6 new accessible housing units open in Thunder Bay | CBC News

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Six new accessible housing units in Thunder Bay were officially opened on Friday, the Thunder Bay District Social Services Administration Board (TBDSSAB) said.

The new units were constructed in unused commercial space at McIvor Court on Lincoln Street.

Each of the ground-floor, wheelchair-accessible units — which are located in an existing building for tenants aged 60 and over — includes automatic doors, accessible storage, a roll-in shower and custom-designed kitchens.

A foyer area in the building has also been converted to a scooter parking/charging area and new front-load washing machines have been installed in the laundry area.

Bill Bradica, CEO of the TBDSSAB, said the new units will help reduce the agency’s wait list for housing.

“It’s great to … have six more permanent housing units available for people and to reduce our wait list,” he said. “It’s another small step towards assisting in reducing, and eventually, eliminating homelessness.”

“Our total wait list, I believe, is now under 750,” Bradica said. “That’s for the district as a whole.”

“Over the last few years, it’s slowly come down. It was around 1,000 for a couple of years.”

Bradica said the COVID-19 pandemic has affected demand.

New accessible housing units in the McIvor Court building in Thunder Bay were officially opened on Friday. A scooter parking and charging area has also been added to the building’s foyer. (TBDSSAB/Provided)

“We will see what happens as the effects of the pandemic dissipate and whether that leads to more applications,” he said. “Just because we’re also seeing, with Ontario Works, our caseload has dropped significantly.”

“Part of that is due to people that normally wouldn’t have qualified for EI did qualify for CERB,” Bradica said. “And we did have a number of people who were able to gain employment over the summer.”

“We’re expecting that the caseload will come back up, probably in the spring and so just a little cautious on saying that the wait list is down. We’re not sure that it’s going to stay at that 750 level.”

The units were funded through the TBDSSAB and the Ontario Priorities Housing Initiative (OPHI), which is a joint effort by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The OPHI contributed $750,000, while the TBDSSAB contributed $250,000.

As of Friday, five of the units had been leased, the TBDSSAB said.