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The situation unfolding in British Columbia’s supportive housing facilities, as revealed by a Vancouver Sun report on July 21, 2025, is a damning indictment of systemic failure, gross negligence, and a callous disregard for the safety of workers and vulnerable residents. The report, based on tests conducted at 14 facilities in Vancouver and Victoria, exposes a crisis where second hand fentanyl smoke has infiltrated even the most protected spaces, including office areas with closed doors, subjecting workers to substantial exposure that grossly exceeds workplace safety limits. This is not a mere oversight, it is a catastrophe born of incompetence, ignorance, and a refusal to confront the toxic drug crisis head on, leaving workers and residents to bear the consequences of a government and its agencies asleep at the wheel. The public deserves a clear, unvarnished explanation of this scandal, and those responsible, from Premier David Eby to Minister Christine Boyle to BC Housing’s leadership, must be held to account for their failures.
The core of this crisis lies in the findings of air quality assessments conducted by Sauve Safety Services for BC Housing, which revealed that fentanyl and its more potent variant, fluorofentanyl, are present in the air at levels that pose significant health risks. In Vancouver, all three tested facilities, the Osborn on West Hastings Street, Al Mitchell Place on Alexander Street, and Hotel Maple on East Hastings, showed elevated fentanyl levels in main offices, places where workers should be safe. The Osborn facility was particularly egregious, with occupational exposures over a 12 hour shift that far surpassed WorkSafeBC’s regulatory limits, established in January 2025 to address this very issue. In Victoria, 11 facilities were tested, with some offices offering limited protection, while others exposed workers to dangerous levels of airborne opioids. The report likens the health risks to inhaling smog, with breakdown products from burning fentanyl causing severe respiratory irritation, coughing, and potential exacerbation of conditions like asthma. This is not a trivial matter, it is a direct threat to the health and livelihoods of workers who are forced to operate in environments contaminated by a drug that has fueled BC’s overdose crisis.
The accountability for this disaster begins at the top with Premier David Eby, whose NDP government has presided over a worsening toxic drug crisis while failing to protect those tasked with supporting the province’s most vulnerable. Eby’s administration has been repeatedly warned about the dangers in supportive housing, yet the response has been woefully inadequate, a patchwork of half measures and promises that do little to address the immediate danger. The formation of a time limited working group, announced in June 2025, is a feeble gesture in the face of a crisis that demands urgent, decisive action. This group, tasked with addressing safety issues and exploring changes to the Residential Tenancy Act, is too little, too late, and reeks of bureaucratic stalling. Eby’s leadership has prioritized political optics over the lives of workers and residents, allowing supportive housing facilities to become toxic environments where fentanyl smoke seeps through walls and doors. His failure to act swiftly and decisively is a betrayal of public trust, and he should be ashamed of the state of affairs under his watch.
Directly beneath Eby, the Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, Christine Boyle, bears significant responsibility for this debacle. Appointed in July 2025, Boyle inherited a portfolio riddled with challenges, but her short tenure does not absolve her of accountability. As the minister overseeing housing policy, she is responsible for ensuring that supportive housing facilities are safe for both residents and staff. The Vancouver Sun report makes it clear that this is not the case, with workers exposed to dangerous levels of fentanyl smoke even in supposedly secure office spaces. Boyle’s ministry has acknowledged the issue, stating it takes the concerns seriously and is collaborating with the BC Centre for Disease Control and WorkSafeBC to develop exposure reduction guidance. But this response is insultingly inadequate, a bureaucratic platitude that does nothing to protect workers today. Boyle’s failure to demand immediate interventions, such as mandatory ventilation upgrades or stricter enforcement of smoking policies, demonstrates a lack of urgency and competence. Her inaction perpetuates a dangerous status quo, and she must answer for why workers are left to breathe toxic air under her oversight.
BC Housing, the Crown corporation tasked with managing these facilities, is equally culpable, and its leadership, led by CEO Vincent Tong, cannot escape scrutiny. Tong, appointed permanently in April 2023 after serving as acting CEO, has overseen an organization that commissioned the very tests revealing this crisis, yet failed to act proactively to prevent it. The assessments, detailed in over 600 pages, recommended basic measures like improving ventilation, mandating respiratory protection for workers, and enforcing stricter smoking policies for tenants. These are not revolutionary ideas, they are common sense solutions that should have been implemented long before the situation reached this critical point. Tong’s leadership has been marked by a failure to prioritize worker safety, allowing fentanyl smoke to permeate facilities unchecked. The BC Housing Board of Commissioners, including members like Robert Brown, X’staam Hana’ax, Jackee Kasandy, and Uytae Lee, appointed in 2023, also share responsibility for providing strategic oversight that clearly fell short. Their collective inaction has left workers exposed to a preventable hazard, and they should be held accountable for their role in this failure.
The broader context of this crisis reveals a government and its agencies mired in incompetence and paralyzed by indecision. British Columbia is at the epicenter of Canada’s opioid crisis, with fentanyl driving a staggering number of overdose deaths, 165 in April 2025 alone, according to the BC Coroners Service. The shift to smoking fentanyl, which became more prevalent post pandemic, has exacerbated the risks in supportive housing, where vulnerable populations, including those with addiction issues, are concentrated. The Residential Tenancy Act, which governs these facilities, has been identified as a barrier to addressing problematic behaviors, as it limits the ability of housing providers to evict tenants who endanger others. Yet, despite calls for reform, including from former Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, progress has been glacial. The working group formed in June 2025 is still exploring potential exemptions, a process that reeks of bureaucratic inertia. This delay is not just incompetence, it is a disregard for the safety of workers and residents who are forced to endure dangerous conditions while politicians and bureaucrats dither.
The health risks posed by second hand fentanyl smoke are not hypothetical, they are real and immediate. Medical toxicologist Dr. Ryan Marino, cited in the report, explains that the breakdown products from burning fentanyl are akin to smog pollution, causing significant irritation to airways and potentially worsening chronic respiratory conditions. While Marino notes that the risk of overdose from second hand exposure is low, the chronic health impacts on workers are undeniable. These workers, many of whom are dedicated to supporting marginalized populations, are being forced to choose between their health and their jobs. The failure to provide them with safe working conditions is a moral failing as much as it is a policy one. The assessments recommend straightforward solutions, better ventilation, personal protective equipment, and stricter smoking policies, yet these have not been implemented with the urgency required. This is not a lack of knowledge, it is a lack of will, a shameful prioritization of inertia over human lives.
The public must also understand the broader implications of this crisis. Supportive housing is meant to be a lifeline for those struggling with homelessness, mental health issues, and addiction, but it has become a flashpoint for the province’s failure to address the toxic drug crisis comprehensively. Experts like Mark Haden, an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, argue that the issue is a symptom of drug prohibition, which drives unregulated use in environments like supportive housing. Haden advocates for health based solutions, such as supervised consumption sites and safe supply programs, where individuals can access controlled substances under medical supervision. These measures, while controversial, have been shown to reduce harm and could alleviate the pressure on supportive housing facilities. Yet, the government’s response has been tepid, with limited expansion of such programs and a reliance on reactive measures like the working group. This is not leadership, it is a refusal to confront the root causes of a crisis that has turned supportive housing into a toxic trap.
The incompetence and disregard displayed by those in charge extend beyond policy failures to a deeper cultural problem within the NDP government and BC Housing. The repeated incidents in supportive housing, including a June 11, 2025, fire at the former Howard Johnson hotel in Vancouver that injured two people, underscore a pattern of neglect. These are not isolated events, they are the predictable outcomes of a system that prioritizes political expediency over accountability. Eby, Boyle, Tong, and the BC Housing board have had ample opportunity to address these issues, with warnings dating back years about the dangers of fentanyl in supportive housing. Their failure to act decisively, to implement basic safety measures, or to push for systemic reforms like safe supply or tenancy law changes, is a betrayal of the public’s trust. They have propped up a broken system, ignoring the cries of workers and residents while hiding behind vague promises of future action.
The public deserves better. They deserve a government that acts with urgency, that prioritizes the safety of its workers and the well being of its most vulnerable citizens. They deserve leaders who are not content to let fentanyl smoke poison the air in places meant to be sanctuaries. David Eby, Christine Boyle, Vincent Tong, and the BC Housing board must face the consequences of their inaction. They should be ashamed of allowing this crisis to fester, of turning a blind eye to the suffering of workers and residents. The Vancouver Sun report is a wake up call, a stark reminder that lives are at stake. The people of British Columbia must demand accountability, not just in words but in actions, immediate, comprehensive, and unrelenting. Anything less is a continuation of the same incompetence and ignorance that has brought us to this shameful moment.
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