Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / A picture of a new 91-bed supportive housing building Thursday morning (Nov. 14) in Chilliwack. Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove is expressing frustration over the repeated delays associated with the building.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove

Mayor Popove challenges B.C. govt. over housing targets when it can’t seem to finish its own project

Nov 14, 2024 | 10:31 AM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove called out the provincial government Thursday morning for its apparent hypocrisy in demanding that Chilliwack build thousands of housing units the next five years, but can’t seem to finish a new supportive housing building that was supposed to open nearly three years ago.

Popove made the remarks in his weekly “Ask the Mayor” segment on 89.5 JR Country with Morning show host Glen Slingerland. Popove and Slingerland typically discuss a wide array of public issues affecting Chilliwack, the Fraser Valley and the province.

In April 2024, the British Columbia government named another 20 cities and towns as priority communities for housing targets over the next five years, according to the Canadian Press. The B.C. government said in a statement the communities are located in high-growth, high-need regions of the province. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the goal is to complement work those cities are already doing while they implement recent provincial legislative changes to build more homes. The government says it will monitor the progress of the 20 communities and set out targets this summer for housing growth, of which Chilliwack is included.

However, a B.C. government-funded supportive housing building under construction on Trethewey Avenue about one block west of Shandhar Hut is way behind schedule.

During Thursday’s radio segment, Mayor Popove was speaking about damage to a public restroom primarily used by street people, and expressed frustration over the lack of housing for unhoused Chilliwack residents.

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“The province has gotta get their crap together and start creating more housing,” Popove said. “We have a project that’s almost 3 years behind and they’re putting targets on us to build a thousand houses a year. You guys gotta get your crap together and look after your own stuff that you’ve set in motion. It just gets me going. It’s frustrating.”

This supportive housing building was supposed to open in fall 2023 and later, spring 2024, but it’s been delayed. According to comments from Chilliwack Mayor Ken Popove and city employee Karen Stanton at a September 2024 council meeting, a new 91-unit housing building that will offer complex care services and other wraparound services for clients has been delayed to spring 2025.

“We have been advised fairly recently in the last month that they are working towards a March [2025] completion date,” Stanton told councillors at that meeting.

Mayor Popove said the holdup can be attributed to litigation between the two contractors that went bankrupt during construction.

“When they fully get through litigation, maybe they can do a 24/7 on that and get that built,” Popove said at the September 2024 meeting, adding that a letter has been sent to Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon about the matter. “I have heard nothing back from him. I don’t expect to hear either.”

Councillor Bud Mercer said at the same meeting the delays constitute “an embarrassment” for the provincial government.

“It’s been mishandled since day one,” Mercer said. “It’s becoming an eyesore, and it’s going to continue to cost the taxpayers even more money as it lags. The province sits in a cesspool of bureaucracy.”

Back in September 2023, Tim Chamberlin, senior communications advisor for BC Housing, said the new supportive housing building and shelter at 45857 Trethewey Avenue was projected to open in spring 2024.

It previously had an opening date of fall 2023.

“Construction was initially expected to complete this past summer but it experienced a delay due to supply chain issues, including a delay of critical electrical components,” Chamberlin wrote in his September 2023 email to Fraser Valley Today.

The project will provide 49 supportive homes and 42 permanent shelter spaces for people at risk of, and experiencing, homelessness, Chamberlin said in his email. The 49 supportive homes include up to 22 complex care housing spaces for vulnerable people who need a level of support that goes beyond the current housing model, Chamberlin wrote.

Phoenix Society will operate the building and provide housing residents and shelter guests with daily meals, life and employment skills training, health and wellness support services, and culturally appropriate supports for Indigenous residents. The complex care housing services will be delivered by Fraser Health in partnership with the Phoenix Society.

The building will have a common outdoor amenity area featuring a landscaped area, a sweat lodge, and rooftop deck.

Jamie Leggatt, director of communications for the City of Chilliwack, indicated in February 2023 that BC Housing had advised city staff at that time that the building would be completed and open in the fall 2023.

Chilliwack City Council approved the issuance of a development permit for four properties on Rowat Avenue and one property on Trethewey Avenue at its meeting on August 16, 2022, for the purpose of building this supportive housing development.