VERNON, B.C. — As temperatures climb toward 30 degrees Celsius this weekend in the Okanagan Valley, residents of the Crown Villa mobile home park in Vernon are facing a sweltering ordeal without electricity, marking their fourth week in the dark. The power outage, which began on April 2, stems from longstanding safety violations that prompted Technical Safety B.C. to order the shutdown after years of warnings and fines for dangerous electrical hazards.
Lisa Cantafio-Anderson, a resident at the park, described the daily struggles her family has endured since the cutoff. “We are just hanging in there,” she said, explaining how they’ve resorted to a fire pit and camping stove for cooking, along with bottled water for washing dishes. Her husband has dipped into their savings to purchase a larger battery to power the refrigerator and a portable camping shower, allowing them to bathe at home despite the lack of utilities.
But as the weather warms, these makeshift solutions are proving insufficient. “We need our ACs and we don’t have anything powerful enough to run them, so our house, it’s going to be an oven. We live in a tin,” Cantafio-Anderson told reporters. The park's mobile homes, constructed largely of metal, are particularly vulnerable to heat buildup, raising concerns about health risks as summer approaches.
The situation at Crown Villa highlights broader challenges in affordable housing and infrastructure maintenance in rural British Columbia communities. According to Technical Safety B.C., the electrical system posed significant dangers, including risks of fire and electrocution, leading to the enforced disconnection. The agency had issued repeated notices and imposed fines over several years, but compliance was not achieved.
Property owner Carol Goldstone has attributed the impasse to financial constraints. She told Global News that the necessary upgrades to bring the electrical infrastructure up to code would cost tens of thousands of dollars, an amount she says she cannot afford. “I was going to go 50 per cent partnership to get a cash inflow. I need cash inflow here,” Goldstone explained, noting that potential partners had only shown interest in acquiring the full property rather than a partial stake.
Goldstone, who has owned the park for years, said she has been actively seeking a buyer to resolve the crisis. She is now open to selling the entire 11-unit trailer park, but legal hurdles, including ongoing disputes and regulatory requirements, mean a resolution is not imminent. “Everybody wanted 100 per cent that had approached me,” she added, expressing frustration over the stalled negotiations.
Of the 11 units in the park, seven remain occupied, with several families like the Cantafio-Andersons determined to stay despite the hardships. Others have relocated, unable to cope with the conditions. Goldstone reported that a handful of residents have vacated since the outage began, though exact numbers fluctuate as people weigh their options.
The incoming heat wave is exacerbating the urgency. Forecasts indicate highs near 30 C this weekend, with persistent warmth throughout the week and even higher temperatures expected in the coming weeks. For those without air conditioning or fans—essentials that require electricity—the park could become uninhabitable, prompting fears of heat-related illnesses among vulnerable residents, including the elderly and those with medical conditions.
Local authorities have yet to intervene directly. The City of Vernon did not respond to inquiries about potential health and safety measures, leaving it unclear whether officials would provide emergency support, such as temporary cooling centers or utility assistance, if conditions worsen. In similar past incidents across British Columbia, municipalities have occasionally stepped in during extreme weather, but no such plans have been announced here.
Cantafio-Anderson voiced the residents' plea for resolution. “We either want a new landlord to take over and raise our pad rent or a developer whoever to come in and say they don’t want us here and they pay us out and we can go right, but we need something,” she said. Her words capture the uncertainty gripping the community, where low-income families rely on the park's affordable rents but now face displacement risks.
In response to the hardship, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched to support the affected residents. Organized by community members, the fundraiser aims to cover essentials like batteries, water, and food, as well as potential moving costs for those who decide to leave. As of the latest updates, donations have begun trickling in, though the goal remains modest compared to the scale of need.
The outage at Crown Villa is part of a larger pattern in mobile home parks across Canada, where aging infrastructure often clashes with rising safety standards and maintenance costs. In British Columbia alone, several parks have faced similar shutdowns in recent years, displacing hundreds and sparking debates over tenant rights versus property owner responsibilities. Advocacy groups, such as the Tenant Resource & Advisory Centre, have called for provincial intervention to protect renters in such scenarios, but no specific legislation addresses power outages in private parks.
Technical Safety B.C. emphasized that their mandate is to enforce codes for public safety, not to mediate financial disputes. A spokesperson noted that while they sympathize with residents, the onus remains on the owner to rectify violations. Goldstone, meanwhile, maintains that without external funding or a sale, progress is stalled, potentially prolonging the residents' plight into the peak summer months.
As the Okanagan braces for a hot season, the story of Crown Villa underscores the fragility of housing for working-class families in scenic but economically strained regions. With no power restoration in sight and temperatures rising, residents like Cantafio-Anderson are left hoping for a swift end to their ordeal—whether through repairs, relocation aid, or a new owner willing to invest in the park's future.
— Jessica Williams, The Appleton Times