Capital Grant – More Than a Roof Housing Society, 1395 Rolston Street
Motion 8 · Council Meeting, May 19, 2026
Summary
- Council is asked to approve a capital grant of up to $30 million to More Than a Roof (MTAR) Mennonite Housing Society to fund construction of approximately 212 social housing units with ground-floor retail on City-owned land at 1395 Rolston Street.
- The $30 million was already committed as part of the 2022 rezoning of the Granville Loops site, funded through Community Amenity Contributions; the grant formalizes that commitment and leverages additional capital grants and operating subsidies from BC Housing's Community Housing Fund.
- The development will include 52% family units (two-, three-, and four-bedroom), exceeding the by-law minimum of 50%, with affordability tiers ranging from deep subsidy (income assistance rates) to rent-geared-to-income to affordable market rents.
- MTAR was selected through a competitive RFP process in 2023 and will design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the development under a Development Management Agreement, with the City retaining ownership of the land through a long-term ground lease.
- The grant replaces social housing lost when the SRA-designated Old Continental Hotel on the site was demolished in 2016, fulfilling a longstanding commitment under the Granville Loops Policy Plan.
- At least eight affirmative Council votes are required to approve this grant under the Vancouver Charter; funds will be disbursed once all permits and senior government funding are in place, prior to construction start.
Vote
Public comments
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Transcript
12 segments
Councillor Fry, do you need a vote assist? Oh, there we go. And that passes unanimously. Thank you very much. okay next item is item number three capital grant to more than a roof housing society for development of social housing at 1395 Ralston Street before we begin begin this agenda item does anybody have a conflict that they need to disclose Councillor Kirby-Young, or are you just in the queue?
In the queue.
Okay. So I'm going to stop the timer there. Okay. This item does not have a team member presentation, and Councillor Kirby-Young, you did hold this item, so please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks, Mayor. I do have just a clarifying question because we received the grant reports, but they indicate reference the ability to lever other funding. For example, this one says the city's anticipated $30 million contribution was a key factor in securing community housing fund funding. And additionally, it speaks to the fact that this amount could be reduced, for example, if the application Build Canada Homes is successful. Can you comment on... what the other funding contribution is and how much is levered. I'm wondering if there's an opportunity to get that information in in these reports to include not just what the city is contributing, but what the other partners are.
Ryan Bigelow, Managing Director, Non-Market Housing Development. In terms of funding for the overall project, it's primarily funded from BC Housing through the Community Housing Fund. At the moment, there's BC Housing grants, capital grants of $36 million going towards the project, as well as an ongoing operating subsidy. in the tune of roughly $3.7 million a year for the next 60 years on the project. We're still in the process of trying to secure additional funding for the project, but at the moment it is fundable to proceed to construction. So the federal government launched the Build Canada Homes, and so we are in conversations with them to see if we can secure additional funding for the project to offset the city's contributions and BC Housing's.
Okay, so thanks. I appreciate the context because sometimes we're just approving a grant, and while there may have been more discussions at the referral report, it doesn't necessarily show the context of what that represents. On the Build Canada Homes application that you touched on, what does that look like in terms of the ability to reduce the city's funding?
Yeah, so we have proposed an additional capital grant from Build Canada Homes. That's still under review by Build Canada Homes. We don't necessarily know if they would contribute and how much. So this could see our capital grant be reduced by up to $15 million if our application is fully approved. But we haven't received any guidance from them in terms of how much and if they're interested at this point.
Okay. All right. That's it for my questions. Thanks, Mary. I'm happy to move the report.
Yeah. This was the old Continental SRO, correct? Continental Hotel? Yes. And so that had 109 units. And when the permit was granted... it was granted on the premise of a one-to-one replacement. If we are now doing only 20% of deep affordability, that looks like it's only 42 units. So are we potentially losing 67 units of deep affordability?
So in addition to the affordable shelter rate units here at this project, the city did also acquire what we call the new Continental on Kingsway. So that is offering, I believe, 120, 123 units at shelter rates as well. So that's been operational actually since the old Continental was closed down. So in combination, it's actually delivering more affordable housing to the community. Okay.
Statement Watch
Ryan Bigelow, Managing Director, Non-Market Housing Development. In terms of funding for the overall project, it's primarily funded from BC Housing through the Community Housing Fund. At the moment, there's BC Housing grants, capital grants of $36 million going towards the project, as well as an ongoing operating subsidy. in the tune of roughly $3.7 million a year for the next 60 years on the project. We're still in the process of trying to secure additional funding for the project, but at the moment it is fundable to proceed to construction. So the federal government launched the Build Canada Homes, and so we are in conversations with them to see if we can secure additional funding for the project to offset the city's contributions and BC Housing's.
Okay, so thanks. I appreciate the context because sometimes we're just approving a grant, and while there may have been more discussions at the referral report, it doesn't necessarily show the context of what that represents. On the Build Canada Homes application that you touched on, what does that look like in terms of the ability to reduce the city's funding?
Yeah, so we have proposed an additional capital grant from Build Canada Homes. That's still under review by Build Canada Homes. We don't necessarily know if they would contribute and how much. So this could see our capital grant be reduced by up to $15 million if our application is fully approved. But we haven't received any guidance from them in terms of how much and if they're interested at this point.
Okay. All right. That's it for my questions. Thanks, Mary. I'm happy to move the report.
Great. We just have one more speaker or counselor. Counselor Orr.
Yeah. This was the old Continental SRO, correct? Continental Hotel? Yes. And so that had 109 units. And when the permit was granted... it was granted on the premise of a one-to-one replacement. If we are now doing only 20% of deep affordability, that looks like it's only 42 units. So are we potentially losing 67 units of deep affordability?
So in addition to the affordable shelter rate units here at this project, the city did also acquire what we call the new Continental on Kingsway. So that is offering, I believe, 120, 123 units at shelter rates as well. So that's been operational actually since the old Continental was closed down. So in combination, it's actually delivering more affordable housing to the community. Okay.
That's all my questions. Thanks.