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Across British Columbia, two-thirds of private dwellings (houses and apartments) are occupied by the owner, and one-third are rented. The proportion of owners and tenants varies greatly between the province’s 79 electoral districts, however. In Okanagan-Westside, 85% of homes are owned by their occupants, and 15% are rented. Meanwhile, in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, 77% of homes are rented by their occupants, and just 23% are owner-occupied.

This serves to illustrate that there are significant differences between B.C.’s electoral districts, even though they are supposed to be ‘equal.’ Moreover, many of these characteristics play a key role in analyzing the voting patterns of various ridings.

Below are B.C.’s electoral districts with the highest- and lowest-levels of home-ownership, based on the 2001 census.

Table — % of homes occupied by owners

• 1. Okanagan-Westside — 85%
• 2. Ft Langley-Aldergrove — 84
• 3. Surrey-Cloverdale — 84
• 4. Surrey-Tynehead — 82
• 5. Malahat-Juan de Fuca — 82
• 6. Kamloops-N Thompson — 82
• 7. Delta North — 81
• 8. Saanich North & the Islands — 81
• 9. Saanich South — 80
• 10. Maple Ridge-Mission — 80
• 11. Prince George North — 80

***

• 68. Surrey-Whalley — 55%
• 69. Vancouver-Langara — 51
• 70. Burnaby-Willingdon — 51
• 71. Victoria-Hillside — 50
• 72. Vancouver-Hastings — 49
• 73. North Van-Lonsdale — 49
• 74. New Westminster — 48
• 75. Vancouver-Point Grey — 45
• 76. Victoria-Beacon Hill — 37
• 77. Vancouver-Fairview — 37
• 78. Vancouver-Burrard — 25
• 79. Vancouver-Mt. Pleasant — 23

Check in daily for Battleground BC, Will McMartin’s voting predictions and analysis, exclusive to The Tyee. You can reach him with tips, insights and info at [email protected]