By: Maya Barillas Mohan, Staff Writer
Do you, SFU student, know your rights as a tenant?
On September 21, Ali Versi, senior manager of partnerships and development at Alumo, hosted “Tenant Rights” to teach students about their rights. Alumo is SFU’s health and dental provider for undergraduate students, which collaborated with the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) for this workshop. The event provided resources and information for students, according to Versi, who was accompanied by SFSS president, Rishu Bagga, for an interview with The Peak.
“Today’s workshop is just kind of educating students on their rights and how they can protect those rights moving forward.”
— Ali Versi, senior manager of partnerships and development at Alumo
This workshop covered the beginning to end of a rental agreement. This included move-in security deposits, lease agreements, resources for renters, how to settle disputes, and how to end a rental agreement. A presentation and Q&A session was conducted by lawyer Candace Nguyen from Ravenlaw. Versi emphasized the importance of bringing in a trained lawyer to educate students “on their rights and how they can protect those rights moving forward.”
Nguyen shared that the Residential Tenancy Act is the basis of landlord-tenancy laws and lays out the “rights and obligations of landlords and tenants.” The Residential Tenancy Branch is the governmental agency which handles tenancy rules and disputes. Nguyen explained that although most issues “can be resolved without taking legal action,” they intervene when further assistance is required. The Residential Tenancy Act covers many tenancy agreements, but not student dorm accommodations or scenarios where the renter shares a bathroom or kitchen with the landlord. Nguyen highlighted the Residential Tenancy Branch publishes policies that can be supportive to some circumstances.
Nguyen shared details about renter’s deposits, which Versi expanded on. Versi told The Peak, “A lesser known fact is that students, and any tenant, can collect interest on their [security] deposit.” Nguyen’s presentation shared that in BC, landlords can collect a maximum of half a month’s rent as a security deposit. Pet deposits are separate from security ones, and can also only be one half month’s rent.
Versi and Bagga told The Peak about a new SFSS service in the works. According to Versi, the Board of Directors “passed a motion at Council to move forward with a referendum on [a] legal program” in early September. He added that if students vote in the legal program’s favour during the spring election, it will be added to the SFSS health and dental plan to provide “unlimited access to legal consultations in any area of the law, including criminal law,” as well as “access to representation in housing disputes, employment disputes, and small claims issues.”
Versi shared that in November 2025, a “survey [was] done on implementing this legal program, and we had 86% of students vote in favour of it.” The annual fee of this program will be $34.90 per student, according to Versi. Bagga added that this figure is much more affordable than other rates he has come across. He shared there will be no-questions-asked opt outs for this legal program, unlike the health and dental plans which require proof of alternate coverage.
“To catch any of the new students,” Versi began, “another workshop is coming up soon in the fall,” Bagga finished. He encouraged students to attend these workshops to make “a well-informed choice” at the spring referendum.
