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LIFE SKILLS RENT, MONEY, DRIVE

Gain valuable knowledge and life skills that will support you in your job search 

Rent Smart

The Rent Smart course helps participants gain skills and tools to support common understanding and manage expectations between landlords and tenants to reduce confusion and conflict. Successful tenancies are key to housing stability, prevention of homelessness, and strong communities. The Rent Smart model has three main objectives:

  1. To provide tenants with the knowledge, skills and confidence to find and maintain good housing.
  2. To deliver a high quality educational experience that is relevant and practical.
  3. Utilize a Train the Trainer approach to expand partner organizations capacity to deliver tenant education

WHO IS THIS PROGRAM FOR?

RentSmart Basics is a 3-hour introductory course designed to meet the unique needs of specific populations such as youth, newcomers, seniors and people transitioning from homelessness. The Basics course can be used as a precursor to the RentSmart Certificate (12-hour course).

WHAT DOES THIS PROGRAM ENTAIL?

Professional development course for tenant management and support workers, property managers and landlords. 

What you learn:

  • Housing Needs: What your housing wants and needs are, and how to find a home that meets your needs.
  • Getting application ready: We help you to become housing ‘application-ready’.
  • Your rights and responsibilities: You’ll learn your legal rights and responsibilities, and your landlord’s – and how the law protects both tenants and landlords.
  • Budgeting your finances: How to manage your money in order to afford housing and pay your rent on time.
  • Communication: Effective communication skills to help your tenancy be conflict-free
  • Household maintenance: Learn common maintenance skills to help you look after your home.

Upon completion, participants earn a Rent Smart Certificate, which BC Housing recognizes as a positive reference and informs housing providers that the graduate has taken the time to learn how to be a good tenant.

IT WORKS! R2R and RentSmart Educators collectively evaluate and measure RentSmart’s impact. R2R also conducted a third party evaluation and survey of past graduates. This is what RentSmart graduates had to say:

  • 100% said their knowledge about renting increased as a result of taking the RentSmart Certificate course;
  • 86% said maintaining their housing was easier as a result of taking the RentSmart Certificate course;
  • 79% of graduates said they have a better relationship with their landlord because of the course;
  • 70% of those who used the RentSmart certificate when applying for housing said it directly helped them obtain housing.


Money Basics

This workshop explores money management techniques and skills. Assess how you manage money now and learn how to create and follow a budget, work with credit, and save with intention! Learn how to plan financially in your career, and  about money in the marketplace.

Driver’s Training

If you have never written the ICBC Drivers Exam, this workshop is for you! Spend three half-days working with our instructor and learning what you will need to pass the ICBC Written Exam.

Workshops