Bonavista residents, fed up with housing shortages, get together to talk strategies

With housing shortages affecting towns and cities across Canada, including in Newfoundland and Labrador, Bonavista residents are putting their heads together to come up with solutions.

On Wednesday two community groups held a public meeting to give residents a chance share concerns, ideas and strategies for the town's housing problems.

April Synard, a widowed mother of four, is living with her ex-boyfriend and has just a few weeks to find a new place to live. Synard told CBC News she has applied for apartments between Bonavista and St. John's — over 300 kilometres away — and keeps coming up empty-handed.

"There's a housing crisis everywhere," Synard told CBC News. "There's a lot of people in my situation, people with small kids that are looking at homelessness."

The community of a little over 3,400 people isn't immune to the housing market pressure being witnessed in larger hubs.

For years residents have voiced their concerns about the lack of rental properties in the community, while the town itself is on a mission to halt the growth of short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs.

Synard said housing affordability isn't an issue for her; rather, the lack of available housing is what's causing her stress. 

About 30 people turned up for Wednesday's public meeting, held on the College of the North Atlantic campus. 

WATCH | This mom says she's desperate for housing — and knows others are in the same situation: 

This mother of 4 says she’s caught in Bonavista’s housing crisis

1 year ago

Duration 1:14

April Synard was one of dozens of people who showed up for a public meeting on how to address a shortage of housing in Bonavista. The mother of four children says she doesn’t think there is any solution in the near future and she’s searched all the way to St. John’s for a home for a family.

Cathy Bishop of the Bonavista Status of Women Council helped organize the meeting to brainstorm solutions to the housing crunch.

Bishop said she hears from many people who tell her they have nowhere to live, can't afford rent or their rental space is not adequate. 

"Bonavista blows up in the summertime with tourism but there has to be a balance. You can't have all tourism when you got people who don't have somewhere to live," Bishop said.

Bishop said Wednesday's meeting was just the first step of many.

"Trying to get everybody to work together, I think all the municipalities, all the town councils, everybody has to get together and it's a joint effort," she said.

"No one person is going to solve this problem." 

The Town of Bonavista has its own "housing needs" survey running online.

It asks residents to describe the current housing supply, demand and affordability within the community. It also asks them to identify what types of housing may be needed in the future. The survey closes Oct. 31.

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