Tag Archives: Affordable Housing

Housing

‘Unsheltered’ and ‘At Risk’ Populations on Cortes and Quadra Islands

In the Spring of 2022, Campbell River & District Coalition to End Homelessness and the Urban Indigenous Housing and Wellness Coalition  commisioned a series of studies of the housing crisis in our area. One components was a survey called ‘Collecting Stories of Where We Live’ conducted by the Rural Development Network. 110 Cortes Island and 43 Area C residents participated (all but two of the latter were from Quadra Island).  

“The purpose was to provide a comprehensive picture of housing instability and homelessness in the area to help inform service providers and municipal, provincial, and federal policies, practices, and funding decisions. And then to elevate and incorporate the voices of folks who are experiencing homelessness in solutions to end homelessness,” explained Emma Wallace, Project Manager of Community Development and Homelessness Estimations at the Rural Development Network.

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Housing

Potentially More than 1200 ‘housing unstable’ in the SRD

There may be more than 1,200 ‘housing unstable’ people in the Strathcona Regional District. 

This figure arises from a statement Emma Wallace, of the Rural Development Network, made when she released the comments from the ‘Collecting Stories of Where you Live’ data collection project.

Wallace’s organization was commissioned by the Campbell River & District Coalition to End Homelessness (CRDCEH) and the Urban Indigenous Housing and Wellness Coalition (UIHWC) to conduct the housing and service needs estimation in the Strathcona Regional District earlier this year. The ‘stories’ her organization collected were written responses to the housing needs survey.

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Housing, Rivers & Oceans

Trying to clean up Cortes Island’s abandoned boats and provide homes for the homeless 

There are probably a dozen abandoned boats on Cortes Island right now, and Dominic dos Santos would like to have them towed away.

“A lot of them are floating. Some of them just have no names on them. People just leave them there. it’s just been 15 years of ‘not my problem.’  We have fiberglass shards on every beach now because they abandon the boats and let ’em get destroyed on the rocks . All this stuff is gonna wind up on the beach in the next five, 10 years?” he said.

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Housing

Low income prevalence dropping on Gabriola

Editor’s note: This appears to be another example of high living costs driving away working age families. Gabriola is becoming an island for seniors and tourists.

By Rachelle Stein-Wotten, Gabriola Sounder, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

More people on Gabriola appear to have higher incomes, according Statistics Canada data.

The prevalence of low-income dropped between the 2020 and 2016 censuses. In 2015, 24.9 per cent of people in the Gabriola Local Trust Area were considered low income while in 2020, that was reduced to 17.8 per cent.

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Housing, Politics

How Marc Doll wants to tackle the housing crisis in Area C

In the second of a series of articles outlining what he would like to bring to Area C if elected Regional Director, Marc Doll spoke about tackling the housing crisis.

He began by pointing out the solutions are not easy. 

“The principle that I’m standing on is that one person, me or anybody else holding the Regional Director position, isn’t in a place to be able to say, ‘okay, this is what we want to fight for.’ Whether it be a vacancy tax, some type of licensing for Airbnbs, or how we approach development, these decisions are more complicated than  any one person sitting on a small committee can come to any conclusion on. Every one of these examples has a downside,” explained Doll.

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