City taking over social housing units from Greater Sudbury Housing Corporation

The City of Sudbury is taking over the operation and administration of 1,848 social housing units, previously operated by the Greater Sudbury Housing Corporation (GSHC).

The change was necessary, as funding from the province has decreased over time, says Sudbury's manager of housing services, Cindi Briscoe.

The GSHC will continue to act as a holding company, but the city will now be in charge of service delivery.

The corporation was created in 2001 after the province shifted responsibility for social housing to municipalities.

Briscoe says the goal is to be more efficient.

"The scale has tipped, in that the municipal tax levy is now funding more of our social housing envelope. Therefore, we're trying to create some backroom efficiencies," she said, listing working with purchasing bylaws and city financials, as some of those efficiencies.

Right now, anyone applying for social housing must go to the housing services office at 199 Larch Street, but current tenants must go to the GSHC offices at 10 Elm Street.

"Our hope is that we'll be able to have everyone, at some point in time, under one roof. Making that a little easier for folks. If they're coming over to this building, they'll be able to access multiple services in one building," Briscoe said.

She added that day-to-day operations will continue in the meantime.

The change removes a level of administration for the GSHC, meaning any large decision has to be approved first by its board of directors, and then by the city's service manager.

The transition, which is expected to take up to a year, won't have an impact on tenants.

There will also be no layoffs for employees of the GSHC.