The City of Fort St. John is one step closer to building a 115-unit seniors housing complex in the downtown core, releasing a Jan. 3 notice of its intention to sell a plot of land to non-profit VRS Communities for $1.
VRS Communities has partnered with the city to create the complex at the old Fort St. John Hospital site, featuring 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and studio homes.
The housing complex will also include meals, living services, and lifestyle programs that support independent living for seniors.
“This proposed project is an important step forward in addressing the need for affordable seniors housing in our community. We look forward to working with VRS Communities to provide much-needed housing options for seniors, and to seeing the positive impact it will have on our community,” said Fort St. John Mayor Lilia Hansen in a release.
The housing is urgently needed, with seniors in northeastern B.C. facing housing uncertainty as they age, explained another Fort St. John non-profit, Save Our Northern Seniors.
A report authored by United Way B.C. was released last year, titled Aging in Uncertainty: The Growing Housing Crisis for B.C. Seniors, highlighting insights from interviews with 16 seniors’ service and housing organizations.
“During this past year, the research shows that the numbers of people using the food bank, homelessness, people losing their homes because they cannot afford the rent or renovations has risen dramatically,” wrote Save Our Northern Seniors president Margaret Little, advocating for local solutions.
According to the report, the average 70-year-old senior who is dependent on government benefits would spend 78 percent of their income to rent a one-bedroom apartment in B.C. or roughly $1,432.
Save Our Northern Seniors has also collected data on care facilities since 2005, noting that decades earlier there were no facilities for seniors, or long waits for local spaces, and that further investment is still needed.
