Guelph group seeks vacant land for tiny home pilot project

A Guelph, Ont., group is looking for a small parcel of land in the city to create a tiny home community before the snow flies again later this year.

Liz Hales, a founding member of the Guelph Tiny Home Coalition, said members of the group were distraught this past winter seeing people living in tents the city's downtown core and knowing there were other encampments.

The non-profit organization is looking for vacant land up to one hectare as part of a housing pilot project. The goal is to have 30 to 50 tiny homes on the site.

"There will be a shared community kitchen, a shared living space and some shower and laundry facilities," Hales said. "It will also be staffed, so there will be 24-hour support."

She added the ideal land being would be at a location that has bus route access. 

Hales said the group heard from people who might use the tiny home community that they don't want to be directly in the downtown, but they do want to be close to it.

"There's lots of risk for folks who are involved in various situations that increase their risk to their personal safety —whether it's drug use, whether it's crime to support drug use. So being away from that may be something that people are looking for," she said.

The coalition formed in January and Hales said it's mostly made up of concerned residents who have the ability to help the cause. Hales is also a public health provider who works in safe supply. 

The tiny home program would not be free and people who live there would be expected to contribute the shelter portion of their Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program payments to help cover the operating expenses.

For construction to be complete by the fall, all interested landowners are asked to contact the coalition by April 26. 

City also seeking land

The project by the coalition is not the same as one being undertaken by the City of Guelph.

At the end of March, the city made a similar request to private landowners, asking them to consider donating land that could be used for a temporary encampment. 

James Goodram, Guelph's general manager of economic development and tourism, told CBC News at the time that the city was reviewing municipally owned lands, but also knew there might be interest from private property owners. He said the city would want the land to be donated for three years or more.

Goodram said no decisions have been made about where a temporary encampment could potentially go; the city is simply "casting that net far and wide" to gauge interest.

Hales said the coalition believes the two projects are "compatible."

"We have been in conversation with the city. We've kept them abreast of what we're doing from day one and we're certainly interested in some municipal lands. If there's anything that might be suitable for this project, we're working with them," she said.

Hales said she also understands there can be a stigma surrounding the unsheltered community, but the only way to grow is to learn. 

"We realize that there will be people that will not want this in their community, so we're going to do our best to figure out how to bring communities on board, how to have open conversations with people and to really involved the greater community," she said.

"This could be a great reflection of the humanity that I believe we all have. A community like Guelph, I don't think we can have people unhoused and sleeping on the street, and I don't think anybody wants that."