Opening of Charlottetown's emergency shelter units delayed again

The overnight modular shelter units on Park Street in Charlottetown for people experiencing homelessness will not be opening Wednesday as originally hoped, according to officials with P.E.I.'s Department of Social Development and Housing.

The minister was not made available for comment, but the department said the project is in the final stages of construction and will be opening shortly.

Karla Bernard, Green MLA and Opposition critic for Social Development and Housing, said there is "no clear idea" from her understanding on when the facility will open.

"I've heard rumblings, but I haven't heard anything official on when it will open," she said. "Given the temperature is dropping daily, it's really beyond crunch time."

P.E.I. Housing Minister Matthew MacKay initially said the modular units would be ready by mid-November to get people off the streets by the time cold weather arrived. 

He later changed that timeline to the end of this month.

Shelter open 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

The units were moved onto the site weeks ago. Some people experiencing homelessness in Charlottetown have been living in tent encampments. 

"It's something that's just been kicked down the road so long," Bernard said. "This is something that people have been frustrated with right from the start.

The temporary housing will be open from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. It will shelter up to 51 people in several modular units, each of which has one or two dorm-style bedrooms and a shared bathroom and shower. 

The minister said previously that the aim is to have a 24/7 shelter before next winter. The Greens say that's too long, and that the Park Street shelter alone has many issues around accessibility and mobility, hours and more.

"Who is this shelter service for? Certainly not for the people who are going to access it, because if it were for them they would have been asked what they wanted," Bernard said.