People living on the Sunshine Coast with complex mental-health and substance-use challenges will have access to enhanced services as the Province adds complex-care housing services for approximately 25 people in the region.

Complex-care housing provides supports to people who are facing overlapping mental health, substance use, trauma or brain injuries. Through Budget 2022, government is investing $164 million during the next three years to provide complex-care housing to as many as 500 people throughout British Columbia.

“Complex-care housing is groundbreaking for people with overlapping mental-health and addiction challenges,” said Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. “These specialized services on the Sunshine Coast will connect people with the supports they need to establish stability and break the cycle of homelessness.”

Complex-care housing will be delivered on the Sunshine Coast by Vancouver Coastal Health. Complex-care housing teams will support residents in existing supportive housing or market rentals who require additional support to maintain their homes.

“Some of our clients face significant barriers, not only in retaining their accommodation, but in accessing our health services,” said Marie Duperreault, director, Sunshine Coast with Vancouver Coastal Health. “This dedicated team will deliver services 'in situ' where people are living to improve both their health-care outcomes and reduce their risk of homelessness. We look forward to working with BC Housing and other partners as we bring this new program to life, benefiting community members across the Sunshine Coast.”

Complex-care housing services are voluntary and will connect with people in their homes, helping them to stabilize and achieve their goals. People in complex-care housing will receive comprehensive, person-centred services to meet their needs. These services can include:

• access to addiction medicine;
• overdose prevention and education;
• primary care services, including nursing;
• social workers;
• home support and community care;
• Indigenous Elders and traditional supports; and
• rental subsidies

“I’m very pleased to see complex-care housing services coming to the Sunshine Coast,” said Nicholas Simons, MLA, Powell River-Sunshine Coast. “These services will help community members experiencing complex mental-health and substance-use challenges receive the support they need, while maintaining their housing.”

The Province launched complex-care housing in January 2022, with services announced in Abbotsford, Bella Coola, Fraser East, Kamloops, Kelowna, Langley, Nanaimo, Powell River, the Northern Health region, Sunshine Coast, Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria. Since the launch, the Province has announced services for 380 complex-care clients in communities throughout the province.

Learn More:

Learn more about complex-care housing: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/mental-health-support-in-bc/complex-care-housing

For more on mental-health supports, visit: https://gov.bc.ca/mentalhealthsupports

A Pathway to Hope Roadmap: https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/BCMentalHealthRoadmap_2019.pdf