The province and Capital Regional District have agreed to invest up to $60 million in new rental housing for low-income families and individuals.
Housing Minister Rich Coleman confirmed Monday that the B.C. government will match contributions by the district.
The CRD approved a plan in December to borrow $30 million for affordable or supportive housing projects if the province contributed an equal amount.
Coleman said the total could reach $90 million if the federal government chips in as well.
“So it really will have a significant impact on the region with regard to affordability and housing,” he said.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, who co-chairs the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, said a call for project proposals will go out in the fall based on the most pressing needs in the region.
She said the top priorities likely will include affordable housing for seniors, youth at risk and the chronically homeless who suffer from mental health and addictions issues.
“We know what the problems are,” she said. “We just need to fix them. So I think those are the three [areas].”
Helps added that Island Health’s role in providing health services and supports will be critical to the program’s success.
“This is an historic moment in the region, because we have the regional government, B.C. Housing, the Coalition to End Homelessness and Island Health all at the table together,” she said. “Really, without each of those players there, this wouldn’t work.
“We all know that if you put people in housing without the health care supports they need, it won’t work. They need treatment or they need counselling.”
Helps said there is no target or specific number of people that the partners hope to house over five years.
“I think we’re going to go year-by-year and say: ‘What’s the priority now? How do we address that now?’ ”
CRD board chairwoman Barb Desjardins said the plan is to identify gaps in housing and services across the region and support proposals that address those needs first.
“That work will continue to be done so that as these proposals come forward, we can really say: ‘Yes, there is a need in this area. No, that’s not needed right now — we’ll put you on a list.”
Helps stressed, however, that the capital region can’t tackle the problem alone.
“It’s great that we’re doing what we’re doing here, but we’re going to need to see the federal government’s national housing strategy and accompanying dollars unleashed across Canada so that every municipality and every region has the ability to house people where they are.”
