City of Peterborough Given Municipal Innovation Award

The Peter J. Marshall Innovation Award Jury has presented the City of Peterborough with its highest award for its Modular Bridge Housing Community project.

Photo courtesy of the City of Peterborough.

The award was presented to Mayor Jeff Leal at the 2024 AMO Conference in Ottawa.

“I am incredibly proud that Peterborough’s transitional housing project has been recognized with the prestigious Peter J. Marshall 2024 Municipal Innovation Award,” said Leal. “This award is a testament to our city's commitment to addressing homelessness with compassion, creativity, and a focus on practical solutions.”

The City spearheaded the transitional housing project in May last year to address a long-term encampment in downtown Peterborough. With help from the provincial Homelessness Prevention Program, the City built 50 modular homes, shared washroom facilities and a central service hub in just six months according to a press release. 

Engagement with encampment residents was key to the project’s success. Community outreach workers gathered input from 75 residents to ensure the modular home community would fit their needs. Considerations included everything from site design and location to security, operations and pet policies. 

The Peterborough Modular Bridge Housing Community was built at the original encampment site. During construction, residents were moved to a vacant parking lot across the street which was the City’s first temporary sanctioned encampment. 

By November last year, the first residents moved into their new modular homes. The community had a 98 per cent move-in rate for the first 50 people who were offered units. This is not typical for transitional housing programs, which normally see a 40 to 60 per cent move-in rate.

Within the first six months of operation, four people acquired jobs, one person moved into permanent housing, and emergency service calls were 90 per cent lower than when the site operated as an encampment. Staff have also reported significant improvements in the mental and physical health of the residents.

“As a Council, we knew we had to move beyond the natural tendency to stop when faced with an overwhelmingly complex challenge like homelessness,” said Leal. “We knew we had to pick a lane. We learned from the experiences of others and our professional staff delivered this project with urgency and expertise. Municipalities have shown they can innovate to create lasting positive change in our communities. I’m proud of the decisive, bold, caring approach that we have taken.”

“The modular home program at Wolfe St. is a great example of a municipality thinking outside of the box to properly use the Homelessness Prevention Program to reduce homelessness in Peterborough’s vulnerable community,” said Dave Smith, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP.

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