Councillors in Nanaimo are making a second request to the province for housing spaces at 250 Terminal, near the downtown, to be considered 'dry', meaning no drug use by residents. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

another ask

‘We’re setting people up for failure:’ Nanaimo renews push for dry housing beds

Dec 17, 2025 | 10:00 AM

NANAIMO — Not satisfied by the province’s initial response, the City is trying once more to have more dry housing spaces in community.

City Councillors voted unanimously in favour on Monday, Dec. 15 on a motion brought forward by Coun. Sheryl Armstrong to petition Housing minister Christine Boyle and BC Housing to make current and future supportive housing units at 250 Terminal Ave. dry housing.

Armstrong said the model would prohibit drug use by residents of the facility, aiding in their recovery and reintegration into the wider society.

“I believe there’s a desperate need for dry housing. We’ve heard stories of people that are sent over to detox, to Vancouver, they spend the two weeks there they come back and then they’re put in Newcastle or [Labieux Rd.] and it doesn’t work, they’re right back using. We’re setting people up for failure, we’re not helping those that want to help themselves and I find that very distressing.”

The petition would come in the form of a letter from Mayor Leonard Krog, on behalf of Council, urging Boyle and BC Housing to reconsider an earlier rejection for a dry housing facility on Terminal Ave.

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Multiple councillors expressed their dismay at the decision in August, which then turned to frustration when dry housing was announced for a Victoria facility in November.

Coun. Erin Hemmens said it was “really disappointing” to hear dry housing wasn’t among Boyle’s priorities when she was announced as the minister.

“…and then to hear it announced in Victoria, it felt like a bit of a slap in the face. My own personal plea in this would be that our MLA’s really help us voice this need here in Nanaimo, and that we should be getting the same amenities as other communities.”

Others said the flip-flop provincially was making it challenging to engage on important issues.

Coun. Tyler Brown said the situation was “very frustrating”.

“It makes it hard to continually try to deal with them in good faith, and hopefully [I] try to remain optimistic that they will take this consideration seriously and have a conversation with the appropriate parties to see if that is a possibility here.”

A trio of recent fires in RV’s, all involving people either homeless or at risk of homelessness, helped emphasize Council’s request.

A man was badly injured in a South Forks Rd. fire on Dec. 9, then the following night a man in his early 60s was killed and another injured after an RV they were staying in ignited.

Another RV caught fire earlier in December on Craig St., with all three incidents believed to be caused by heaters inside the units.

“All homeless people without drug use that we’re aware of, and their lives altered forever because they’ve got no place to live, and they don’t even qualify because they’re not addicts,” Armstrong added. “To me, that’s wrong.”

Speaking on behalf of the Newcastle Community Association, the neighbourhood group where 250 Terminal Ave. is located, Peter Giovando said regular housing without a prohibition on drug use makes no sense.

He said eligible residents for Terminal, and other facilities, include those suffering from addiction, recovering users, or those who’ve never touched substances.

“The interests of these different categories of individuals are not necessarily the same, and, in fact, may conflict. It does not, for example, make sense for a recovering addict to be tempted by the drug use of his neighbour in the next room, and it makes even less sense for someone who has never used drugs to be housed in an environment in which open drug use is permitted.”

The property is slated to change considerably in the coming years, with designs proposed for a five-storey, 50-unit complex.

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