Office of the Premier
The B.C. government has committed $65 million to support the purchase and renovation of 364 units of affordable rental housing for low-to-moderate-income individuals with mental-health or substance-use issues.
The 18 projects will be operated by partner non-profit societies in each community.
“Providing stable housing is an important part of supporting those with mental health and substance abuse issues,” said Rich Coleman, Minister of Natural Gas Development and Minister Responsible for Housing. “This increase in housing is an example of the importance of partnership between the Province, non-profit housing providers and communities.”
The investment comes as part of the new Mental Health Housing program, announced earlier in 2017, in which the Province committed $50 million in 2016-17 towards acquisitions and $15 million in 2017-18 towards renovations to create new housing for people with mental-health or substance-use challenges.
With this investment, the Province has committed a total of $920 million to support the acquisition, construction and renovation of almost 5,300 housing units throughout B.C.
Quick Facts:
- Since 2001, the B.C. government has invested or committed to a total of $6.3 billion to provide affordable housing supply and access for low income individuals, seniors and families.
- More than 104,000 B.C. households benefit from a diverse range of provincial housing programs and services.
- Since 2001, the Province has completed close to 24,000 new units of affordable housing.
Learn More:
To learn more about the Province's actions on housing affordability, visit: http://housingaffordability.gov.bc.ca/
Factsheet on mental-health services and supports in B.C.: https://news.gov.bc.ca/factsheets/factsheet-comprehensive-mental-health-and-substance-use-services-in-bc
To view the new mental-health digital hub, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/mentalhealth
Two backgrounders follow.
