[fredophile]

I quickly read the second link you provided and didn't see anything backing up your claim about landlords jacking up rents but I could have missed it. It's also worth noting that there are laws that prevent large rent increases in Vancouver.

http://www.housing.gov.bc.ca/rtb/WebTools/RentIncrease.html

[ficklepickle]

Rents can only increase 4% a year in BC. So a landlord would have to evict the tenant and find a new victim to raise it higher than that.