Close to $27 million is being doled out for 16 projects in B.C. to address the need for safe and affordable Indigenous housing.
The funding ($26.8 million) is part of a national initiative in which $278 million is being distributed to 75 projects across Canada to build more than 3,800 units. An additional $3.7 million of funding remains to be allocated.
The funding was provided to Indigenous Services Canada through the 2022 federal budget, and is being distributed by National Indigenous Collaborative Housing Inc. (NICHI) applying a "for Indigenous, by Indigenous" approach, according to a Nov. 28 press release.
NICHI is an Indigenous-led national housing organization whose goal is ensuring that all Indigenous peoples across Canada have access to supports and services that provide safe, affordable, secure and dignified housing.
Indigenous peoples are 13 times more likely than non-Indigenous peoples to experience homelessness, and are disproportionately affected by the housing crisis, according to the press release. There is a significant need for trauma-informed and culturally supportive housing and services, it said.
Ottawa announced in June that NICHI would deliver $281.5 million in immediate funding over two years to address the urgent, unmet needs of Indigenous peoples living in urban, rural and northern areas.
Support for projects will include funding for acquisitions of new properties and buildings, construction of new facilities, repairs and renovations, housing-related training, growing organizational capacity and administration costs.
The projects in B.C. will be led by:
- Victoria Native Friendship Centre
- Secwépmec Child and Family Services Agency
- Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness
- Fort St John Native Housing Society
- Dakelh & Quesnel Community Housing Society
- Citaapi Mahtii Housing Society
- Dakelh & Quesnel Community Housing Society
- Kekinow Indigenous Programs and Services Society
- Aboriginal Housing Society of Prince George
- Island Urban Indigenous Wellness Society
- Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Society
- ALT Jackson Housing Society
- Lu'ma Native BCH Housing Society
- ALT Commercial Housing Society
- Sanala Culturally Supportive Housing Society
- Kekinow Native Housing Society
"While these projects are a step in the right direction, much more remains to be done to truly meet the scale of the housing crisis that Indigenous Peoples face in urban, rural, and northern areas of Canada," NICHI CEO John Gordon said in statement.
