Tiny homes popping up across the country as temporary housing

You’re about to see the words “tiny home community” pop up more often in your news feed.

That’s because quick-built fully-functional tiny homes are being embraced by municipal governments as a solution to “help bridge the gap between encampments and affordable housing”.

Municipal governments are building mini-neighbourhoods of tiny homes to offer a housing solution to people experiencing homelessness and those currently living in makeshift tent encampments.

In Sarnia, ON, the issue of a tiny home community for those in need is at the top of the council agenda. Sarnia Coun. Anne Marie Gillis proposed the motion because “there is a disconnect between having enough money to have an apartment and being on the street”.

Kelowna, BC has now opened at least two tiny home communities for this purpose. “For those who have experienced the uncertainties and challenges associated with homelessness, the act of moving into STEP Place signifies far more than a change of location,” said city spokesperson Colleen Cornock.

“It is the start of a new chapter in their lives and will act as a springboard towards brighter, more stable, futures.”

Lower Sackville, NS is the latest to join this trend, opening the door to its first tiny home community of supportive housing with 60 units already installed.

Many more municipalities are wrestling with the idea. Peterborough, ON, presents a telling example of a city that, after dramatic back and forth, finally shelved the idea of a tiny home community citing lack of sufficient consultation and not a rigorous enough search for alternative locations. Businesses local to the initial location were opposed to the proposal.

Read more about these communities:

Tiny homes and encampment protocol top Monday’s city council meeting – The Sarnia Journal

Zoning change for tiny home project officially shot down (thepeterboroughexaminer.com)

Tiny homes to open in Lower Sackville, N.S. (ctvnews.ca)

Tiny homes community for homeless in Kelowna officially opens – Okanagan | Globalnews.ca