The City of Victoria is creating a Renters Advisory Committee, to help regulate the Capitals's rental sector.
The city is looking for a dozen people for the committee, who either rent or have rented in the past.
They will be the voice of the roughly 60 per cent of Victoria residents that rent their homes.
Emily Rogers, legal advocate for Together Against Poverty Society, says this is good news, as the rental crisis is causing a lot of issues.
" We have families camping at Goldstream. We have UVic students living in their car. We have seniors who have been in their units for decades living modestly, told that their rent is going to double because of renovations that are happening. So these are the kinds of stories we hear day in and day out, and it's really impacting our city. It's impacting the types of employment that people are looking for, and it's impacting the business sector's ability to keep good people in employment because their employees just can't find anywhere to live."
She says renters need someone to represent them when the big issues arise.
"The most common concern that I hear still is eviction due to renovations or demolition of the unit, that's still something that comes across my desk regularly. Other concerns include illegal rent increases. Sometimes people are living in incredibly substandard conditions that no one should be expected to endure. Those cases are particularly difficult, because while I would love to tell them 'you might want to somewhere else to live', there's simply nowhere to go."
The idea of a committee was brought forward by Victoria Councilors Jeremy Loveday and Shamarke Dubow.
The deadline to join the committee is Thursday January 17th.