The provincial government announced last week it had “confirmed” plans for the city's first-ever homeless shelter in Burnaby, but many details remain undetermined, including the location and an opening date.
In a Dec. 21 press release, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing touted its plan to fund shelters in communities across B.C.
“Responding to the urgent need from communities around the province, the government of B.C. is opening additional shelters and providing funding for emergency housing solutions to help people experiencing homelessness have a safe, warm place during the winter,” the release states.
The province said it’s partnering with municipalities and non-profits to open 10 new shelters in different cities, including Burnaby, where “there is an urgent need for an overnight shelter and day space to accommodate people experiencing homelessness over the winter, as there is currently only one extreme weather shelter in the city.”
The facility will be operated by the Progressive Housing Society, the release said.
But Mayor Mike Hurley and a city director both said there are many details of the plan that are still under discussion. Few details of the project have been set, they both said.
“From our perspective, it is an announcement that is general in nature,” Burnaby’s director of corporate services, Dipak Dattani, said.
City planners have had “general conversations” with representatives of the housing ministry about the project and are working on finding a suitable site for the shelter, Dattani said. The shelter could be set up in an existing building or require new construction, he said – but even those big-picture details remain unknown.
Despite the province citing the winter season in its release, Dattani said he wasn’t sure it was possible for a new shelter to be open in Burnaby within the next three months.
Asked whether the seemingly early announcement was useful, he said that “it’s always good to see where the province’s position is. That's a good thing to see and I guess it allows us to come to a discussion at the table at some point and bring it to realization.”
The NOW asked to speak with someone at the ministry about plans for the shelter and received a one-sentence statement from a spokesperson: “BC Housing continues to work with the City of Burnaby to identify a location to open as soon as possible.”
