Mission Mayor Paul Horn discusses Mission's waterfront revitalization plan at a European conference. / City of Mission

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Frustration over commercial rent hikes

Mission mayor frustrated over retail rent hikes causing small businesses to close or relocate

Jul 22, 2025 | 10:30 AM

MISSION — Mission Mayor Paul Horn has written a letter to the B.C. government urging them to address excessive commercial rent hikes that he says are causing small businesses to close or relocate in downtown Mission.

According to the text of a letter dated June 16, 2025 from the City of Mission, Mayor Horn asks Diana Gibson, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, to develop ways to address commercial rent increases in the same manner that residential tenancies are regulated in British Columbia.

In October 2018, Mayor Horn says the City of Mission completed a $4.5 million Downtown Beautification Project, an initiative he calls a “a major public investment more than a decade in the making.” The Mission Downtown Business Association (MDBA) was a key partner, contributing time, advocacy, and ongoing maintenance support. Since then, the municipality has continued to invest in its downtown core with improvements such as new parking infrastructure, transit improvements, accessibility upgrades, enhanced snow removal, and the introduction of the “Engaged Community Guides” ambassador program.

Despite the city’s best intentions, several businesses have closed due to landlords who introduce substantial rent increases, Horn wrote.

“Today, despite those efforts and taxpayer contributions, our work is being undermined by unscrupulous landlords. Since the completion of the beautification project, many of our most dedicated downtown businesses have been forced to close or relocate due to sudden and substantial rent increases,” Horn said. “Some landlords have also introduced triple net lease terms for the first time. These changes have led to a troubling rise in vacancy rates, threatening the vibrancy of our core commercial district.”

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In early June 2025, Horn visited a Mission business that had a presence there for many years, only to find it abruptly closed.

“Just last week, I visited a long-standing local business I’ve supported for years, only to find it had closed suddenly due to a rent hike. I later learned that several neighbouring businesses are also at imminent risk,” Horn said. “The same concerns were echoed loudly and clearly at a recent community town hall. Our downtown was once the birthplace of some our most treasured local businesses, many of whom later grew into more outlets and expanded opportunities for employment. Without a vital downtown, our ability incubate new businesses is severely curtailed.”

Horn says many of the properties in question are owned by individuals or entities located outside of Mission, with some even outside of Canada.

“There appears to be little interest among them in balancing their returns with the long-term health of our community, or even in responding to the needs of their tenants. Many landlords are not reinvesting in their properties or maintaining safe and clean premises,” Horn said. “Increasingly, the City is shouldering the cost of addressing issues related to absentee and neglectful property owners, including graffiti, garbage, and substandard housing above retail units. This is not just a policy concern. In a community of our size, it is deeply personal. We know that downtown revitalization is not a one-time effort, but it becomes an exercise in futility when unchecked commercial rent increases erase the very businesses we’re trying to support.”

Horn’s letter is attached to this week’s meeting of the Fraser Valley Regional District board of directors. He’s asking the B.C. government to explore a regulatory framework governing commercial rent increases and investigate the creation of an oversight body or branch to support commercial tenants facing issues related to building safety, property maintenance and unresponsive landlords.

“Without prompt and meaningful action, we risk losing the small businesses that give our downtown—and many like it across BC—its identity, vitality, and resilience,” Horn said. “We stand with the City of New Westminster and other municipalities in calling for urgent reform.”