Edmonton's NiGiNan Housing Ventures expands housing project on Fort Road

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NiGiNan Housing Ventures will be expanding its facilities on Fort Road with the addition of a 14-plex housing project following a funding announcement on Monday.

“We’ve been talking about this concept for months, so now that we finally get to see this come true, we’re extremely grateful and happy,” said NiGiNan CEO Keri Cardinal Schulte.

The announcement was made at NiGiNan’s Pimatisiwin facility on Fort Road where the group revealed it had received funding from the National Indigenous Community Housing Inc. (NICHI), allowing it to develop a new housing project on a site near the Pimatisiwin facility. The funding will also enable NiGiNan to create a second Ambrose Place.

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The new building will have room for 56 people, comprised of 14 rowhouse-style units containing a three-bedroom space upstairs, and a bachelor unit in the basement.

The new facility will be located near the existing Pimatisiwin building on Fort Road and Cardinal Schulte said Cormode and Dickson were selected as contractors with Synchro Architecture Inc. doing the architecture work. She said while they haven’t determined the exact nature of all their programming at the new facility, it will be supportive housing.

NICHI CEO John Gordon explained why it is important for groups like NiGiNan to receive this funding.

“We at NICHI really believe that communities know what communities need and what communities have on the ground to deliver services. They know what their priorities are, what their solutions are, and we’re looking to really support Indigenous communities through their efforts to identify those priorities and identify funding for them,” Gordon said.

NICHI received $281.5 million from the federal government that Gordon said it has allocated to various projects from coast to coast to coast. NiGiNan’s funding is part of more than $22 million being distributed throughout Alberta by NICHI for five different projects.

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NiGiNan will use its portion for two projects, including the new facility near Fort Road and a second Ambrose Place.

The first Ambrose Place opened in 2014. Cardinal Schulte said that it “provides that loving, caring support for those that need it the most, those that can’t be successfully housed anywhere else.”

She said the second Ambrose project is still in its early stages, but that there would be more details to come in the coming months as planning gets underway.

Cardinal Schulte is thankful to be able to continue expanding and helping people in need.

“I’m just so grateful that we can continue doing what we do. We support those that are coming from apartments. We support those that come from shelters. We support those that go into supportive housing and back to the street and back to supportive housing and back to the street. And we are the end of the road for a lot of people,” she said.

Federal Edmonton-Griesbach NDP MP Blake Desjarlais praised the work that NiGiNan is doing and the impact the group has had.

“NiGiNan is a leader, not just in Edmonton, not just in Alberta, but right across the country.”

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Desjarlais said NiGiNan has proven itself as a valuable asset as Canada struggles to help its houseless population.

“One of the greatest tragedies of our country is being unable to make sure that everyone is in a warm bed at night. We can fix this, though,” he said.

“We can fix it by making sure our economy works for people by putting the tools and support in the hands of people like NiGiNan, who are doing the work for the community, who are directly supporting them.”

Cardinal Schulte said most of the planning and permitting process for the 14-plex is already done and that it hopes to start construction next spring with the goal of opening the facility in the spring of 2026.

zdelaney@postmedia.com

Twitter/X: @ZacharyDelaney

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