According to a Housing Needs Assessment Report released by the city, there is a gap in affordable housing. The 2017 report provides information about the housing market in Lloydminster, as well as the issues in the type of housing available.
“Being able to pull all that information together to give us the big picture in the city and the needs we have, which we haven’t had,” says Councillor Michael Diachuk. “As we look at doing the downtown area reconstruction plan, as we look at the seniors housing and other needs we have in the city. This allows us to put it all together in one package.”
The report based on 2016 census data from Statistics Canada suggests that 20 per cent of housing was unaffordable in 2016. Also, 525 households were not properly housed meaning that there was not a sufficient number of bedrooms to support the people in the house.
The assessments also states that 415 of the 3,010 seniors in the city in 2016 were spending 30 per cent or more of their income on shelter. Mayor Gerald Aalbers says there is always a challenge when it comes to seniors housing as the number continues to fluctuate.
“It’s an issue that needs to be addressed because it involves health, it involves social services there are many different ministries and we’ll continue to help bring that together from our perspective and lobby for the city to go to the governments and ask for more support.”
He adds that they’ll be sitting down with MLA’s and chatting with cabinet ministers to provide that information from the report to say there is a need in our community for housing.