A phased move-in is expected to begin this month for a large new temporary supportive housing complex in central Nanaimo. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

supportive housing

First of three Nanaimo temporary supportive housing facilities slated to open

Feb 20, 2025 | 5:25 AM

NANAIMO — By this spring a trio of supportive housing complexes are expected to be operational in Nanaimo, aimed at providing relief for the unhoused and mitigating social disorder.

Up first is the largest of the three complexes to come online: 1298 Nelson St. (former Travellers Lodge site), to be operated by Pacifica Housing.

BC Housing states the refurbished property is expected to see residents start moving into the 78-unit complex sometime this month.

Mayor Leonard Krog said while he’s heard numerous people voice concerns about the incoming temporary supportive housing offering, this type of response is crucial in addressing local needs.

“It’s only going to get better if you build the kind of facilities, like the ones that are proposed, that will actually engage with the people who are on the street, who need help, who are not going to get better on their own,” Krog stated during a sit-down interview with NanaimoNewsNOW.

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Contractors have been on site for the past several months repurposing units at the old Travellers Lodge site, which had fallen into disrepair over the years after serving as a longstanding dementia care home.

A three-year lease is in place to provide supportive housing at the site, as well as pending transitional modular builds coming to 1030 Old Victoria Rd. (60 units) and 1300 Island Hwy South in Chase River (50 units).

The Nelson St. project, to be known as Sparrow, is located near Nanaimo Regional General Hospital and across the street from a daycare.

Prioritized tenants will be those who have expressed a desire to minimize exposure to alcohol and substances, according to BC Housing.

The facility, as are all temporary housing complexes in Nanaimo, will be staffed 24 hours a day.

Contractors remain on site at the long-closed Travellers Lodge dementia care home readying the site for supportive housing. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Reflecting on the evolution of temporary in Nanaimo, mayor Krog said there have been well documented challenges, most notably the rushed introduction of complexes still in existence on Terminal Ave. And Labieux Rd.

He said the lack of screening tenants when temporary housing first launched in Nanaimo when the Tent City encampment concluded led to significant issues.

“It created an image in the community that places like this, which should be places of hope, were in fact just centres of despair and damage to neighbourhoods and that occurred for a while, there’s no question about that,” Krog said candidly.

When pressed on BC Housing moving away from its prior Good Neighbour Agreement model implemented province-wide, in part due to strained resources in favour of a Neighbourhood Integration Plan, Krog said he’s not as worried as some are about the shift.

He said community engagement is in place for all transitional housing facilities and that all partners involved have gained valuable experience over the years.

“Would it be more comforting to have a solid agreement in place? Yes. But do I think BC Housing wants to attract criticism and have operators who don’t run these facilities well? Absolutely not.”

Krog said social disorder/public safety issues easily tops the list of grievances he hears about.

The second term mayor is confident success stories will follow from these incoming temporary housing facilities.

“No one is happy with the current street disorder and it’s not going to get fix on its own,” Krog said from his office, located within an epicentre of street-level turmoil.

Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog and his council colleagues receive many complaints from people concerned about public disorder and safety issues. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

BC Housing stated the nearly 200 temporary housing units being added in Nanaimo is on top of the 50 spaces at Newcastle Place at 250 Terminal Ave. through the HEARTH agreement formed early last year.

“The Province recognizes the urgent need for more supportive housing in Nanaimo and, through BC Housing, continues to work with the City and non-profit partners to identify other opportunities to bring more units for people experiencing homelessness in the community.” the BC Housing statement read.

Temporary housing in Nanaimo is a stop-gap measure until permanent housing solutions are built in response to a Memorandum of Understanding formed in 2020 pledging over 300 units at six sites in Nanaimo.

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