Housing project at 45857 Trethewey Avenue in Chilliwack. (Image Credit: Mike Vanden Bosch)

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Chilliwack housing project

Chilliwack housing project marred by repeated delays has new anticipated opening date

Jan 29, 2026 | 10:19 AM

CHILLIWACK – A housing project on Trethewey Avenue that has seen repeated delays in construction and invoked the ire of elected officials in Chilliwack has a new anticipated opening date.

BC Housing has confirmed to Fraser Valley Today that a 91-space development featuring supportive housing units and shelter beds is slated to open this summer.

The modular development at 45857 Trethewey Avenue will consist of 91 units, including 49 supportive housing units and 42 shelter beds, and be operated by the Phoenix Housing Society. The supportive housing and the shelter spaces will be located together in one building with shared kitchen facilities, meeting areas and cultural spaces. The building will be staffed 24/7, BC Housing wrote on its website.

To better understand the project’s lengthy time frame, Chilliwack City Council rezoned the site, originally referred to as 45825, 45835, 45845 and 45855 Rowat Avenue and 45865 Trethewey Avenue, and amended Chilliwack’s Official Community Plan, on June 15, 2021. Construction began in late 2022. However, its projected time frames never materialized. As a matter of fact, the 42 shelter beds are meant to replace the long-shuttered Portal shelter at 46293 Yale Road just east of downtown Chilliwack.

“The project experienced delays due to the bankruptcy of the original construction contractor, in October 2023, with construction at approximately 60% completion,” BC Housing said in its most recent email. “Since then, BC Housing has secured a new contractor and sub-trades to address remediation and construction has resumed.”

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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. However, as noted above, the original project contractor experienced bankruptcy. 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.

During a council meeting in September 2024, upon hearing that the project had been delayed once again and was slated to open in spring 2025, Councillor Bud Mercer said the delays constitute “an embarrassment” for the provincial government.

“It’s been mishandled since day one,” Mercer said in September 2024. “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.”

Mayor Ken Popove similarly criticized the provincial government for insisting that the City of Chilliwack build a thousand housing units a year when it couldn’t seem to finish one of its own projects. During a radio segment on 89.5 JR Country in November 2024, 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.

“The province has gotta get their crap together and start creating more housing,” Popove said in November 2024. “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’s frustrating.”