In moving towards a goal of identifying existing stock and future housing needs the City of Grande Prairie’s Affordable Housing Committee1 has updated the inventory of affordable, social, temporary and shelter housing in the City in preparation for a larger community assessment. In addition to providing background information, the Inventory orients work towards establishing new partnerships and fulfills monitoring recommendations outlined in the City of Grande Prairie’s Affordable Housing Master Plan: 2011-2021 (2011 AHMP).

The Inventory uses information from local housing providers including: number and type of units available, vacancy and rental rates, current residents, wait lists and plans for new developments or changes to programming. Key concepts from the 2011 AHMP and the 2014 Housing Needs Analysis (2014 HNA) for the City of Grande Prairie have also been included and updated with more current information. The most recent Census information (2016) will be released throughout 2017 and will be reviewed once available as part of the larger community assessment.

The Inventory focuses on priority populations identified in 2011 by the AHMP and confirmed more recently by the Affordable Housing Committee, as listed below. When reviewing Census data, the Inventory focuses on households in Core Housing Need2:

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Individuals requiring accessible units

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Seniors

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Youth

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Families

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Students

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Immigrants/ refugees

·     

Indigenous individuals

Primary questions that the Inventory seeks to answer are:

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What is the current supply of housing and approach to accompanying programming in Grande Prairie?

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What is the current need for housing and approach to accompanying programming in Grande Prairie?

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What will housing demand, supply and programming look like in the next five and ten years?

The inventory also provides opportunity for housing providers to identify opportunities for partnerships.