Ottawa and P.E.I. invest nearly $7M in affordable housing for vulnerable Islanders

An investment of more than $1.8 million from the province and $4.9 million from the federal government will be used to provide affordable housing for 35 vulnerable individuals across Prince Edward Island.

It's an effort to address the lack of affordable housing across Canada, which has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The various housing projects are at different stages of development.

The first 10 homes, on McPhee Avenue in Souris, represent nearly $3 million in investment. They were completed in July 2020 for five seniors and five families or individuals supported through the provincial social housing program.

The Community Connections Duplex Housing Project in Summerside will receive more than $1 million to provide 10 beds for people with developmental or physical disabilities.

The third and fourth projects, worth a total of nearly $3 million, will provide 15 homes for Indigenous people – 10 modular units on the Lennox Island First Nation, and five homes on the Scotchfort reserve in Abegweit First Nation.

Abegweit First Nation Chief Junior Gould said the lack of affordable housing for First Nations communities across the country is well-documented.

"We always talk about reconciliation and different things. I think steps in the right direction are part of the reconciliation," he said. 

Proper appropriate housing is an essential element in everyone's overall well-being, said Lennox Island First Nation Chief Darlene Bernard.

"If we want to affect positive change, this is the most basic place to start. Invest in homes, invest in well-being for all."

The federal government said it has invested more than $32 million to help create 166 affordable homes on the Island through its National Housing Co-Investment Fund.

The funds are part of Ottawa's National Housing Strategy to invest more than $72 billion in affordable housing over 10 years.