Following several discussions with community members, service providers, and Maple Ridge MLAs Marc Dalton and Doug Bing, the B.C. government has presented a four-point plan to the City of Maple Ridge to help address homelessness in the community.

The Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows and Mission school districts will receive a combined total of $70,000 in funding for the Youth Work in Trades program to boost trades training for young people.

The B.C. government is funding 15 extreme weather shelter spaces in Maple Ridge this winter to help people whose health and safety may be threatened by cold, wet weather.

Students, teachers and staff at Maple Ridge Secondary school in the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows school district will benefit from $300,000 in provincial School Enhancement Program funding.

Families in the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows school district will no longer pay fees for eligible bus riders thanks to $185,990 in funding under the new provincial Student Transportation Fund.

The borrowing rates of high-cost, short-term cash loans – payday loans – will be lowered under regulations coming into effect Jan. 1, 2017.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure is starting design work on an upcoming safety improvement project in Maple Ridge, to install median barrier on a 6.6-kilometre section of Highway 7, stretching from 240th to 272nd streets.

The B.C. government announced that it has invested, through the Industry Training Authority (ITA), $323,000 in the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 Training Association (IUOETA).

The B.C. government recognizes the need for a long-term low barrier shelter and housing facility in the City of Maple Ridge and will provide approximately $15 million in capital and operating funding for a permanent facility once an appropriate location is determined.