The B.C. government reallocated the funding, leaving hundreds of Surrey units in limbo.
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Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke says her city will do everything it can to build nearly 1,000 affordable-housing units despite a loss of provincial funding.
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“It’s very disappointing for us. We need this affordable housing,” Locke said. “We will continue that dialogue with the ministry because this is not a ‘nice to have,’ this is a ‘need to have.’ But we’re just stalled right now.”
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A total of 954 units were planned for Surrey, including housing for youth, Indigenous people, women fleeing violence, and supportive housing for those experiencing homelessness and addiction.
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Out of eight projects, six have been deferred by B.C. Housing for an indefinite time. The other two projects — supportive housing in South Surrey and Whalley — were cancelled outright.
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Under the original plan, the city would provide the land and the province would provide the money to build these projects. Some of the funding was to have come from the province’s community housing fund, which the government announced in February was being suspended.
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B.C. Housing informed the city that it was no longer able to provide the funding previously promised due to the province’s decision to take more than $1 billion away from housing projects as it wrestles with a multibillion-dollar deficit.
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“We rarely do as we’re told,” Locke said in late February at a gender-based violence forum at Surrey city hall. “We’re going to figure it out — Surrey always does. We’re a get ‘er done kind of city and so we’re going to get ‘er done.”
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One of the projects deferred was a women’s transition housing development that was to be run by Atira Women’s Resource Society, which provides support and housing to women and children fleeing violence.
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“Decisions like this are obviously incredibly difficult, but really, they reflect the broader pressures in the system right now,” said Sarah McIntosh, Atira’s CEO.
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The development was supposed to finished in about 18 months, McIntosh said, replacing a women’s transition house, Shimai House, which has room for 10 people.
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The new facility would be built on a B.C. Housing-owned site in the same area of Whalley and provide space for up to 50 people.
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“Last year, we were able to house 250 women and children, but we turned away nearly 3,000 more and we’re just one organization,” McIntosh said.
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“There’s no question that everyone’s working hard to get new housing built. But, the truth is, we can’t build our way out of this kind of housing crisis one project at a time or with one funder. We need a co-ordinated, kind of cross-sector approach that leverages all of the partners’ strengths.”
