Low-income seniors and families in Maple Ridge will soon have access to approximately 60 new units of affordable rental housing.

Students in the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District are connecting with skills and technology training development thanks to a $17,500 grant to the district from the Province’s Shoulder Tappers Program.

The B.C. government has distributed $1,186,008 in compensation for municipal property taxes to the City of Maple Ridge.

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.