BC Housing extends lease on former Mount Tolmie Hospital

BC Housing has extended its lease on the former Mount Tolmie Hospital in Saanich, where 42 people are sheltering until more permanent housing spaces become available.

The lease was set to expire in June 2022, but now the shelter space has been secured until Dec. 31, 2022.

The extension gives BC Housing more time to prepare more than 190 permanent housing spaces that are expected to become available next year, as well as “develop housing plans for the people that have been living at Mount Tolmie and other sites,” according to Heidi Hartman, BC Housing’s executive director of supportive housing and homelessness.

BC Housing says the former hospital is working well as a shelter, and some of its clients have requested space in the Cedar Hill Cross Road area, to get away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Victoria.

“It was designed and built to support people, so it’s working very well,” said Hartman. “It has a courtyard in the centre with a garden and private area, so it really does work well.”

“A couple people folks have moved onto permanent housing and that just speaks to the fact that they are settling in,” she added.

BC Housing says more than 190 permanent units are set to open at four locations across the capitol region next year.

“There’s one in Saanich, on Albina. There’s one out in Central Saanich on Prosser Road. We have a site in the City of Victoria on Meares Street, and also on Yates Street and Catherine,” said Hartman.

“Those are permanent housing. They’re modular-built, but they are permanent.”