The Vancouver Empty Homes tax (EHT) was created to reduce the number of vacant homes within the city and promote affordable housing. There is a correlation between decrease in vacant properties and decrease in crime based on past studies (Hadavi et al., 2021). When homes are occupied, thieves have less incentive to break in. An occupied neighborhood also has stronger social control than a vacant neighborhood. Although studies of the vacancy and crime relationship have been conducted in the United States and Mexico, a study in Canada has not been done. This study uses the synthetic control method (SCM) to determine the causal effect of the EHT on the aggravated assault rate in Vancouver.
