After being forced to move unhoused individuals from one of its properties, the Town of Creston is clarifying its role in providing housing while also reaffirming its commitment to advocating for the community’s needs.
“At the Town of Creston, we recognize that homelessness is a complex social issue requiring a balanced approach that considers the well-being of individuals experiencing homelessness, public safety, legal requirements, and financial constraints within the unique context of our community,” said the town in a press release.
CAO Mike Moore says the statement was issued after two unhoused individuals staying where the former fire hall was located were forced to be moved along.
This move sparked community concerns about the individuals’ presence in municipal parks, and inquiries about the town’s progress in securing more supports and services
“We were required to move them along, even though they had been there for the vast majority of the winter. When we moved them along, we had some concerns from residents about some of the individuals camping in parks. And we had some of the community who were hoping that we could provide them a place,” said Moore.
While the town cannot provide land for encampments, Moore reassures that council and staff are continuing to explore other ways to offer supports.
This includes working towards launching a “Situation Table” program.
This community-driven initiative would see frontline professionals across public safety, health, and social services coming together to assist individuals and families facing high-risk situations.
“Sometimes when people start to head into crisis, maybe one of those agencies has a lot of interactions with an individual. Sharing that information with other agencies can help allow for quick intervention,” explained Moore.
“The Situation Table allows those agencies the opportunity to sit down, look at an individual’s situation, and be able to intervene and connect them with the services that they do need.”
He adds that the town will continue its advocacy for a “tailored approach” that’s specific to Creston, saying that the Town does not have the financial resources to absorb the increased costs created by this complex social issue.
“In Creston, we have a very limited amount of support services with mental health and addiction services. A traditional approach on how BC Housing likes to set up shelters looks like setting up a shelter for a minimum of 10 to 20 people, and we don’t have that many who would utilize shelter service.
Then we have individuals from outside of town coming to use the services and requiring that complex care for mental health and addiction services our community just doesn’t have.”
What the town has done
Despite it being the role of the provincial government, the Town has been working on its own solutions to the housing crisis.
In 2024, the Creston Valley Housing Corporation was formed, with a board of 11 people, to focus on the development of housing.
The corporation is tasked with identifying potential housing projects, aiding in securing funding and financial borrowing.
The board was installed in early 2025, and Moore says they’ve already made progress in increasing the town’s housing supply.
“It had been announced previously by the province that we were in receipt of a grant to be able to develop a 110-space childcare facility. We’re going to take that opportunity with the housing corporation to develop that childcare facility with three floors of apartments and residential units above it,” he said.
“So right now, the board is working on identifying a project manager, and then they have to line up the rest of the financial borrowing for the apartment building.”
He says in 2019, when the town completed its first housing needs assessment, the Town realized there were no developers in the community, particularly for residential developments.
Through the formation of the Creston Valley Housing Corporation, the Town felt there was an opportunity to fill that need.
“Council took a step back and decided that the housing corporation was an opportunity to be able to create some development in the community because we don’t have those developers now,” said Moore.
Moore notes that there appears to be some confusion about local government’s role versus the provincial governments in providing housing.
He explains that BC Housing holds the mandate and funding to address housing crises, while the Town focuses on supporting the community.
“When dealing with the unhoused, what BC Housing provides is the mandate. They have the policy, they have the funding to address people in crisis with housing. And it’s really not the role or legislative role of local government to step into that. So we were just trying to be very proactive to make sure that our community understood what was going on.”
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