Finding a permanent spot to replace the temporary Stepping Stones Shelter has proven a challenge for Prince Albert. (file photo/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

Decision delayed

Shelter decision delayed again

Mar 4, 2025 | 6:00 AM

Another delay has been added by council for the City of Prince Albert in their quest to find a location for a permanent shelter for homeless people.

Monday evening saw council discuss the results of a survey conducted by staff following four public meetings in the last two months, but still with questions and objecting to the list of four options presented in the report.

Councillors Dan Brown and Stephen Ring both said they had more questions after seeing the results of the survey just completed. Other councillors added to the discussion as well for the next hour.

CAO Sherry Person said that more information would be manageable but council needed to be clear on exactly what information they want.

“What exactly are the steps you want us to follow?” she said. “I’m literally spinning my wheels for the last two years trying to figure out what we’re going to do with the shelter. It should be council telling us what the next steps should be.”

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Council agreed to finalize their list of questions by March 24, but it was also made clear during the meeting that no building will happen this year and possibly not next year either.

The procurement process for provincial contracts – which is where the unspecified amount of funding is coming from – can take 18 months to 2 years.

The procurement process will not start until a location is chosen. Nor will the province commit to a dollar amount without a location as the lot might need to be fully serviced or it could be an existing building that needs renovations.

Prince Albert has struggled with finding a location for the last four years, beginning with the YWCA looking for properties and meeting resistance in every location they found.

Support for the idea of a shelter – and one that includes so called wrap around services – hovers at well over 70 per cent. The main holdup is where it should be.

Last December, new mayor Bill Powalinsky got council support to hold community wide meetings and an online survey. The results were presented Monday evening with four properties meeting the general criteria the public felt should be applied.

The top site was 11 – 15th Street East, followed by 111 – 18th Street West, 1525 5th Avenue East (is for sale) and a spot close to the current location at the Exhbition Centre.

Points were assigned to each spot based on how well they met the criteria identified by residents. The city owns all of the lands except for 5th Street East.

The current temporary shelter under the grandstands has some serious health concerns and SHA officials are checking the location weekly.

Community Development Manager Craig Guidinger also clarified to council that the questions from the first survey were a direct results of questions posed by people attending the four public meetings.

Wrap around services expand what is done beyond offering a bed for a night to those in need. It also includes help transitioning to supports in other agencies and moving up the housing continuum and off the streets.

Recently, a point in time count found the city’s homeless population has reached 230 people, almost double the last count which was almost double the previous one.

A second overnight warming location that has no beds will stay open until the end of the month and adds to the 45 beds at Stepping Stones.

The new shelter is slated to have 80 beds.

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susan.mcneil@postmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social