HALIFAX — Nova Scotia's provincial government is announcing 40 additional shelter beds for the homeless at two locations in Halifax.

The Housing Department says in a release today that funding of $1.7 million will create 25 beds at the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre, and an additional 15 beds operated by the North End Community Health Centre. 

Housing Minister Chuck Porter says the announcement is motivated by the continuing presence of COVID-19 in the city and the oncoming colder weather.

He says the spending will replace beds lost when shelters had to remove beds due to physical distancing requirements.

Both organizations expect to begin opening the beds in the coming days and be fully operational by the end of the year, and the funding agreements will be in place until Dec. 31, 2021. 

Pam Glode-Desrochers, executive director of the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre, says her agency's homeless client numbers have doubled since the beginning of the pandemic.

She says the funding will help the growing number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who are struggling to find affordable housing in the middle of a health crisis. 

The province has been under a state of emergency as a result of COVID-19 since March 22.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2020. 

The Canadian Press

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