Construction begins on transitional housing project in Sudbury

Housing project breaks ground in Sudbury On Thursday there was a ground-breaking ceremony for the Lorraine Street transitional housing project in Greater Sudbury.

On Thursday there was a ground-breaking ceremony on a transitional housing project in Sudbury.

The build is funded by the city and the federal government and officials said it will fill gaps related to the housing shortage, opioid crisis and homelessness.

The future site of the 40-unit transitional housing residential building is on Lorraine Street. Officials said it will support vulnerable people with wrap-around services for addictions and mental health.

"They can't do it alone right?" said Mayor Paul Lefebvre.

Lefebvre said the goal was to address the issue of vulnerable people being placed into housing, only to lose it shortly thereafter because they were not well enough to keep it.

“So it was a vicious cycle now we are trying to break that cycle with this investment and this new building,” he said.

The project was controversial, with neighbours vehemently opposing the location, but it was still approved by council in August 2022.

So far, the project is on budget.

"The budget is just under $12 million,” said Cindi Briscoe, the city’s manager of housing services.

“It is a modular build so it's going to be one of the first or second in our community. I believe the school of architecture was the first. And we are hoping to have occupancy by the end of December.”

The federal government made a $7-million contribution.

"We have heard a lot from constituents who are very concerned about the state of homelessness (and) the opioid crisis (in) our downtown," said Sudbury Liberal MP Viviane Lapointe.

“We know that there is a lot of people who want to make that change. So this kind of funding helps that very vulnerable community.”

Lapointe and Lefebvre said they expect to make more affordable housing announcements this summer through the federal government's rapid housing funding.