Ground has officially been broken on a new housing project in Bruce County. “This fills a really important piece of the housing puzzle, that subsidized county housing provided by the Bruce County Housing Corporation. It meets the needs of some people who really need help finding homes in our community,” said Bruce County Warden Luke Charbonneau. The $16 million project, located in Walkerton, will be a mix of 41 affordable and market rate units. Tenants will be selected from Bruce County’s community housing waitlist, which is more than 800 people long. “41 units isn’t solving that problem, but it’s one project at a time, one unit at a time, until we meet that need,” said Charbonneau. Brockton’s Mayor calls the new housing project “workforce” housing, geared towards existing, and possibly new, low to middle income earners. “For example, there is great demand at our hospitals and long term care homes, for personal support workers (PSW). They might make a salary in the range of $28 an hour. If that’s the only source of income they have, they are definitely under stress with rent. And this type of project will be geared towards that person. So, a PSW who lands a job at Bruce Lea Haven Long Term Care Home for example, could apply to the county to be on the waiting list, and at that income level, they could qualify for a subsidized rent in this building,” said Brockton Mayor Chris Peabody. The mix of tenants concerns Walkerton business owner, Darren Holm. He believes those already on Bruce County’s nearly 1000 person community housing waitlist, should be first in line, for the new Bruce County housing project, expected to be completed by the end of 2027. “What happens to the people that are indeed challenged and are vulnerable, that have been on the list for multiple years? Are they passed over for this new population of residents?” questioned Holm. Bruce County didn’t provide the break down of how many units in the new Eastridge Community Housing Project would be affordable, and how many would be market-rate, or how tenants would be selected. Peabody says nearby this new project, 70 housing units are currently being constructed, a portion of which will be affordable, and a handful of units in the existing apartments in the Eastridge development are subsidized by the county as well. “We know there’s the need, and this isn’t the only solution. There have been other solutions we’re working on,” he said. “We’re a growing community. Every one of the municipalities in Bruce County is slated to grow. So, we have more and more people moving here wanting to live here. And we need to find places for them to be. Ultimately, we want this county to be a place where anybody can find a place to live,” said Charbonneau. Bruce Power has contributed $1 million towards the Eastridge Community Housing project. The Ontario government is also covering a multimillion-dollar portion of the construction costs. Brockton donated the land. Bruce County will build, and operate the housing complex. “It would just be really nice to have some clear cut answers on who’s paying for it, who’s going to live there, and how the whole economics of it works out. How much we as taxpayers are going to be on the hook for the initial buildout, and the ongoing operations of it,” said Holm.
