Rooming house fire leaves people scrambling for shelter

An explosion and fire that destroyed a rooming house in Sudbury has people scrambling to find affordable housing in the city.

The blaze killed two people and destroyed a 20-unit building on March 20.

Lianne Bergeron, the supervisor at the Corner Clinic where she helps low income earners find housing, said they're too busy to count how many of the displaced residents of the Elizabeth Street building have shown up for help.

Bergeron said the fire hasn't left anyone homeless, but she said it's been hard to find housing in a city where there is already a shortage.

"There has been [trouble] for our target population for many years and its not getting any better," Bergeron said.

The Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association estimates there is a waiting list of 1,900 people in Sudbury. They're looking for housing subsidized by the city or a non-profit organization.

Sharad Kerur, association's executive director, said the problem is just as bad across Ontario.

Kerur estimates there are 153,000 people on a similar waiting list across Ontario.

He said there just isn't enough money available to put more units on the ground.

"The private sector doesn't have the capacity or in some cases doesn't see the business case to be made in building these kinds of units," Kerur said.

While municipalities are responsible for housing, Kerur says there is a need for more funding from all levels of government.