City exploring development of a housing corporation

Jun 27, 2018 | 6:01 AM

The City of Grande Prairie is looking at creating a housing corporation to aid in the development of more affordable housing.

Social Development Manager Angela Sutherland says they are in the exploration stage.

“We will be taking a look at what steps are required, explore best practices from other housing corporations, and get a better understanding of what the structure of this corporation would be,” said Sutherland.

The need for this type of corporation was outlined in the city’s Affordable Housing Master Plan for 2011 to 2021.

The city will continue to look at examples from other municipalities including not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. For-profit examples that are already owned by municipalities include Epcor, Enmax, and Aquatera.

The job of the proposed corporation would be to help initiate housing projects that may not be as appealing to private developers. It would also give an opportunity to leverage Federal and Provincial funding.

Once the city decides what the corporation will look like, an application will be sent to the Minister of Municipal Affairs for review and approval.

by Justine Kelsie