The new shelter would have been built at 1298 River Street, just down the road from the Kamloops yacht club building.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

A riverfront homeless shelter in Kamloops wasn't a welcome surprise for city council, and it's a plan they stopped before BC Housing got the idea to the table.

BC Housing revealed the planned shelter on municipal land to iNFOnews.ca before bringing it to city hall, catching the ire of elected officials.

"This caused considerable community distress for a very good reason," councillor Katie Neustaeter said today, Feb. 27. "This is not the way you go about dealing with a sensitive topic."

The plans for a 56-bed modular shelter at 1286, 1292 and 1298 River Street is just metres away from a temporary shelter opened for the last few winters at the yacht club building, council told BC Housing and Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon it was "not interested" in the new one.

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That according to City statement today which followed a meeting with the housing minister and Crown housing agency staff, a meeting prompted by iNFOnews.ca reporting on the shelter plan. 

Neustaeter said temporary yacht club shelter, currently operated by The Mustard Seed, is "not currently in discussion" and council hasn't pulled its support adding it's "not anyone's first choice."

What council discussed with Kahlon and BC Housing beyond the cancelled River Street shelter plan isn't clear and Neustaeter said this was the only topic council chose to discuss publicly.

Despite BC Housing's initial statement to iNFOnews.ca claiming it owned the riverfront land in question, it's in fact City-owned. In order to use it, it would have been leased or sold to the province before a shelter could be built.

By blindsiding the City with its shelter plan, BC Housing appears to have run roughshod over their 2022 agreement that includes the Crown agency's commitment to not only keep the City informed, but plan new shelter locations together.

READ MORE: Kamloops council caught off guard by BC Housing plan for new homeless shelter

"This (agreement) was developed by the previous council for just this reason, because BC Housing has had a habit of making announcements about communities without proper engagement, without proper consultation," Neustaeter said. "And this is a really great example of why a mutual agreement is so important."

BC Housing said it will "continue to work with the City" to explore other potential sites, anticipating an update to the community once they agree on a proposal that "works for both levels of government," according to a statement issued late Thursday afternoon.

The response didn't acknowledge whether the agency had failed to meet its 2022 agreement with the City, only that its River Street shelter "will not work" for city council.

It's the latest issue to put pressure on the relationship between city hall and BC Housing, but Kamloops isn't the only place facing that tension.

In Vancouver, Mayor Ken Sim recently put forward a motion calling for a temporary stop to any new supportive housing projects, in part until more effective mental health services are provided by higher levels of government.

A similar motion is coming to Vernon city council, where councillor Kari Gares wants a stop to new supportive housing and shelters until their impacts on neighbourhoods are assessed.

Communities across the province are facing similar struggles with finding the right place for services targeting homeless people while ensuring they're meeting the demand, Neustaeter said.

"It seems like it's a good moment to pause and evaluate what's working and what is not," she said.

She said Kamloops officials "felt heard" by Kahlon and expects the province and city hall to collaborate better in the future.

"I believe he is making strides to create the changes municipalities are calling for, and we're eager to see what that can look like," she said.

Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson didn't attend the Feb. 26, continuing his protest against closed council meetings.

— This story was updated with a response from BC Housing at 4:35 p.m., Feb. 27, 2025.

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