Healthcare workers and those needing affordable housing in Guysborough County now have more places to call home.
Greg Morrow, Minister of Agriculture and MLA for Guysborough-Tracadie, on behalf of Colton LeBlanc, Minister of Growth and Development, officially opened the housing for healthcare workers complex in Guysborough today, July 7. The building is fully occupied with healthcare workers.
“Our healthcare professionals are committed and hard-working and I am thrilled to welcome them home to Guysborough,” said Minister Morrow. “Because of this housing that was specifically built for them, we’ve been able to fill critical healthcare positions and recruit new health professionals to our community who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to come. This is an exciting day for our community and for our healthcare facilities.”
The Province has also acquired a six-unit affordable housing project in Boylston, in partnership with the Community First: Guysborough County Housing Association.
It invested $2.3 million in the healthcare workers complex, which has eight units – one and two bedrooms – and is close to amenities and the Guysborough Memorial Hospital.
The Boylston site has five two-bedroom units and one one-bedroom unit, with affordable monthly rents ranging from $750 to $850.
The Province contributed $627,000 to this project through the Community Housing Acquisition Program, which helps community housing providers purchase and preserve affordable rental units. Another $13,700 came from the Province’s Community Housing Growth Fund.
Since 2023, more than $120 million has been invested in more than 1,400 affordable units across Nova Scotia.
Quotes:
“This initiative, which addresses both affordability and housing supply for key workers, will have an ongoing impact in Guysborough, Canso and other communities across the province.”
— Angela Bishop, Executive Director, Housing Trust of Nova Scotia
“We couldn’t be more pleased to have accomplished so much in our first year of incorporation. Becoming affordable housing providers with the support and expertise of the team from the Province and the Municipality of the District of Guysborough gave us the foundation upon which to build future projects.”
— Nancy O’Regan, board Chair, Community First: Guysborough County Housing Association
Following the official event in Cutler’s Brook Estates, a tour of the Boylston Apartments was held. On hand were (from left) MLA Greg Morrow, Community First Chair Nancy O’Regan, NS Housing Project Staff Nicole Mathews, Community First Treasurer Keith Towse, Housing Trust of Nova Scotia Executive Director Angela Bishop and NS Housing Trust staff member Heidi Bennett.