Peterborough’s City Hall returned from the holiday break on the evening of January 6th to convene for General Committee. Hot on the agenda was the approval of up to 16 additional modular housing units located at 210 Wolfe Street following the recent December 13th announcement of two new funding programs from Ontario’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) aiming to support municipal housing initiatives. 

The Encampment Response Initiative is designed to help municipalities expand or develop accommodations for unhoused people through temporary structures or shelters with the goal of providing “urgent housing solutions.”

Similarly, the Last Mile Funding Program aims to accelerate affordable housing projects already in the works that align with the Canada-Ontario Community Housing Initiative, like the Wolfe Street Modular Bridge Program. 

In the report presented to council, both programs the City applied to over the holiday break emphasizes “accountability” for municipalities to provide an effective strategy for aiding homelessness, building safe housing, and improving public safety.  

The modular bridge program located at 210 Wolfe Street was first proposed to council in May of 2023 as a temporary pilot project and broke ground in December that same year with 50 modular units. In the project’s six month operational update, it was reported that there was a 90% reduction in service calls compared to the previous homeless encampment that stood on the lot prior to the modular units. 

In August of 2024, The City of Peterborough was awarded the Municipal Innovation Award from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario for the successful implementation of the transitional housing project. 

While the success of this project is undeniable, Peterborough’s growing homeless population exceeds the capacity at Wolfe Street, and the cold weather adds a layer of desperation to aid individuals without shelter in the winter months. Many councillors, however, have continued to voice strong opposition to the location of the modular units which operate in a residential area, and a deep frustration with the lack of provincial and federal funding in aiding the homeless population. 

Though the funding for up to 16 additional units is not yet guaranteed as the City awaits government approval, the discussion during the night’s meeting still saw some councillors vote against this application on the basis of the controversial location and lack of funds.

Leaders in this project’s origin, councillors and co-chairs of Housing and Homelessness Kieth Riel and Alex Bierk led the conversations by asking councillors who thought about voting against this motion to bring forward another solution to tackle this growing issue. 

Councillor Joy Lachica added to the discussion in recognizing the dangers of the dropping temperatures, but asked City Commissioner Sheldon Laidman if the funding could be used to build units elsewhere outside of the Wolfe Street plot. 

In response, Laidman said that the capital funding applied for Wolfe Street was based on the rationale that the funding needed to be spent before March 31, and the only “realistic” opportunity to do so would be the currently operational units at Wolfe Street. 

“Another element to this is there is no operational funding going along with this, it’s only capital, so we have to hatch it to us,” he added, saying that any satellite sites to go alongside Wolfe Street would be “realistically impossible” to achieve in the timeline afforded to council.

Lachica, who had been an avid supporter of Wolfe Street since its proposal, ultimately voted against the motion to receive the funding on the basis that council promised the units would be temporary, transitional, and that only 50 dwellers would be living on the lot. 

“I’m very concerned that we’re not addressing the strategy for Housing First, and that we need to be scaffolding our approach and be providing that next level of supportive housing to those who are ready for it,” she said, adding that this needs to be a “whole city endeavour” and to consider satellite locations to ease the struggles that may arise in the surrounding area.

Councillor Bierk who moved the motion spoke to the horseshoe table about the growing intensity this city faces, stating his favour for the funding “because it seems like an obvious decision to make.”

“We have 357 people within our data that are unhoused, and we only have 127 shelter beds,” he said. “We have a growing concern of encampments that are being set up with people having to sleep and live outside during the extreme cold that we’re experiencing. What this plan is offering us is a solution to give 16 people warmth, support, food, and access to support.”

Speaking against this motion as well was councillor Dave Haacke who has been avid in his opposition to Wolfe Street. Haacke shared his concerns over the lack of operational feasibility with these funding streams in not providing operational funding for projects, stating that “if the government came along and said, ‘we're going to cover your operations’, I might change my mind.”

“I haven't supported Wolfe Street before, and it's not because I don't appreciate what people are going through, but we told them it was temporary, and it's not. We've told them we wouldn't expand it now we are, so it goes to credibility, and it's mixed emotions for me,” he told council, adding that he still believes the modular units are not in an appropriate location. 

A major challenge in the transition out of Wolfe Street is the lack of available transitional housing within the city, a concern councillor Kevin Duguay brought up during the meeting.

“Potentially as a consequence [of the 16 units], having to provide some additional supportive housing concerns me from a financial perspective and lens, because we’re on our own—the city is carrying this rate…we are in a very difficult spot” he said, adding that council also has a responsibility as a council and community to find solutions for people who desperately need this type of housing. 

In response to the temporary proposal of the modular units, councillor Kieth Riel stated simply that “times change.”

“We have a proven track record, we’ve proven we can do it,” he said. “There is 50 of them on Rubidge and Reid Street right now looking to be housed. I'm not going to sit here and try to convince you of what you think is right and wrong, the right thing is to house people.”

Similarly, Councillor Gary Baldwin said this motion is a battle between “my head and my heart,” but ultimately voted in favour. 

In the end, the motion narrowly passed 6-5 with councillors Leslie Parnell, Dave Haacke, Andrew Beamer, Joy Lachica, and Don Vassiliadis voting against.