Report to Council – November 23, 2021

During a report to Council on November 23, 2021, City of Greater Sudbury staff provided options for indoor shelter and housing solutions as outlined in the Greater Sudbury Encampment Response Guidelines.

• Council recommended that staff work with a local non-profit to set up a temporary nine-bed low barrier emergency shelter for women.
• The City will invest $100,000 annually for:

• flex funds to support persons wishing to relocate, return to home communities for family reunification, or for situations that cannot be easily resolved by existing funding sources.
• continued use of motels as bridge housing, as people wait to get into housing units.

• The City will invest $200,000 annually for a master lease to a private landlord of up to 20 units that can be assigned as housing for existing housing support programs, such as the Homelessness Network. Included in the master lease would be funding as a discretionary amount to be used as a damages fund to recruit landlords. A public purchasing process will be used to seek large property owners in the community.
• Council agreed to the continued allocation of housing allowances to the Housing First program to meet affordability gaps ($150,000 annually – already annualized in existing funding).
• Council agreed to the renovation of an additional 10 two-bedroom social housing units to one-bedroom units to meet demand ($80,000 – one time).

Staff will implement the above noted programs and will provide a progress report back to Council in early 2022.