Kamloops council caught off guard by BC Housing plan for new homeless shelter

Kamloops city council was caught by surprise by the province’s plan for a new riverfront shelter, potentially breaking an agreement between BC Housing and the municipality.

BC Housing revealed the plan to iNFOnews.ca earlier this month, which prompted residents opposed to the shelter to voice their concerns to city council.

“I think the community outrage over this is reasonable,” councillor Katie Neustaeter said. “I do not believe this is how people should learn about significant potential projects of this nature in their community.”

Neustaeter said not only was council not aware of the BC Housing plan for the shelter, council hasn’t approved it.

BC Housing has yet to provide a timeline for construction of the 56-bed modular facility. The Crown agency is eyeing a property on River Street that once was a repurposed home used as a youth shelter. 

BC Housing’s initial confirmation of the project claimed 1286 and 1289 River Street were properties it owns, but City documents suggest they are in fact a municipal properties. That means council would have to approve a lease or sale for BC Housing to build there, as the agency has done for other shelters and supportive housing buildings in the city.

It comes three years after BC Housing and the City signed a memorandum of understanding, which solidified a working relationship between the two. It includes stipulations that the Crown agency would work with the City to identify potential shelter or housing sites in the future and it would communicate on land acquisition or leases.

“Council has yet to hear directly from BC Housing about their violation of the (memorandum of understanding) or their sharing of confidential information,” Coun. Neustaeter said, who is this month’s deputy mayor.

City staff and council initially refused to comment on the planned shelter when asked earlier this month. Only Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson commented at the time and he confirmed he wasn’t aware of any plans for a shelter.

Coun. Neustaeter said that their silence shouldn’t suggest council has made any decisions, let alone their awareness of the project.

“In this case, I think it’s fair there is community outcry towards BC Housing for this announcement, but the public should not assume that because council is not yet able to speak about this particular project, we are not working on their behalf,” she said.

BC Housing refused to provide further details to iNFOnews.ca, but later confirmed to other news outlets the shelter is slated to host transition housing, likely following along the lines of a Canadian Mental Health Association facility in the city’s Westmount neighbourhood, which blends supportive housing and shelter services.

It comes at a time of some tension between city council and BC Housing. While the memorandum of understanding was meant to strengthen the working relationship, the surprise shelter plans put further pressure on the strain between the two.

A recent call from councillors for city hall to find ways to tax BC Housing have been met with criticism from the non-profit sector contracted to operate the facilities.

Council is also split on approving another new supportive housing site because of disagreements with its operating model.

Council can’t dictate how BC Housing runs its facilities, but it resolved to call for a meeting with BC Housing representatives.

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon responded recently in a recent letter to council saying it’s “premature” to make decisions on the operating model, while thanking the City “for continuing to be collaborative partners” with the province.

“A strong and collaborative relationship between the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, BC Housing and the City of Kamloops will ensure that our housing strategies are aligned and that our efforts to address homelessness are responsive and effective,” he said in the Feb. 21 letter.

BC Housing did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the River Street shelter nor its possible violation of the memorandum of understanding with the City of Kamloops.