Officials break ground on Ke Mama Nnanik, 24 affordable homes in southeast Calgary
The 24-unit project in Erin Woods will house Indigenous families and seniors, with a rent cap of $1,592.50 a month.
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Construction is underway on 24 affordable homes at Erin Woods in southeast Calgary, a project led by the Métis Calgary Family Services Society. The groundbreaking was held Friday morning. The project, Ke Mama Nnanik, is an Ojibwe phrase meaning "Our Mother Earth."
Twelve homes are for Indigenous families and 12 are for seniors, six of them accessible. The building will also include a rooftop cultural gathering space, child care, cultural programming and wraparound supports. The main-floor tenant will be the Native Network Family Resource Centre. The design is built around intergenerational living.
Métis Calgary executive director Jennifer Houle said the development is "more than a housing project," and promised that Indigenous families "can build a future in homes where they feel safe, where their culture is honoured and where they belong." She said Indigenous families in urban centres have long faced barriers to culturally grounded housing.
City chief housing officer Reid Hendry set the monthly rent cap at $1,592.50. He said additional provincial and federal contributions are expected to bring rents below that figure. Hendry said building homes is "not just about building places," but about creating community. Up to 200 Indigenous Calgarians are on the waiting list.
The project is funded by Métis Calgary, the City of Calgary, Build Canada Homes and the Alberta government, which contributed more than $6 million through the Indigenous Housing Capital Program. Provincial housing minister Nathan Neudorf said the development means an affordable home with room for children. Métis Calgary declined to disclose the total capital cost. No completion date has been given.
