Housing is an age old issue in Jasper.
It鈥檚 an issue for newcomers to town, looking for their first apartment, and it鈥檚 an issue for those who are trying to find a family home, having already spent years living in basement suites and bachelor apartments.
No matter what stage in the housing market you鈥檙e in, the pickings are slim鈥攖hat鈥檚 if they exist at all.
Because of that severe lack of housing, Jasper faces all kinds of auxiliary issues, like finding workers to staff the town鈥檚 businesses. Without accommodations to house them, people often come to town, find a job and then pack up and leave again when they can鈥檛 find a home.
With 鈥渉elp wanted鈥� signs in nearly every storefront window on Patricia Street, it鈥檚 hard to ignore the role Jasper鈥檚 zero per cent rental vacancy plays in attracting and keeping people in town.
Although it鈥檚 easy to point fingers at the moratorium on temporary foreign workers as the reason we鈥檙e short staffed around town, it鈥檚 important to note that last summer we saw similar labour shortages across the community.
So, it鈥檚 with a sigh of relief that we embrace the proposal for transitional workers accommodation in the Jasper Legion building.
The idea, put forth by Mark Howe and Marc Chalifoux, is to provide newcomers with housing for five days as they look for work, and for a period of time after they鈥檝e found a job, so they have somewhere to lay their heads as they search for a permanent home.
Although the space won鈥檛 provide permanent lodging for new workers鈥攁nd there likely won鈥檛 be a lot of options for those workers once they leave the transitional accommodation鈥攁t least they鈥檒l have a jumping off point.
They鈥檒l have a place to store their bags while they hit the pavement, and place to return to following their first day of work.
They鈥檒l have a home base. And from that home base, they have the opportunity to get to know the community, put out feelers and connect with possible roommates and landlords.
It鈥檚 not the perfect solution to Jasper鈥檚 housing crisis, but it is a temporary first step that has the potential to alleviate, to some extent, the community鈥檚 persistent labour shortage.
