Victoria misses March deadline to house homeless despite acquiring two new buildings

The goal to move all unsheltered people living in parks into housing by the end of March has been delayed until the end of April after two buildings were secured to house them.

In a press release from the province, the BC Government announced it had secured two locations in partnership with the City of Victoria and BC Housing.

While the two locations will provide enough shelter space for those living in parks, both buildings require retrofitting.

The locations of the buildings will be released at a later date.

“Although we had hoped to secure additional buildings that were ready to go for housing, and BC Housing chased down several leads, we didn’t get lucky,” said David Eby, Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing.

“We’ll need the extra weeks to prepare the two new secured sites for use as shelter before moving folks inside.”

There is an increase of pressure on the City of Victoria and the Province as the opioid crisis continues and encampment grows larger.

“The Province and BC Housing have worked really hard and everyone currently living in the parks will be offered an indoor space as a pathway to permanent housing,” said Lisa Helps, mayor of the City of Victoria.

Parks are not homes […] and eventually the city will once again prohibit 24/7 sheltering.”

Recently, the Province and the City reactivated the Save On Foods Memorial Centre shelter and have begun working on a tiny homes development led by the private sector.

All the locations will be fully operational, with non-profit service providers identified, by April 30th.