Halifax calls on province to open new winter homeless shelter as temperature dips

As the weather starts to cool, Halifax municipal staff are looking into how to support people dealing with homelessness through the winter months.

While provincial projects like more individual Pallet shelters and a tiny home community are expected to make a significant impact, HRM's director of housing and homelessness said those spaces likely won't be enough.

"We are looking at how many of these new options can be structured for the people who are sleeping rough, and for those that won't fit into there, can we create a different indoor sheltering option?" Max Chauvin said Monday.

He said Halifax would like to see a new winter shelter, similar to the one at the Halifax Forum, but "laid out a little differently would be our hope." There were complaints when the Forum shelter first opened that it lacked privacy and security.

In a presentation Monday to the municipality's accessibility advisory committee, Chauvin said there are about 140 to 150 people sleeping rough in designated homeless encampments or other areas. 

Municipal data shows people with disabilities and health concerns are overrepresented in the numbers of people sleeping outside.

Chauvin said communal shelter options like the Forum or Metro Turning Point are well used and often nearly full. He said on a recent night, he knew of only two shelter spots available in the municipality.

The goal is to have no one sleeping outside this winter, Chauvin said, but the reality is that will likely still happen. He said if that's the case, the municipality will consider providing electricity and winter camping gear to people at the designated encampment sites.

Tiny home village to house 70 people: HRM

Chauvin said a much-anticipated tiny home village in Lower Sackville will welcome people in phases through October and then December. He said there will be 60 homes with 10 designated for couples, accommodating about 70 people.

The province has also spent $7.5 million for 200 temporary housing units from American company Pallet. The 70-square-foot shelters are made of fibreglass and are equipped with a bed, a desk, a small storage space, and heating and cooling systems. 

Within the Halifax area, 19 Pallet shelters are operating at a site in Lower Sackville, and 41 aimed at seniors are up and running on Atlantic Street in Dartmouth. The province has said 85 more will be split between two sites in the coming months — near Burnside and in Clayton Park — but have not said exactly when they will open.

"Those are initiatives of the province, so we're working with them [and asking] 'Where can we go? What's out there?'" Chauvin said.

The Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia's by-name list that tracks people experiencing homelessness in Halifax showed 1,285 people needed a safe place to live as of Oct. 2.