The New Brunswick Housing Corp. will build 120 supportive units to help unhoused people transition back into traditional housing, according to Jill Green, the minister responsible for the Crown corporation. Green released the figure during an appearance before the legislature’s budget estimates committee and told Global News that the units are part of the government’s shift towards a housing-first approach to the province’s growing homelessness issue. “It really fits a gap that there is in the system and really a way to support unhoused individuals to move into the housing market, the rental housing market,” she said.
Supportive housing units provide 24/7 wraparound services to help people experiencing homelessness. The province has already partnered with several community-based organizations, such as the 12 Neighbours project in Fredericton and Rising Tide in Moncton. Green said that with the construction of the 120 new units by the NBHC, there will be over 400 supportive units across the province. The housing corporation’s 120 new units will be split evenly between the province’s three biggest cities. It’s expected that the first units in Moncton will be completed this summer, with the remainder opening in the fall.
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