Marine House in downtown Dartmouth to be turned into affordable housing

A former Government of Canada building will become an apartment complex in Dartmouth, N.S.

The federal government has announced the sale of a building in downtown Dartmouth, N.S., to be used for Indigenous-led affordable housing.

Marine House has been sold to the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society in partnership with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation under the Federal Lands Initiative.

The initiative transfers and leases surplus federal lands and buildings to eligible applicants for redevelopment into affordable, sustainable, accessible and socially inclusive housing.

The building will include at least 61 units after it is redeveloped.

“This project is a consequential development for community members in a key central location that also provides connectivity to more than 60 wrap-around programs offered by the Society. With the potential to affordably house over 200 individuals, Marine House will support social and economic inclusion for each resident,” said Pam Glode-Desrochers, the executive director of the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship and Wije’winen Centre, in a Thursday news release.

The federal government says half of the units will be affordable, costing less than 80 per cent of the average market rent.

The building will also include space for the various support services provided by the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society.

It’s expected people can start living in the building by February 2027.

Marine House is a six-storey building built in 1984 and purchased by Public Services and Procurement Canada in 2002 and declared a surplus in 2022.

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