The governments of Canada and British Columbia, along with community partners, officially opened Pacific Coast Apartments today, a new 96-unit supportive housing development for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in Vancouver.

Health Minister Michael de Jong used a forum with health-care students and educators to highlight the Province's efforts to introduce innovative new ways of delivering health-care services to better meet the needs of B.C. families now and in years to come.

The Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia announced a public-private partnership to renovate and restore 13 provincially owned Single Room Occupancy hotels in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside to provide access to clean and safe social housing.

The Province is providing up to $1 million to keep the First United shelter open for an additional four months on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

As a result of federal and provincial investments in affordable housing, a new program is available to help low-income seniors and people with disabilities finance home modifications for accessible, safe and independent living.

Dr. Margaret MacDiarmid, MLA for Vancouver-Fairview, on behalf of Health Minister Michael de Jong, announced the Province will invest more than $2 million annually to support the Heartwood Centre for Women, a new leading-edge residential substance treatment program at BC Women's Hospital.

The BC Coroners Service has announced it will hold a public inquest into the deaths of three workers who died on a mushroom farm in Langley in September 2008.

Forty-two interim shelter spaces open today at the Marble Arch Hotel, a provincially owned SRO. This shelter facility, using vacant commercial space at the Marble Arch, will operate 24 hours a day, offer a meal program and incorporate a unique couples-only component.