BC Government to Help Municipalities Address Homelessness

British Columbians will soon have access to safe, affordable housing as a result of a province-wide program to help municipalities tackle homelessness.

The program will provide hundreds of new modular housing units in communities from Vancouver to Surrey to Smithers, Premier John Horgan announced today.
The B.C. government has committed $66 million toward 600 units of modular housing, which will be situated on land provided by the City of Vancouver. The modular units will be staffed 24/7 by non-profit housing providers and will include support services

“These modular units will provide interim homes in the short term while we act on the more permanent housing solutions that are needed. These are an important first step in developing the comprehensive housing strategy British Columbians need.”

Each building will include approximately 50 self-contained units, complete with individual kitchen and bathrooms, shared laundry, indoor and outdoor amenity spaces, plus programming space.
The intention is to have a number of the units up and running by this winter.

This is part of the Province’s plan to construct 2,000 modular units over two years throughout B.C. by working in partnership with interested communities. The first 1,000 units are expected to be in operation by early 2018.

BC Housing is in discussion with a number of other communities that are in immediate need of modular housing for the homeless, including Surrey and Smithers.
In addition to modular housing, BC Housing is working with communities to finalize plans to build 1,700 new units of affordable rental housing that were announced in the 2017 Budget Update.
* As part of the 2017 Budget Update, the Province announced that it will invest:

* $291 million to support the construction of 2,000 modular housing units for people who are homeless and more than $170 million over three years to provide 24/7 staffing and support services.

* $208 million over four years to support the construction of more than 1,700 new units of affordable rental housing in communities throughout the province.
* $6.8 million over three years to increase resources in the Residential Tenancy Branch.

As part of the plan, the B.C. government will conduct a province-wide homeless count to gain a better understanding of the situation in communities.