$3.3M investment to help address affordable-housing wait list

Though it will barely make a dent in demand, $3.37 million provided by Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services will help at least 24 First Nation families living in Thunder Bay find an affordable place to live.

The two- and four-unit buildings will be constructed throughout the city, the first eight of which are being built in Current River. OAHS executive director Don McBain said the project is a good start in a community that has seen its off-reserve Aboriginal population grow exponentially in the past decade.

"We’re hoping it will help address the waiting list," McBain said Friday morning at Matawa’s Court Street offices, where the program was officially unveiled.

Matawa First Nation chief executive officer David Paul Achneepineskum, said affordable housing for Aboriginal people is a rarity. And with an estimated 1,000 people on the waiting list, the timing couldn’t be better, he said.

"There are continually people moving into the City of Thunder Bay for social and health reasons," Achneepineskum said. "A lot of them are going into market housing and they’re paying way above what they can afford. When you look at people paying 60 to 80 per cent of their household income just trying to find a place to stay, it really doesn’t leave enough for food and other necessary items."

This causes a drain on the city’s social network, as First Nations people join the crowded lines seeking meals at local soup kitchens, groceries at Thunder Bay food banks and a place to sleep at the city’s shelters.

It’s not what he wants for his people, said Achneepineskum, who added the Matawa Non-Profit Housing Corporation already owns four two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom semi-detached homes in Thunder Bay, available to eligible families with low or modest incomes.

"The need is great and it’s increasing annually with the influx of people from our Northern communities."

MPP Bill Mauro (Lib., Thunder Bay-Atikokan) said it’s his hope the money provided by the province will help fill a void that exists in the city.

"It’s no secret that affordable housing is a crucial issue for Aboriginals living off-reserve," Mauro said. "Aboriginal people experience higher levels of poverty and homelessness than non-Aboriginal people.
The first units are being built on Adelaide and Arundel streets, with the remainder slated for properties around the city.

Achneepineskum said they will blend and fit the neighbourhoods that surround them. They’ll mostly be duplexes and four-plexes, not single-family dwellings he said. Some are being specifically designed to meet the needs of the disabled and elderly.

Some of our units have to meet the code for handicap access. So that’s where we’re going to be spending a little bit more money to accommodate our handicap people. That’s what’s really badly needed in terms of trying to accommodate these people."