other verification of the facts set forth in the application for shelter aid in such detail as may be required for the purpose of the Act and this regulation.

[am. B.C. Regs. 191/89, s. 2; 70/2014, s. 2.]

Eligibility

4   (1) An applicant is eligible to receive shelter aid if the eligibility committee determines that

(a) the applicant

(i) is receiving or is entitled to receive old age security or a guaranteed income supplement, or

(ii) has reached 60 years of age and is a Canadian citizen or entitled under an enactment of Canada to take up permanent residence in Canada or has been determined under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) or the Immigration Act (Canada) to be a Convention refugee,

(b) if the applicant has a spouse, the spouse is a Canadian citizen or entitled under an enactment of Canada to take up permanent residence in Canada or has been determined under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Canada) or the Immigration Act (Canada) to be a Convention refugee,

(c) the applicant occupies a residence,

(d) the applicant does not reside in

(i) a facility licensed under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act, or

(ii) an unlicensed facility if the rent is paid or subsidized under any program administered by the government,

(e) the applicant is not in receipt of a monthly support allowance or shelter allowance under

(i) Schedule A of the Employment and Assistance Regulation, or

(ii) Schedule A of the Employment and Assistance for Persons with Disabilities Regulation,

(f) the applicant or, if the applicant has a spouse, the applicant's spouse has resided in British Columbia for a period of not less than one continuous year immediately before the date of application, and

(g) the applicant's adjusted rent exceeds 30% of applicant's adjusted income.

(2) Despite subsection (1), if an applicant's spouse does not meet the requirement of subsection (1) (b), the applicant's eligibility and shelter aid are to be determined as if the applicant has no spouse and were sharing living accommodation with an adult other than a spouse.

[en. B.C. Reg. 70/2014, s. 3.]

Entitlement

5   (1) The shelter aid to which an eligible renter is entitled for a month is calculated as follows:

(a) for an eligible renter whose adjusted income is less than or equal to the base income, by multiplying the eligible renter's rent gap by 90%;

(b) for an eligible renter whose adjusted income is greater than the base income, by multiplying the eligible renter's rent gap by the percentage calculated using the following formula:

90 –

(adjusted income – base income) x

55 (maximum rent ÷ 0.3) – base income

(2) In calculating the income of an eligible renter, the following amounts are exempt:

(a) amounts received by the eligible renter as benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (Canada);

(b) up to $10.42 received by the eligible renter as Provincial senior's supplement.

(3) If the income of an eligible renter from employment or business sources is reduced prior to the beginning of or during a benefit year so that the income of the eligible renter from those sources during a benefit year is substantially reduced and causes hardship, the eligibility committee may, for the avoidance of hardship, recalculate the amount of shelter aid to which the eligible renter is entitled, on the basis of such reduced income.

(4) If a recalculation is made under subsection (3), the eligible renter is entitled to receive the recalculated amount of shelter aid from the month during which the reduction of employment or business source income was reported to the eligibility committee, but nothing in this subsection authorizes the payment of the recalculated amount of shelter aid for a retroactive period exceeding 30 days.

(5) If the shelter aid calculated under subsection (1) for an eligible renter is less than $25, the shelter aid to which the eligible renter is entitled is $25.

(6) In this section:

"base income", for a period from August 1 to July 31, is equal to the maximum amount of old age security plus the maximum amount of guaranteed income supplement payable to a person for the July immediately preceding that August 1 minus $10.42;

"rent gap", for an eligible renter, is equal to the lesser of

(a) the eligible renter's rent, and

(b) the eligible renter's maximum rent,

minus 30% of the eligible renter's income.

[am. B.C. Regs. 580/77; 191/89, s. 4; 70/2014, s. 4.]

Maximum rent

6   (1) Subject to subsection (2), the maximum rent that applies to an eligible renter for the purposes of the definition of "adjusted rent" in section 2 (1) is as follows:

(a) for an individual eligible renter who is living alone outside of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, $667;

(b) for an individual eligible renter who is living alone within the Greater Vancouver Regional District, $765;

(c) for an eligible renter who has a spouse and is living outside of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, $727;

(d) for an eligible renter who has a spouse and is living within the Greater Vancouver Regional District, $825;

(e) for an eligible renter who is sharing living accommodation with one or more adults outside of the Greater Vancouver Regional District,

(i) $1 066 divided by the number of adults living in the accommodation, and

(ii) if the eligible renter has a spouse, by multiplying by 2 the amount calculated under subparagraph (i) for that eligible renter;

(f) for an eligible renter who is sharing living accommodation with one or more adults within the Greater Vancouver Regional District,

(i) $1 066 divided by the number of adults living in the accommodation, and

(ii) if the eligible renter has a spouse, by multiplying by 2 the amount calculated under subparagraph (i) for that eligible renter.

(2) If an eligible renter is eligible under section 2 (5) for an amount towards the cost of heating the eligible renter's living accommodation, the maximum rent for the eligible renter is the amount applicable to that eligible renter under subsection (1) plus the amount for which that eligible renter is eligible under section 2 (5).

[en. B.C. Reg. 70/2014, s. 5.]

Repealed

7   Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 191/89, s. 6.]

Change in entitlement

8   (1) In this section and section 9 (1), "change in rental arrangement" includes a change in rental accommodation, or a change as to whether the rent is shared, subsidized or includes room and board.

(1.1) Every eligible renter in receipt of shelter aid must report in a manner determined by the eligibility committee all changes in rent, rental arrangement, income other than pension source income, marital status, family size and address to the eligibility committee not later than 30 days after the change occurs, and the eligibility committee must determine whether or not the change will alter the amount of shelter aid which the eligible renter is entitled to receive.

(2) If the eligibility committee determines that the amount of shelter aid to which an eligible renter is entitled should be altered by reason of a change in rent, rental arrangement, income, marital status or family size, the eligibility committee must recalculate the amount of shelter aid, and, subject to subsections (3) and (4), the eligible renter is entitled to receive only the altered amount.

(3) If, by reason of a recalculation under subsection (2), the amount of shelter aid that an eligible renter is entitled to receive is increased, the increase is effective for the month during which the change in rent, rental arrangement, income, marital status or family size occurred, but nothing in this subsection authorizes the payment of shelter aid for a retroactive period exceeding 30 days prior to the date the change in rent, rental arrangement, income, marital status or family size was reported to the eligibility committee.

(4) If, by reason of a recalculation under subsection (2), the amount of shelter aid an eligible renter is entitled to receive is reduced, the reduction is effective for the month during which the change of the eligible renter's rent, rental arrangement, income, marital status or family size occurred.

[am. B.C. Regs. 191/89, ss. 7 to 9; 70/2014, s. 6.]

Report to eligibility committee

9   (1) Every eligible renter in receipt of shelter aid ceases to be an eligible renter unless, prior to the beginning of each benefit year, the eligible renter reports to the eligibility committee respecting his or her rent, rental arrangement, income, marital status, family size and address in a form approved by the eligibility committee.

(2) An eligible renter who ceases to occupy the eligible renter's residence for a period in excess of 30 days ceases to be an eligible renter unless the eligibility committee, in its discretion, authorizes a temporary continuance of eligibility in order to permit an eligible renter to obtain medical therapy prescribed by a qualified medical practitioner or in order to avoid hardship.

(3) If a person ceases to be an eligible renter under this section, the person shall be entitled to receive shelter aid for the month during which the person ceased to be an eligible renter.

(4) If an eligible renter ceases to be eligible under this section, the person may reapply to the eligibility committee for shelter aid under section 3 (1) of this regulation.

[am. B.C. Regs. 191/89, s. 9; 70/2014, s. 7.]

Death of eligible renter

10   If an eligible renter dies and is survived by a spouse who

(a) is not an eligible renter, and

(b) occupied the same residence as the deceased eligible renter at the date of death,

the shelter aid which the eligible renter would have been entitled to receive must be paid to the surviving spouse for a period of 3 months from the date of death.

[am. B.C. Regs. 580/77; 70/2014, s. 8.]

Retroactivity of entitlement

11   (1) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 171/90, s. 4.]

(2) If a person applies for shelter aid, upon becoming eligible, the person is entitled to receive shelter aid retroactively from the date of application to the first day of the month in which that person became eligible, but nothing in this subsection authorizes the payment of shelter aid for a retroactive period exceeding 30 days.

[am. B.C. Regs. 580/77; 171/90, ss. 4 and 5; 70/2014, s. 9.]

Repealed

12-14   Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 70/2014, s. 10.]