Housing

'I just couldn't afford rent:' Nanaimo homeless census draws range of people to downtown event

NANAIMO - Unhoused people in the Nanaimo area met with key service providers as a monumental task attempted to discern roughly how many homeless people reside in the community. A federally funded Poin...

Daryl Major Apr 28, 2023

Construction starts on transformative downtown Nanaimo housing project

NANAIMO - Construction is underway on a substantial rental housing development in Nanaimo's downtown core. A building permit awarded from City Hall last month resulted in crews on site this week, even...

Apr 26, 2023

Three six-storey residential buildings approved across from Nanaimo courthouse

NANAIMO -A significant downtown Nanaimo development would transform a pair of parking lots into nearly 160 homes, with about half of the suites planned to be rental units.City councillors on Monday, A...

Apr 18, 2023

'It's a very exciting shift:' substantial affordable housing/Brechin United Church development opens

NANAIMO - A vision many years in the making has at last come to fruition for Brechin United Church.Following a lengthy planning and extended construction process, a new congregation and attached affor...

Apr 03, 2023

'There were three huge bangs:' concerns raised after repeated Nanaimo encampment fires

NANAIMO- Multiple propane tanks exploded during a fire at a small encampment in an area popular with the local homeless population. It happened Tuesday, March 28 at about 10:15 a.m. at a tent position...

Alex Rawnsley Mar 28, 2023

New group 'laser-focused' on providing housing to unhoused Nanaimo population

NANAIMO - A new committee has been formed to create an organized and coordinated approach to help get the unhoused population into homes in Nanaimo.The Nanaimo Systems Planning Organization Society (N...

Mar 12, 2023

City reports second-highest year for construction in Nanaimo

NANAIMO - 2021 put Nanaimo in the category of one of the fastest-growing urban centres in the country, and it appears the trend is continuing. In 2022, the City issued building permits with a total co...

Mar 07, 2023

Salvation Army to tear down aging half of downtown Nanaimo building

NANAIMO - A critical local social service provider is forging ahead with redevelopment plans to expand its busy Nicol St. location. Salvation Army New Hope Centre executive director Jeffrey Baergen sa...

Jan 16, 2023

Rent prices in Nanaimo & across Canada push higher into record territory

NANAIMO - Despite a cooling down Real Estate market, rental housing locally and across the country remain as expensive as ever.The National Rent Report, produced by Rentals.ca, showed the average rent...

Dec 14, 2022

Winter shelter opens in Nanaimo as temperature plummets

NANAIMO - With overnight temperatures dipping below the freezing mark, a local seasonal shelter providing comfort for the unhoused has opened its doors.St Peter's Roman Catholic Church on Machleary St...

Nov 09, 2022