Canadian military aware of housing concerns on Vancouver Island
The Canadian Armed Forces is not immune to the housing crunch on Vancouver Island.
In an email dated May 5, a senior officer at 19 Wing Comox told other military members that Habitat for Humanity may be able to help members with housing in the region.
"Further to our discussion this morning, one potential housing option for our folks is Habitat for Humanity," reads the email.
"Should this be of interest to any of your personnel, please have them review the information located here."
The military has been quick to point out that the email was suggesting Habitat for Humanity as just one resource for military members to consider if they are having trouble finding housing on the Mid-Island.
Defence Minister Anita Anand was in Saanich, B.C., on Tuesday to announce Canada's continued support of Ukrainian war efforts.
While there, Anand said that the federal government was looking to support military members, and that it was putting forward an interim relocation policy.
"In terms of military members and their families who make incredible sacrifices to serve Canada, we will continue to take steps to ensure they are supported," she said.
'THOUGHT IT WAS A JOKE'
The owner of a Comox Valley real estate firm says while the market is the tightest he's seen in his 44 years in the industry, he was quite surprised to hear the Habitat for Humanity idea.
"I honestly thought it was a joke," said Gregg Hart, managing broker and owner of Comox Valley Royal LePage.
"You know, Habitat for Humanity is for those people who have a very low income," he said. "It's a charity-based thing and [participants] put in hours of work to benefit from it. So I was very surprised."
Other bases on Vancouver Island are also seeing wait lists for military-owned housing.
Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt has 709 residential housing units, with 193 people registered on a priority-one waitlist, and 492 more people on a priority-two waitlist.
The priority-one waitlist is reserved for regular military members, reserve force members who are employed full time on at least a six-month contract, or foreign military or exchange personnel.
Priority-one also means these applicants have been authorized to move to a new location at public expense.
The priority-two waitlist is for regular military members or reserve members employed full-time for at least six months who live in the area but have applied for military housing, including members who are currently living in military housing but who wish to change units due to family size.
Priority two applicants are not considered until all priority one applicants have been accommodated, according to the Department of National Defence.
Approximately 15 per cent of all armed forces personnel live in military residential housing, according to the DND.
With files from The Canadian Press
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.