N.B. to spend $100 million to create new public housing units

The New Brunswick government is using some of its budget surplus to create 380 new public housing units over the next four years.

The $102.2-million project will also include "immediate renovations" to 110 units that have been sitting empty, Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard said at an announcement in Saint John on Monday.

Shephard said there will be 120 new housing units divided evenly between Saint John, Fredericton and Moncton, withanother 68 units in northern New Brunswick. A further192 units will be established in areas of greatest need in both rural and urban settings.

"Significant cost-of-living increases, combined with a housing market boom, has contributed to an unprecedented demand for public housing units," said Shephard.

She said it's the first construction project in 38 years for government-owned housing.

While it's not a "silver bullet," Shephard said the project represents "a large leap" in addressing what she acknowledged is a housing crisis.

"I don't know how we can't say there's a crisis," said Shephard.

She said the wait list to get into public housing sits at about 8,700, including 3,700 individuals of working age.

Randy Hatfield, the executive director of Saint John's Human Development Council, said anxiety over available and affordable housing "is palpable."

"So today was a step in the right direction," he said.

Hatfield listed off a "perfect storm" of contributing factors to the province's housing crisis that included "until recently, lagging provincial investments."

"But today's announcement addresses the latter in a big way. This is a huge commitment to the file. It will have a demonstrable impact on the amount of affordable housing in the province."

Hatfield said so much in a person's life depends on the security of having somewhere to live.

Average age of buildings is 52

The Department of Social Development owns and operates 808 public housing buildings across the province, which represents about 3,800 units, according to a government news release. "Most of these units were built in the 1970s, with the average age being 52 years old."

Shephard acknowledged that "there has not been a major capital renovation and replacement plan for public housing in decades, which has contributed to the current poor state of the infrastructure."

She said $2.2 million of the money will be used "to ensure that 110 of the vacant units can be occupied as quickly as possible."

While some need new windows, doors, or appliances, others, due to the age of the units, require upgrades to electrical or plumbing systems, said Shephard.

She's said she's confident that the renovations of the 110 currently "unlivable" units will be complete by the end of March.

'For me, it's personal'

Shephard said she grew up in poverty and knows what it's like to struggle. Growing up in Saint John's Dominion Park on Sawdust Road, her family didn't have indoor plumbing until she was 12.

"For me, it's personal. I understand that everybody needs a hand up at some point."

It's also personal for Juanita Black. The community activist spoke of her lived experience with public housing more than 40 years, in fact.

Adding new units will "shorten the waiting list, it'll shorten people's anxiety that they don't have a decent place to live. Because if you don't get up in the morning after a good night's sleep, you're not ready for the rest of the day."

"One thing I hope is when they build these new units, they put them in a place that's not way over here by itself that makes it, 'Oh, there's them people,' you know. Put them right in the middle of [neighbourhoods] and let them all work together," said Black.

Shephard said location details still have to be worked out, but she said the government wants to create "inclusive communities," so it will work with municipalities to figure out where to put the new units.

She said it's also too early to say whether the units will be high-density apartments or detached units, but she hopes construction will begin in April.

8,700 on wait list

Jessica Wright is one of 8,700 New Brunswickers waiting to get into social housing.

The 32-year-old has spent more than a year and a half on the wait list, hoping to be placed into an accessible unit in Saint John or to receive a supplement to help pay her rent.

Wright signed up shortly after she had two aneurysms on the right side of her brain, affecting her balance and mobility, among other challenges.

"I went from, I would say, a somewhat healthy, normal, physical person at 30, to a very disabled person," Wright said.

With no timeline to make it to the top of the list, Wright is left in an apartment that she said doesn't meet her accessibility needsand costs more than she can afford to pay.

More on the way

Shephard said the government also hopes to do more for "the working poor" and middle-income earners. She said 45 per cent of Saint Johners, for example, are renters.

So in addition to the almost 500 additional units announced on Monday 380 brand new and 110 renovated units Shephard said the government has "exceeded our target for new affordable housing units created by the private and non-profit sectors over the last three years.

"We reached 177 new units, and we now work to see the creation of 405 more new affordable units on the market within the next three years, in addition to the new public housing units."