A Place to Call Home

Presently, HOUSING is a challenge to find in Port Hawkesbury. We have a shortage of available housing for seniors, families, students, professionals, and differently abled citizens. Affordable and public housing is in extremely low supply and accessible housing is non-existent.

We must seize the opportunity to bridge this housing gap. We must continue to bring all stakeholders together to find solutions.

I have met with New Dawn Enterprises. This is a community enterprise corporation that is active in creating and managing housing in CBRM. They would like to expand their work island-wide. I met with them about potential housing projects for our Town. I plan to continue these conversations.

I have also spoken to developers about the potential for housing as well. Some developers are in the process of working on housing options while other developers are in the process of renovations. I hope we can continue to advocate housing opportunities and attract many more developers to invest in our Town.

Port Hawkesbury is an amazing Town to invest in Senior’s Housing!

I have been contacted by seniors living in our Town and surrounding counties - asking about housing options in Port Hawkesbury. I am confident that any senior housing developments in our town would have immediate occupancy!

While campaigning, I have heard at the doors that senior home owners want to stay in Port Hawkesbury. They would require accessible turn-key options before they sell their homes. Again, this is a huge opportunity for investors; we must keep them engaged and interested.

Safe and Affordable Housing for families is in shockingly low supply!

I have spoken to many citizens who rent houses, apartments and rooms in our Town. I was told there is little or nothing available, only waiting lists. As Mayor, I get calls weekly asking for assistance.

This is a clear sign we need more housing - and a huge opportunity for developers.

Accessible housing is another opportunity for developers. We continue to make our outdoor and indoor public spaces more accessible in advance of our mandate for 2030. We must consider the need for accessible housing in our Town. Accessibility means that citizens who are differently abled can live safely and comfortably, such as wheelchair accessibility. We have amazing differently abled citizens who live in our Town and who could benefit from more housing options that are accessible.

The opening of the “51 bed” NSCC student residence in September of 2021 will address some of our student housing gap. However - I am contacted daily with requests for help in assisting NSCC and Nautical students to find rooms, apartments or houses to rent. I try my best, however there are just not enough options for them. Additionally, we have single professionals who work locally and cannot find a place to rent.

Again another huge opportunity for developers!

Public Housing is another important file that our Town must continue to advocate for. We continue to work with Cape Breton Housing to improve conditions at Sunset Manor for our Senior citizens. We have been told there is a long wait list for the 31 apartment units at Sunset, as well as the 31 units scattered throughout our Town. If the Province of Nova Scotia doubles our existing public housing from 62 to 124 units, they would be filled quickly and we would likely require more.

We need to work with our Province to remedy this!

There are incentives offered to developers to ensure a percentage of their units are affordable. However, developers are not always able to access this incentive. We as a Council must meet with both government and developers to address why our Town is experiencing difficulty accessing these incentives.

We have secure temporary housing (5 bedrooms) in our Town for women and their families who are experiencing domestic violence. Unfortunately, we have no second stage housing for families who are transitioning from and starting “anew” after leaving domestic violence situations.

I applaud one local landlord who is keen to work with Leeside to try to determine remedies for the future. I hope more can be done to transition women and their families into safe and affordable homes.

I also applaud the ROC Society for their commitment to Shalom House - a housing unit that helps adults who are differently abled to live independently. Shalom has 5 permanent spaces and one respite space for differently abled citizens. In my conversations with the director, the Province has about 500 differently abled citizens on a wait list. We sorely need more of this type of housing.

I applaud the work of Fresh Start Peer Support Society as well. The organization is exploring options for temporary housing for citizens who are transitioning from addictions and homelessness. I hope they are successful and we can continue to explore ways to work together.

I am the co-chair of the Strait Richmond Housing Coalition. We discuss and advocate for housing matters, as mentioned above. We have also hosted “Housing Think-tank” conferences to understand our local housing needs. We have also assisted in hosting a “People’s School” for Housing with STFX Extension to generate ideas for housing solutions.

It is extremely important that we continue to work on housing matters. We must continue to engage citizens, developers and our Provincial and Federal Governments. We need to collectively and collaboratively address these housing challenges and opportunities.

Each and every citizen - no matter what your age, level of ability, personal situation, level of income, or stage of life - deserves safe, affordable and adequate housing.

Let’s make Port Hawkesbury a place where everyone can live their best life in a good home.