Dorm housing proposed for Vancouver's homeless

The City of Vancouver should consider building dormitory-style housing to help get people off the street, say the Non-Partisan Association's councillors.

The NPA, which controls city council, says the 100-square-foot units with shared amenities would cost about $50,000 each. Traditional social housing units ranging up to 400 square feet, with their own bathrooms and kitchens, cost about $200,000 each.

NPA Councillor Kim Capri said Monday the smaller units could serve as transitional homes until more spacious accommodation could be found.

"We're actually learning about different models that are saying people can actually live comfortably with smaller sizes, depending on how you build."

'Bad for people's health'

But Coun. Heather Deal of the opposition Vision Vancouver party says there's nowhere for people to be moved to from the dormitory units.

"We can't continue to build transitional housing unless we're building the housing that they can transition into," she said.

"And to put this sort of resources into keeping people in very small spaces with shared washrooms, that we know are bad for people's health, that we know are bad for women, I'm not sure that this is where our emphasis should be."

Deal said the city should be working more closely with the provincial government to develop 19 building lots available for low-income housing.

Capri said the NPA is working with the province on that, but the dorm solution would get people off the streets faster.