ST. PAUL – The County of St. Paul, the Town of St. Paul, the Town of Elk Point, and the Summer Village of Horseshoe Bay are asking the public to attend the first of its community engagement process to develop a regional housing strategy.
ISL Engineering is conducting the project on behalf of the municipalities.
The goal of the project is to understand the “current housing situation in each community and the [St. Paul] region as a whole, and develop an action plan accordingly,” reads information from Regional Housing Strategy’s website.
Part of that project is the “Let’s Talk Housing!” community workshops that will be held on Feb. 5 at the St. Paul Recreation Centre from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., and at the Elk Point Pioneer Centre on Feb. 6 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Hanna Thai, community engagement strategist at ISL Engineering, said there will be no type of a formal presentation during the workshops. “It’s a drop-in event,” she said. “People can come and go depending on their availability.”
There will be display boards that indicate the project’s background and what it is all about, she added.
Council members from each of the four municipalities will also be present.
The workshops are part of the first phase of the project, which involves conducting a housing needs assessment to understand the barriers and opportunities residents face in accessing different types of housing, said Nathalia Schwind, community planner with ISL Engineering.
“We want to know people’s . . . experiences with housing situations that they may want to share with us,” and how those experiences impacted them, she explained.
The public is also encouraged to share their perspective on how housing could be improved, and how the four municipalities could best provide their support.
ISL will be conducting a survey as part of the project from Feb. 3 to Feb. 21, with the workshops serving as opportunities “to talk to people face to face,” said Schwind.
“You sometimes get some insights from that type of interaction that you can't get from a piece of paper,” she explained.
Schwind encourages all members of the public in the region to come out because, “Housing is an issue that touches everyone.” People may have different types of housing needs. But “We all need housing.”
“We want to make sure, through this project, that we capture a wide range of needs and opportunities across the housing continuum,” which includes anything from temporary housing arrangements to ownership, said Schwind. “So, it is very important for us to have every member of the community present.”
Thai agreed. “Housing is not just homeowners. It includes renters,” people who may be facing homelessness, or “people who need supportive housing [like] seniors,” she said.
For people who are unable to attend the workshops, Thai said there will still be other engagement opportunities down the road, in addition to the survey the ISL is conducting.
“This is really just about getting a big picture . . . of what our community needs,” said Thai.
The second phase of the project, planned for later in 2025, will involve developing a comprehensive regional housing strategy based on the findings from the first phase.
