UVIc
Tenant Action Group
who we are
UVic Tenant Action Group is a UVic Club that is run by UVic students and works in autonomous collaboration with VTAG, focusing on student housing justice issues. A representative from UVicTAG is invited to attend VTAG Steering Committee meetings.
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UVicTAG seeks to foster change, share knowledge, and build solidarity for housing justice in Greater Victoria, on unceded Coast Salish territories. We advocate for the rights of renters, people precariously housed, people experiencing homelessness, and all who do not own their home - this includes the vast majority of students at UVic.
UVicTAG also focuses on particular housing issues disproportionately experienced by students, including living in campus residences and billeting (which are not covered by the RTA), the risks of scams when searching for housing while out of town, renting for the first time, and summer sublets. For instance, in 2019, we supported a UVSS campaign to increase the number of unrelated roommates from 4 to 6 increasing the supply of housing for renters including students in Saanich. In 2020, we were supported by UVSS Special Project Funding to hold a COVID-friendly housing justice banner making event. This semester we were interviewed by the Martlet for a student's guide to renting for the first time in Victoria.
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Want to get involved? Join the club!
Current Projects
Tenant organizing history zine
This semester we received a UVSS Special Project Grant to create a zine about the history of housing justice organizing and activism on Lekwungen territories. Through this project we will collect and record the stories of organizers and activists who have been involved in local struggles for housing justice, as well as their reflections on what they learned in the process. Once completed, this zine will be available in digital and printed form, and will be distributed to interested info centres and libraries.
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We are looking for UVic students to help with this project.
Want to get involved? Send us an email.
Tenant read and discussion salon (Trads)
A new reading and discussion group hosted by VTAG. We invite all members to join us twice a month to share your knowledge and experience as renters, learn from your peers about housing policy and activism, and get to know other members of our community. Each meeting will feature one or two short readings. To ensure that everyone has an opportunity to participate, readings will be introduced and summarized by a facilitator. Facilitators will provide a short 10-15-minute introduction of the reading’s main points, evidence, and conclusions/implications. We will then open up the conversation to group discussion. Every renter has valuable knowledge and experience we can learn from. So even if you can’t read things beforehand, we hope you’ll join us! While the Covid crisis continues, this reading group will meet online. As the weather improves in the spring, should circumstances permit, we will begin meeting in person.
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Find upcoming topics and other information here.
Upcoming events
First Meeting
Fed up with the housing crisis and want to do something about it?
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Join us at our first UVicTAG meeting of the semester to hear learn about who we are, how you can get involved, and to be a part of making decisions about what we do this year! New members and all levels of organizing experience welcome.
RSVP below for the zoom link.
TenanT Organizing Teach-in
To build student organizing capacity, UVicTAG is organizing a day of workshops and discussions around tactics, strategies, and lessons learned in tenant organizing, in collaboration with VTAG. This event is planned to take place via videoconference in early Oct.
More information to come.
