Tiny home and tiny shelter villages are popping up across Canada
Finding ways to house the people who are without homes
Marcel LeBrun’s 12 Neighbours tiny home community in Fredericton, New Brunswick, got a great write up in Maclean’s magazine. The story explains that he was inspired after hearing Rick Tobias, who ran the Yonge Street Mission in Toronto for 23 years, speak at Inspire Justice in Halifax in 2015.
Asked what advice he’d give to someone starting out in advocacy work, Tobias said: “My advice is: maybe you shouldn’t do all the things that we’ve been doing. Maybe you have to come up with some smarter approaches.” So LeBrun spent time looking all over North America to find out what was working before settling on a housing first approach in Fredericton. There is a similar endeavour in Kitchener, Ontario.
As housing becomes ever more expensive in Canada, tiny home villages are one of the solutions that have popped up, and many of them seem to be focused on providing community as well as housing. The story mentioned a few other examples, and I thought that I would search to see if there were any more. This is what I found:
Winnipeg, Manitoba:
Twenty-two colourful apartment units form a circle, around a sacred fire, in Winnipeg's first tiny home village for homeless people. Astum Api Niikinaahk—or “come sit at our home” in Michif, a Métis language—has a medicine room, complete with drying sage.
“We’ve created, hopefully, homes for folks who are going to start their healing journey, or (are) midway in their healing journey and just need a little support,” said Melissa Stone, co-ordinator for the project formerly known as The Village.
After years of development, the first residents moved in during December 2022.
Vancouver, British Columbia
A collection of 10 single-room tiny shelter structures on a former parking lot on a city-owned property on Terminal Avenue is being operated by the indigenous-led non-profit Lu’ma Native Housing Society. The two-year pilot project is Vancouver’s first experiment with “tiny” structures.
The single 100-square-foot room units are fully insulated, with electricity, heat, air conditioning, and hardwired fire-safety devices. Shared toilets, showers, and cooking facilities are in the adjacent building, which has operated since 2021 as an 80-bed congregate shelter.
Residents can stay as long as they want, said Lu’ma’s executive director Kevin Eaton, but the goal is to help them stabilize while they address health problems and try to find more suitable long-term housing. The tiny shelters are designed to be shared by two residents, such as a couple, or an adult-child-and-parent duo.
Victoria, BC
In Victoria, the city partnered with a local developer and homelessness coalition to raise $500,000 and construct 30 single-person units out of shipping containers. They were placed in a city-owned parking lot in the North Park neighbourhood, painted by muralists, and fitted with a bed, mini-fridge, desk and wardrobe. The village opened in May 2021 and was set to close in 2023, when residents would be transitioned to a permanent BC Housing site.
Duncan, BC
A 34-unit shipping container village, constructed on an unused lot owned by BC Housing and outfitted with simple furnishings, opened in January 2022. It has shared washroom and storage facilities, communal areas and gardens. The village was supported by around-the-clock service providers, with residents offered meals, mental health and addictions support and pathways to low-barrier employment.
Mayor Michelle Staples said the community has done wonders for the residents of the 34 units. “People are becoming employed there. They’re stabilizing once they’re on site,” Staples said. “People are accessing health care for the first time, like really serious health care like hip replacements and things that you can’t get if you’re you know if you don’t have an address, and you don’t have a place to go after your surgery. People are accessing recovery programs and detox.”
The Village also has benefited the neighbourhood as a whole. “The calls for service from the RCMP went down 18 per cent in the first quarter after the site was open,” she said.
Port Alberni, BC
The first 20 residents moved into Walyaqil Tiny Home Village in October 2023. Twenty pods are equipped with single beds, a desk, storage, lighting, Wi-Fi, heating, ventilation and fire alarms, and the site has laundry, showers and toilets, bicycle parking and an outdoor gathering area.
While Walyaqil is designed to be temporary housing, Port Alberni Friendship Center executive director Cyndi Stevens sees it as a transition to increased independence. The site will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by the Port Alberni Friendship Center. Health and wellness support, life-skills training and culturally appropriate services for Indigenous Peoples will be offered, and the Salvation Army will provide up to three meals per day for residents.
The project, a first for Port Alberni, aims to address the need for safe and secure housing for vulnerable individuals. It was a collaborative effort between the Friendship Center, BC Housing, City of Port Alberni and the Housing Task Force that includes Tseshaht, Hupacasath, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and other community partner agencies.
Kelowna, BC
A vacant city-owned lot in the North End industrial neighbourhood is being converted into a 60-unit tiny home village. Kelowna announced the project in November 2023.
The supportive housing units will each be 60 square feet and contain a bed, a dresser and access to a communal bathroom and kitchen facilities. The single and double-occupancy units are made by a company in Washington state and can be assembled in under an hour.
A non-profit organization will provide meals and skills training to help residents navigate the housing system, according to the city.
Construction is expected to be completed in early 2024, according to the city, with a second 60-unit modular housing project to follow at a different location.
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Governments and the private sector are building the first tiny home community in Nova Scotia, to help people experiencing homelessness in Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). It will be built on surplus land owned by the HRM in Lower Sackville. The pilot community will have 52 units, providing housing for about 62 people.
Rent will be geared to income, so rent will be no more than 30% of a person’s income. Community residents will be selected from the HRM By Name List and will receive wraparound support to help them connect to employment and more permanent housing.
It is anticipated that 30 units will be complete by spring 2024, and people will be in them next summer. The community will be complete by fall 2024. If successful, similar communities may be created in other areas of HRM and across the province.
Tiny homes for military veterans
Tiny homes are making a big difference for Canadian military veterans living on the streets, says the Homes for Heroes Foundation. It launched its first Veterans Village in Calgary in 2019 and another in north Edmonton in 2021. It plans to open similar villages in Kingston, Ontario, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2024.
The $4 million Atco Veterans Village in Edmonton has 20 tiny homes, each with a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living area. The village has a resources centre for community gatherings. It's also a place to connect with Veterans Affairs, mental health services and other health-care professionals. More than 20 residents have graduated through its programs, finding permanent housing and jobs. Others have opted to return to school.
I didn't realize how many of these experiments were happening. Thank you for the good news! It will be interesting to see the comparisons to learn which variations work best in a few years.