The Metis Nation — Saskatchewan (MN-S) has started construction on barrier free apartments in Prince Albert that will help put Metis families in a stable and safe housing position.
The MN-S hosted a special ground breaking ceremony on Wednesday at the rent-to-own location in Prince Albert. The units will include two and three bedroom apartments with no basements.
“It feels great being here today,” MN-S President Glen McCallum said. “This is a great program and I hope we can continue building on this and other programs in other places not just for us here today but for the future generations.”
Prince Albert city officials who were present included Mayor Bill Powalinsky who expressed his happiness in the development.
“One of the biggest gaps in the market right now is a transition from supported housing to affordable housing,” Powalinsky said. “This is going to make a big impact in that area, so I just can’t say enough to the government of The Metis Nation Saskatchewan for putting up this development.”
The project is estimated to cost more than $6 million and will be completed before December.
The planning for this development started nine years ago, but several factors delayed the project, like getting the needed resources, moving forward with discussions with the federal government as well as the cities where the buildings will be located.
“It took a while but we are getting there, (and) getting to the point where we can deliver on the housing units,” McCallum said. “The housing project should be completed in November.”
McCallum expressed satisfaction over the cordial relationship between the Metis Nation and the city. He said this housing unit will have a positive impact on the city and the members of the community.
“It means a lot to the people,” McCallum said. “If you look around you can see the excitement, even now in the cold weather like this, to be able to have the Mayor show up to be able to have senior citizens and elders to show up, to be able to see the blessings of the ground and starting to build pretty soon.”
“I am a product of not having a home,” he added. “I got my own home not very long ago and it’s a very good feeling to be able to have projects like this for people in Prince Albert. It will be amazing for the people that will be applying to be able to have their own homes.”
McCallum added that there will be other housing projects of this nature so as to ensure the number of homeowners keeps increasing. Currently the applications for the homes have not started yet as modalities have not been concluded on a number of issues. But once those benchmarks are concluded, applications will be received and processed at Ma Faamii building in the middle of summer.
“Eighteen is a very good number to be able to do something here in Prince Albert,” said the MN-S president. “This is the first, there’s more to be done.
“The federal government is very keen on capitalizing on opportunities where we can complement the cities and the communities of this province to be able to build these units and how we develop those programs and cater for the needs of our people as per affordable units.”
“We are doing the full concept plan with different phases,” said Mathieu Gaudet, Director of Housing and Homelessness for the MN-S. “Right now we are working on the 18 housing units and elders lodge coming in the near future but after that we are still developing other concepts and consulting on others.
“These specific ones are market ready so working Metis families are the kind we are targeting. They are rent to own so eventually we hope that they can secure a conventional mortgage, (and) down payment but definitely we are not done figuring the complete program yet. We are hoping to release that middle of summer and after that start accepting applications.”
He added that “We can confidently say that compared to a conventional 25 year mortgage, citizens will save about $200,000 by renting with us and going through our rental program.”
Gaudet also added that the Ma Faamii Building will remain the focal point for sharing information and contacting officers on the program and other related issues once the building is completed.
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