PIB hopes for housing funds

Photo: Colton Davies

The chief of the Penticton Indian Band acknowledged there is a need in their community for money to help build affordable housing, following newly-announced housing funds by the province specifically for First Nations.

"Right now, with a lot of our people, there's two or three families living in a house. And 60 per cent of our members are living [outside] the reserve," Chief Chad Eneas said.

"For our members, we really want to focus on trying to make something available for them."

The province announced on Monday a new Indigenous housing fund, with plans to spend $550 million in the next 10 years to build and operate 1,750 social housing units for First Nations residents — built both on and off First Nations lands.

Eneas said the PIB has had some dialogue with potential partners on affordable housing projects, and added the band has looked into the option of building tiny homes.

But he said the band is in a "grey area" regarding Monday's announcement by the province.

"A lot of times the [financial] responsibility lies with the federal government," he said. "It's just an ongoing challenge. The way banking works for on-reserve and off-reserve kind of contributes to it."

"Being realistic, with the cost of infrastructure, there's not enough funding for reserves across Canada to meet the needs of the membership for housing."

It's unclear how much funding the PIB could receive from the province's new fund.