The newly reopened Victoria Towers low-income housing complex already has a significant waiting list, thanks to an increasing number of homeless people coming to Prince George from other northern communities.
"This [Victoria Towers] is a really welcome addition. It restores what was lost in the fire [November, 2011] and improves on it," said Leo Hebert, executive director of the Prince George Metis Housing Society. "BC Housing has done a wonderful job here, but we still have a wait-list of 600 to 700 people."
Victoria Towers was restored tafter a fire three years ago left the building uninhabitable. It now has 91 apartments for families of low to moderate income. While it looked like significant pressure would be eased from the city's housing crunch, that has not been the case. The Metis Housing Society has for years been one of the primary agencies getting affordable housing for people coming into Prince George from outlying communities in the immediate vicinity, but he said lately the pressure for a Prince George bed is unprecedented from outside the immediate region.
"The economy out west is definitely causing a strain on the resources here," Hebert said. "We see it clearly in our organization."
He is referring to the economic boom going on in Kitimat, Prince Rupert and Terrace with several megaprojects all happening at once in those coastal communities.
"It has caused a massive jump in rental prices, if you can find a place at all," said Barb Ward Burkitt, executive director of the Prince George Native Friendship Centre, another organization that provides housing options and working with partner agencies also doing so. "We've been hearing stories of basement apartments that were going for hundreds per month suddenly being worth thousands per month. A lot of people can't afford that, and that's the really low-end accommodations, so there is nowhere left in the market there. So the people get squeezed out of their homes and they come here. The shelters here are filled to over capacity and I'm really worried because winter is coming. You can't turn people away when it's cold out. We've put people up on cots in our common areas, but that's not a home. And I think this winter coming up could be the worst we've ever experienced for people looking to Prince George for some kind of roof over their heads."
According to a U.S.-based report by the MacArthur Foundation and the Center For Housing Policy that overlaps Canadian studies, "research has shown that the stability of an affordable mortgage or rent can have profound effects on childhood development and school performance and can improve health outcomes for families and individuals."
The report entitled The Role of Affordable Housing in Creating Jobs and Stimulating Local Economic Development also said "the research demonstrates that the development of affordable housing increases spending and employment in the surrounding economy, acts as an important source of revenue for local governments, and reduces the likelihood of foreclosure and its associated costs. Without a sufficient supply of affordable housing, employers -- and entire
regional economies -- can be at a competitive disadvantage."
