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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.