Kamloops, Canada: Province team up for affordable housing

Four years after they were first tapped for affordable housing, three City of Kamloops properties are today closer to hosting low-income residents.

The city and provincial government announced on Tuesday they have reached an agreement to put up to 98 units of affordable housing at 1685 and 1940 Pacific Way in Aberdeen and 1050 McMurdo Drive in South Kamloops.

The province will provide financing and some construction funding, Kamloops-South Thompson MLA and Minister of Transportation Todd Stone told media and non-profit directors.

The two levels of government are now looking to the city’s social agencies to put forward projects they’d like to design, build and operate on the lands. A request for proposals will go out at the end of July.

Stone said the demand for affordable housing in Kamloops is high, noting the new units will offer some relief, though not completely solve the issue.

“These housing units are going to change people’s lives,” he said.

Mayor Peter Milobar said while the city hasn’t singled out groups to develop the trio of sites, it will look to organizations such as the John Howard Society, ASK Wellness Society and the Kamloops and District Elizabeth Fry Society — who already provide social housing and can bring funding of their own to the projects.

The city, for its part, will offer non-profits its land for $1 for 60 years.

All three sites were initially zoned for parks and open space, Milobar said, but considered surplus land by the city.

“We were looking at, where are there small pieces of land within our operations that we have absolutely no use for?” he said.

But, setting aside the properties for affordable housing was a contentious issue, leading to demonstrations from some neighbours and a public hearing that stretched over two nights in 2011.

Milobar said council of the day placed parameters on what kind of social housing can be built on each site to prepare residents and any new buyers in the neighbourhood for what was to come. All three sites now up for development are targeted at seniors or families.

A fourth site at 975 Singh St. on the North Shore was zoned for First Nations housing, but isn’t part of Tuesday’s agreement. Milobar said the city is working on a broader plan for the street as part of its Official Community Plan update, but is still open to developing the lot.

“That site’s still sitting there and zoned and, if the right project came along, it’s there,” he said.