Officials are still in talks about where to put an emergency homeless shelter that was expected to open a month ago.
BC Housing currently has one 60-space emergency response centre operating in Burnaby, but another was planned to open up by the end of July in response to the closure of Burnaby’s warming centres, according to a city staff report.
In an email statement, BC Housing said it is “still actively discussing” the second ERC, adding the proposal sent to city council in late June was only a proposal.
At the time of the June report to council, city staff and BC Housing were looking at putting a modular structure, with enough rooms to house 45 people, at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex. But the complex is currently awaiting a pool and arena replacement, according to the June report, and by December the city expects the construction will take up the space that was set out for the ERC. That would have resulted in the ERC’s closure in the middle of winter.
But it’s not clear the Burnaby Lake arena is still the preferred site – according to BC Housing, negotiations are still ongoing regarding the location of the ERC.
“BC Housing will update the community on plans for the temporary ERC, including a closing date, once we have a site confirmed and a lease in place,” the provincial Crown corporation said.
“We know others in the community still need support and that is why the province, through BC Housing, and partners like the City of Burnaby are continuing to look at a number of ways to bring people inside.”
BC Housing stressed that temporary accommodations should complement more permanent affordable housing, pointing to the 52 homes it has built in Burnaby – among 2,800 throughout B.C. – as part of its Homes for B.C. initiative.
“A further 1,100 are currently underway around the province towards our target of building 4,900 new supportive homes over ten years,” BC Housing said.
