Part 2: PEC Housing Corporation Debate: Disraeli Street Project Faces $1.4M Funding Gap - 03/10/2025

Leadership and Meeting Direction

Councillor Phil St-Jean, as Chair, guided the meeting and kept the discussion focused on financial reality and risk. He repeatedly emphasized that the goal is getting units built, not theoretical plans that cannot be funded. His comments reflected concern about affordability pressures and the limits of small-scale projects.

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Financial Reality and Risk

Adam Goheen, Director of Housing, was central to explaining the pro forma and funding structure. He clearly stated that under CMHC rules, there is no profit or surplus revenue, and that the $1.4 million gap must be resolved before construction. His position was that staff need direction, but the current model does not work as-is.

For residents, this means the Disraeli project is not dead, but also not shovel-ready. Without additional funding, moving forward would expose the Housing Corporation and ultimately the municipality to risk.

Affordability and Design Considerations

Albert Paschkowiak consistently raised questions about deep affordability, long-term operating costs, and environmental performance. He pushed for exploring ways to make bachelor units more affordable and questioned whether design changes could reduce costs without sacrificing efficiency.

This matters to locals because it reflects a focus on housing people with the greatest need, not just meeting funding criteria.

Fundraising and In-Kind Support

Councillor Nyman focused on practical next steps, particularly around fundraising timing, use of the municipal line of credit, and in-kind contributions. He highlighted that spending money on design is unavoidable if the project is to proceed at all.

Sam Grosso questioned supply chains and supported keeping materials Canadian, which helps protect local construction pricing and reduces exposure to global cost shocks.

Regional Partnership Option

Sam Branderhorst, the CAO, introduced the regional expression of interest model. He was clear that this approach could attract larger builders, unlock provincial support, and reduce risk by partnering instead of building alone.

For residents, this could mean more units, built faster, but potentially with less direct municipal control over design and tenancy.

What This Means for the Community

No final decisions were made, but the meeting marked a turning point. The board acknowledged that building affordable housing is harder and more expensive than expected, especially at small scale. Residents can expect further discussion, clearer options, and potentially new approaches that go beyond a single 12-unit project.

The takeaway is that the housing crisis is real, the intent is strong, but the path forward must be financially realistic to avoid failure later.

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Disclaimer: This article is based on a meeting with an approximate duration of 2:00:043. Due to the length of the meeting, our team was not able to independently review the full recording in its entirety. As a result, we relied on software-generated transcription, automated summarization, and automated recognition of speakers and participants, which may not be entirely accurate. All transcriptions, summaries, and related content are prepared by our team in good faith and on a reasonable best-efforts basis. The content is provided for general informational purposes only and is intended to support public understanding of the topics discussed. While reasonable efforts have been made to present the information accurately, automated processes may result in errors, omissions, or unintended misinterpretations. This article does not constitute an official, certified, or verbatim record of the meeting, and it should not be relied upon as such. Readers are encouraged to consult original source materials, official minutes, or recordings where available for confirmation or clarification. Questions, requests for clarification, or suggested corrections may be submitted to hello@pecconnect.ca for review and consideration.