$36 million for veterans, Indigenous housing (10 photos)

It’s a big step forward in housing for veterans and Indigenous people of the Sault and area.

A ceremony at the location of the now demolished old Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 building at 96 Great Northern Road - to be replaced by a new branch office and a veterans apartment building - was attended by several dignitaries Monday morning. The event included the announcement of nearly $132 million to support the construction of over 380 housing units.

Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, accompanied by Sault MP Terry Sheehan, announced that the federal government is providing - at the local level - $32.1 million in federal funding through the National Housing Co-Investment Fund (NHCF) for a new Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 location at 96 Great Northern Road.

It will include a nine-storey accessible building, including 107 units for veterans, 30 percent of which will be affordable housing units. The building will have amenities for tenants, their families, and the community, including a restaurant, meeting rooms, a hall, and a gathering place.

It was also announced that Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services will own and operate nine projects serving communities across Ontario, creating 276 affordable units to support Indigenous peoples.

Some projects will support Indigenous people who are experiencing or at risk of chronic homelessness, while others will support at-risk Indigenous youth and women and their children.

Those projects will receive nearly $87 million in federal funding through the NHCF. 

Approximately $3.7 million has been committed by the federal government and Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative bilateral agreement to build 52 units in Sault Ste. Marie.

32 of those units will come under Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services, another 20 for the Metis Nation of Ontario.

Other Indigenous housing units included in Monday’s announcement will be located in Atikokan, Marathon, White River, London, Thunder Bay, Cochrane, Kenora and Sarnia.     

“Our government is passionate about housing. We will always be a reliable, long term, predictable partner for you in Sault Ste. Marie as you tackle housing challenges faced by citizens here. We want to make sure that everyone, and I mean everyone, in Sault Ste. Marie has a safe and affordable place to call home,” Hussen said, acknowledging that the City of Sault Ste. Marie has created a task force to tackle chronic homelessness.

“It has been a pleasure working with staff from the local Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services office and with the volunteers from the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25, here in Sault Ste. Marie, along with so many other great community stakeholders, to get us here today,” said Sheehan.

Monday’s federal funding amount is accompanied by $1.9 million from Veterans Housing Ontario.

“This is a very important file. We know how important housing is in our community,” said Sault MPP Ross Romano at Monday’s gathering, indicating his pleasure that construction of the Legion’s veteran housing project is underway. 

“I want to thank the federal government for supporting the redevelopment of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 here in the Sault,” said Sault Mayor Matthew Shoemaker.

“The need for housing in our community is immense and taking underutilized properties like the Legion and making them more dense to serve the needs not only of the organization that owns it, like the Legion in this case, but also the community’s needs for additional housing and is exactly what we need to be doing more of in our community to solve our housing shortage.”

“It should come as no surprise that Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 has played a significant role in solving a need in our city. Since Branch 25 was established as the British Empire Service League in the 1920s the Legion has served our community and the interests of Sault Ste. Marie,” Shoemaker said.

“This is the site of the former Wawanosh Girls Residential School that opened in 1879 and was named after Chief Wawanosh who fought on the side of the British Empire in the War of 1812,” noted Justin Marchand, Ontario Aboriginal Housing Services CEO.

He emphasized that many Indigenous veterans have fought for Canada and acknowledged the Legion’s role in ensuring that veterans benefits were made available to them.

“Today's announcement of 276 homes right across Ontario, including 30 right here in Baawaating, also known as Sault Ste. Marie, will be very much welcomed by these households.”

“It’s important because right here in Sault Ste. Marie over two-thirds, 68 per cent of the people experiencing homelessness, are Indigenous, yet resource allocation isn’t yet reflecting the actual need that we see on the ground. Indigenous people are 11 times more likely to experience homelessness and have an incidence of need that’s higher. We can do better and must do better together,” Marchand said.

Helen Stewart, Royal Canadian Legion Branch 25 president, expressed her thanks to all veterans for their service to Canada, for federal government assistance in getting the new Legion development off the ground and to contractor Sam Biasucci, Sal-Dan Developments president. 

“Veterans will have the first call and if there are rooms left over then it’s open to the marketplace based upon the same selection criteria that we have for veterans,” said Clyde Healey, Branch 25 property development chair.

Branch 25 currently operates a temporary office at The Marconi Cultural Event Centre. 

Developer Sam Biasucci told SooToday that his contracting firm is confident the new Legion complex on Great Northern Road - with a cost of approximately $30 million - will be ready by June 2024 but is shooting to have it completed by November 2023.