Homelessness, affordable housing key issues as UBCM kicks off

Some municipal leaders say the current face of homelessness in B.C. is younger and more addicted, and it will take more than just newhousing to address the issue.

Homelessness and affordable housingweretop issues during the opening day of the week-long Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Victoria, which brings together about2,000 elected politicians and civic staff.

Kamloops Mayor Peter Milobar said thehomeless population in his community isbecoming younger and more transient.

Mental health and addiction servicesneed to be part of housing aimed at getting people off the street, he said.

"You also have to make sure you have the right support systems in place too, or you are just setting people up to fail," he told host Gregor Craigieon CBC Radio's On The Island.

"There's a lot of people with addictions issues and mental health issues and things like that, so they need that more supportive-type housing, as well as a rent they can afford."

On The Island7:18Homelessness, affordable housing key issues at UBCM

Municipal leaders say the current face of homelessness in B.C. is younger and more addicted and it will take more than just more housing to address the issue.

Roughly250 people are living on the streets of Kamloops, butthe city needs tobuild or renovate about 2,200units to meet thedemand for affordable housing, Milobar said.

The discussion on homelessness at theUBCMgathering comes after a tent city in Victoria's downtown drew national attention to the housing crisis in B.C.

Moving people from the tentsinto housing or shelters was only possible through collaboration with the provincial government,said VictoriaMayor Lisa Helps.

The B.C. Governmenthas opened nearly200new housing units in Victoria in recent monthsand has also added more shelter space.

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"Every mayor in British Columbia, every mayor in Canada, knows that homelessness is a problem," Helps said.

"I think the value of having us all together [at UBCM] is to hear those stories and then to keep pushing this as an issue that we need more funding for."

The province has been taking steps to deal with the issue. Last week, itannouncedit will spend $500 million to provide affordable rental housing. The housing will be paid for by record revenues from the real estate sector.

The investment is expected toprovide nearly 3,000 rental unitsand will be funded in part by proceeds from the 15 per cent foreign-buyers tax, which was imposed last month on non-residents who purchase residential property in the Vancouver area.

Otherhousing issues that will be up for debate at the UBCM convention this week includethe rise inshort-term rentals such as Airbnb and concerns aboutrenovictions driven by high real estate values.

"We are in an election year and that is always an opportunity for municipalities to get their message across,"said Esquimalt MayorBarb Desjardins on CBC Radio's special edition of B.C. Almanac from the UBCM convention.

With files from On The Island, B.C. Almanac