Oak Bay resident doctor, family searching for rental housing
A soon-to-be family of five in Oak Bay, B.C., is joining the chorus of people struggling with the rental market after being given notice by their landlord they need to move out.
The father, a much-needed family physician in residence, fears the cost of living could push them out of the community.
“By the time I’m able to open a practice, I’ll have been in school for 10-plus years,” says Alexander Kilpatrick. “I have 10 years' worth of debt to make up on before I’m even starting to make money at that point in time.
“If things aren’t financially feasible as a family physician and we’re not able to get into the rental market then yeah, there is the very real possibility that we get pushed out of the community,” he says.
Kilpatrick’s wife, Brioney is a middle school teacher, pregnant with their third child. The family says their landlord plans to move back into the home they've been renting for two and half years.
“[The] initial search is fairly overwhelming,” says Kilpatrick.
As a doctor in residence, he’s working on a reduced salary three to four times less than what he projects to make as a family physician and Brioney is preparing to go on maternity leave in September.
They hope to find a three- or four-bedroom place, but fear it’s an unrealistic request for their income and other expenditures like debt payments and daycare.
“If we’re looking for something similar now, we’d be looking at $2000-3,000 more,” says Kilpatrick.
Oak Bay’s mayor says his council has been clear it wants to tackle the housing crisis head-on and needs provincial and federal support.
“I think it’s terrible,” says Kevin Murdoch in response to the Kilpatrick family’s situation. “They’re not alone in this situation. I know people in my life that are in very similar situations that are professionals with good incomes, facing a real struggle to find housing.”
The mayor says the district is working on encouraging infill housing, which can help increase rental and homeownership options in communities. It can include the addition of secondary suites, carriage and laneway homes, and replacing single-detached homes with higher density properties.
“Now it’s really how do we put the regulations in place to be built within the community,” says Murdoch.
The Kilpatricks are looking for a new rental option within two months.
“We’re trying to set down roots here so that I’m hopefully able to set up a practice once I’ve graduated and be able to stay here long term and be active participants in the community,” says Kilpatrick.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.