The Province and the City of Vancouver have secured the former Howard Johnson Hotel at 395 Kingsway to provide 100 interim housing spaces for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness while more supportive housing is completed.

The B.C. government has a partnership with the City of Vancouver to build 14 supportive-housing developments, with more than 1,500 apartments. Seven are already open. The remaining sites are under construction or in development.

The Province will provide operational funding for the newly leased building, while the City of Vancouver will undertake capital upgrades to the property. BC Housing will issue a Request for Proposals early in 2013 for an operator to manage and provide support services for tenants. It is expected that the building will be available for occupancy in the spring upon completion of the capital upgrades.

The B.C. government made funding available for the interim spaces in October 2012 along with support for the 160 temporary winter shelter spaces in four locations around the city that will remain open until May 2013.

Quotes:

Minister of Energy, Mines and Natural Gas and Responsible for Housing Rich Coleman -

"The acquisition of the interim housing space allows the B.C. government to meet its commitment to provide additional housing while our new supportive housing developments in Vancouver are completed. It also continues the positive working relationship we have with the city in addressing the issue of homelessness."

Mayor Gregor Robertson, City of

"These 100 spaces of interim transition housing will give people a safe, warm place to sleep at night and enable them to prepare for moving into new supportive housing developments. This is a crucial part of our housing and homelessness strategy as it bridges the gap between emergency shelters and long-term housing. We've had a strong partnership with the B.C. government to get new housing and shelters open, and this project will move us closer towards ending street homelessness in Vancouver by 2015."

Quick Facts:

• Under the provincial housing strategy, Housing Matters BC, the government of B.C. has partnerships with eight communities to build more than 2,300 new units of supportive housing for those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in B.C. (Abbotsford, Campbell River, Kelowna, Maple Ridge, Nanaimo, Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria). Construction is now underway or complete at many of the 32 housing developments proposed under these municipal partnerships.

• In Vancouver, there are 14 sites forming the partnership between the B.C. government and the City of Vancouver to construct more than 1,500 new apartments of supportive housing on city-owned land.

• Currently, there are more than 840 permanent, year-round shelter beds and approximately 200 temporary year-round HEAT shelter beds in Vancouver.

• The B.C. government spends close to $24 million annually to fund services for Vancouver's homeless. This includes permanent and temporary shelters as well as homeless outreach.

• In Vancouver, four temporary winter shelters have opened since Dec. 1 providing 160 spaces that are open 24/7 for homeless individuals.

Learn More:

To learn more about provincial programs and services to address homelessness, please visit: www.bchousing.org

To learn more about programs and services offered by the City of Vancouver, please visit: www.vancouver.ca

Media Contacts:

Fergus McCann
BC Housing
778 452-6445
604 561-4375 (cell) City of Vancouver

Corporate Communications
604 871-6336
media@vancouver.ca