Veterans' housing plan stalled by federal bureaucracy, advocates tell Parliament
Non-profits frustrated with slow process for converting surplus military properties into housing for homeless Canadian Armed Forces veterans.
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A House of Commons committee launched a study this week into converting underused federal lands and surplus military properties into housing for homeless Canadian Armed Forces veterans—but the organizations trying to make it happen say the federal government is moving too slowly.
Debbie Lowther, chair and CEO of Veterans Emergency Transition Services (VETS) Canada, told MPs on Tuesday that bureaucratic delays are unacceptable when veterans are living without shelter. "In the interest of time — we do have veterans who are living without a roof over their head — decisions that could be made quickly would be appreciated," she said at the House of Commons committee on government operations and estimates.
Brad Field, president and CEO of Homes for Heroes, another nonprofit providing supportive housing for veterans, echoed the frustration. "The sense of urgency just isn't there," he told the same committee. "I think where we get stuck is in the bureaucracy, above the boots on the ground. We get to the table. We have these conversations. The committee goes away, and we never hear back. We need to take the veteran crisis seriously, and start acting on it."
The committee is responding to a motion by backbench Liberal MP Alana Hirtle, whose Amherst, Nova Scotia riding contains the Amherst Armoury—a sandstone building constructed in 1915 and used by the Nova Scotia Highlanders until 2015. The armoury was declared surplus in 2016 and landed on a 2024 federal budget list of 14 Department of Defence properties identified as having "potential for housing."
VETS Canada and the mayor of Amherst have already developed a plan to convert the armoury into approximately 25 housing units with associated support services, funded through a mix of private donations and government money. But acquiring the property from Defence has been sluggish. When Lowther met with Defence Minister David McGuinty "a few weeks ago," he told her the next step was to await the committee's recommendations.
Lowther said she had not been consulted by government on any of the surplus properties listed in the budget and remains unaware whether any have yet been converted into veteran housing. Hirtle told the committee that the study is meant to create "a framework. So that we can take the case study of the Amherst Armoury and roll it out across the country."
VETS Canada operates drop-in centres in Dartmouth, Edmonton, and Ottawa.
How many of the 14 surplus Defence properties have been offered for veteran housing projects since 2024?
What timeline does the committee recommend for converting the Amherst Armoury, and what funding gap remains?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
By the numbers
How many housing units would the Amherst Armoury conversion provide?
VETS Canada and the mayor of Amherst have developed a plan to convert the Amherst Armoury into approximately 25 housing units with associated support services.
When was the Amherst Armoury declared surplus?
The Amherst Armoury was declared surplus in 2016.
How many Department of Defence properties were identified as having potential for housing in the 2024 federal budget?
The 2024 federal budget identified 14 Department of Defence properties as having potential for housing.
