Non-profit seniors housing projects in Greater Sudbury on hold awaiting government grants

Groups hoping to get non-profit seniors housing projects off the ground in Greater Sudbury are having a hard time landing government dollars.

"We're ready to go. Just give me the greenlight and I start yesterday," says Tullio Ricci of the Capreol Non-Profit Housing Corporation.

That greenlight would be $5 million government funding Ricci needs to start construction on a 164-bed seniors complex in Capreol, next to two existing seniors buildings he spearheaded in the past.

Ricci says the government funding is needed to get private loans to cover the rest of the $32 million construction bill.

He was hopeful to land some of the $6 million in provincial affordable housing money the City of Greater Sudbury put up for bids last year, but all of it ended up going to private developer Dalron.

Ricci feels the funding process requiring detailed drawings and in some cases pre-arranged financing makes it difficult for non-profit groups like this to compete with private companies.

Les Lisk, the president of the Coniston Non-Profit Housing Corporation, also feels that way.

It's been two years since his group's 55-bed $15 million home in Coniston got approval from Sudbury city council, but Lisk says they've had trouble securing government grants they would then use to leverage bank loans.

"It's always easier to get money when you have money. The larger, private developers are getting, we think, favourable treatment from the government," he says.

But Greater Sudbury housing manager Cindi Briscoe says all bids are evaluated by a panel of experts to make sure the public's money is well spent.

"When you look at the experts sitting at the table, they're there for a reason," she says.

Ward 7 city councillor Mike Jakubo, who represents Capreol, feels the process could be tweaked.

"It became very clear that no not-for-profit organization could have been successful," he says.

Many of the outlying areas of Greater Sudbury and other small towns in northern Ontario have been trying to get seniors homes built so that people can stay in the community as they age.

"We know the importance, but at the end of the day it is a lot of money," says Jakubo, adding that the city's own stock of social housing buildings is in need of millions of dollars in maintenance. 

He says he's working with the federal government to see if there's a way to make sure housing money flows to not-for-profit projects in small northern Ontario towns.

Ricci, an 80-year-old former Capreol town councillor, says while a recent stroke has slowed him down, he is going to keep fighting for this project for his community.

"No, I never give up. I keep going," he says.