Eight units expected up and open by the fall

Valemount is getting some much-needed housing units for seniors and people with disabilities, according to an announcement made earlier this month.

Construction of eight units in Valemount at 1222 3rd Ave. is planned for this summer. An additional 10 units are slated to be built in McBride.

Valemount Mayor Bob Smith called the announcement “very exciting” for the town.

“We have 13 senior housing units available right now and 15 people on the waiting list,” Smith said. “Two of those have moved to Jasper, and even with that we’re still a little shy.”

Smith said the town will have to change some zoning with the land, and that he expects the units to be “up and open by the fall.”

Prince George-Mount Robson MLA Shirley Bond and Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod announced that the units would be part of the new Seniors’ Rental Housing initiative, which will create up to 1,000 new housing units across BC.

The Seniors’ Rental Housing Initiative, expected to create nearly 800 jobs in the province, focuses on promoting partnerships with municipalities, non-profit housing providers and the private sector, and will in most cases use modular, manufactured housing construction that promotes wood product use.