Latest Halifax-area shelter village set to open near Burnside

An area near Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth has been announced as the final location for a shelter village for people experiencing homelessness in Nova Scotia.

Community Services Minister Brendan Maguire said Wednesday that some of the remaining shelters bought last year by the province will be set up on Bancroft Lane, near Windmill Road and Wright Avenue.

The rest will be in an area already being prepped in the Clayton Park neighbourhood of Halifax. 

The Halifax Regional Municipality recently designated the Bancroft Lane location as a homeless encampment, but Maguire said the province wanted to set up something more substantial at the site. 

"The province isn't in the business of encampments, what we're in the business of is homes, housing, transitional housing," Maguire said. "So when we saw that, we reached out to HRM and had a conversation."

He added that HRM had the final say on the village's location.

Tony Mancini, the municipal councillor for Harbourview-Burnside-Dartmouth East, which includes the Bancroft Lane location, said the shelters will be a step up from the tent encampment that was intended for the area. 

"Ideally myself and the community would like to have neither one of them there," Mancini said. "But if we're going to have one, a Pallet shelter is one that has 24/7 staff, it has security, it has electricity, it's going to have a kitchen ... showers and washrooms."

Mancini said the municipality had already started preparing the site, and that work has now been handed over to the province. He said he expects residents to start moving in by November, and he will hold a public meeting for residents of the area before then. 

Province bought 200 shelters

The province spent $7.5 million for 200 temporary housing units from American company Pallet. The 70-square-foot shelters are made of fibreglass and are equipped with a bed, a desk, a small storage space, and heating and cooling systems.

Nineteen shelters are operating at a site in Lower Sackville, 41 are up and running on Atlantic Street in Dartmouth, 20 in Kentville and 35 in the Whitney Pier area of Sydney.

The province had previously been in negotiations with the federal government to install Pallet shelters at Shannon Park in Dartmouth, but Maguire said that went nowhere. 

A spokesperson for his department said while the remaining 85 shelters will be split between Bancroft Lane and Clayton Park, the final details are still being worked out. 

Work underway in Clayton Park

The Clayton Park location is in Liberal MLA Rafah DiCostanzo's riding. During question period Tuesday in Province House, DiCostanzo asked Maguire about the new construction, noting that heavy machinery was at work near the Canada Games Centre.

Maguire confirmed it's the site of another Pallet shelter village, which was selected in conjunction with HRM. 

"So what happens is our staff works with staff at HRM and any municipality, quite frankly, we provide the transitional homes and we provide the wraparound services," he said. "And we've asked all municipalities across Nova Scotia if they want this."

Some of the shelter villages have been met with opposition from local residents, who have voiced concerns about safety and lack of consultation, calling for 24/7 security. 

The province has been partnering with community groups to manage the operations of Pallet shelters. Staff at the shelter villages are meant to help connect residents to addictions and mental health services, and find employment and permanent housing.

The Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia's by-name list that tracks people experiencing homelessness in Halifax showed 1,264 people needed a safe place to live as of Sept. 11.

Last month, Halifax's director of housing and homelessness said about 160 people are sleeping rough in the urban core.