This file photo shows the top location for a permanent homeless shelter in Prince Albert, adjacent to the Central Avenue viaduct.  (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

Shelter location

Shelter survey results on Monday council agenda

Mar 1, 2025 | 8:00 AM

Following four public meetings and an online survey to nail down the best location for a permanent homeless shelter, the City of Prince Albert council will get their first look at the results at their meeting on Monday.

While multiple options exist, a city-owned lot at 11 – 15th Street East has been named as the one that most matches the results of public input.

Since it is an Executive Committee meeting, the recommendation to deal with the information is for staff to repair a report for council to vote on during their April 7th regular meeting.

Staff are also suggesting one more public meeting to present the results to the community.

Public engagement has been high. Attendance the previous public meetings numbered about 500 people showing up and an online survey. Written surveys were collected at the four meetings.

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After taking out about 129 surveys from people who did not live in Prince Albert, 1,521 surveys were left out of a population of 37,500 residents.

A lot of written letters and emails were included in the collation of the results as well, which resulted in 11 recurring themes. The top three were security, accessibility and a pro-specific location.

When it came to location, the main result was accessibility to services, such as a five to 10 minute walk.

Almost 80 per cent of the respondents said they did not want the shelter in a residential neighbourhood.

Some people suggested specific locations including the inside the Gateway Mall, the Peavey Mart building, the old Rivier Academy which is now Embassy Academy, near the hospital and north of the river.

More detailed results of the information collected can be found on the long form agenda and council meetings are aired live via the same page.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social