The province has brought in measures to prevent commercial tenants from being evicted and there are plenty of businesses affected here in Kamloops

Despite a federal program to help commercial landlords, many aren’t buying in, and their tenants are concerned they may be kicked out of their space. The Executive Director of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce, Acacia Pangilinan, was asked if she’s heard of local business being threatened with eviction.

“Absolutely, we have heard this from numerous business in Kamloops that, for a variety of reasons, their landlords won’t participate in the program,” she said, while on the NL Morning News.

“I think it’s important to recognize some landlords are also small business operators, especially in our rural communities and so the order that came out to not have evictions is really critical right now for our small business community here in Kamloops.”

Pangilinan says they’ve heard this across the board that this program is not working.

“For some people it’s been super cumbersome and they haven’t been able to access anything so I think this is a welcome announcement that comes from B.C., for sure,” she added.

As to those reasons why landlords are not on the federal program, Pangilinan says there are many factors.

“In some cases their tenants are still paying rent so they don’t necessarily need it,” she noted. “In other cases they don’t want to pay that 25 per cent out of pocket because, perhaps that’s their livelihood.”

“And then others, maybe they’re not connected with the small business community here, they’re an out of town owner and they have many other properties to manage and it just doesn’t make financial sense so there a variety reasons that we’re hearing.”