Meaningful response to homelessness requires more than new builds, says NDP leader

Provincial NDP leader Jim Dinn says the government’s recent announcement of a contract to build 10 micro homes in St. John’s is a “small start” toward addressing the province’s dire housing needs.

On Jan. 23, Housing Minister Joedy Wall announced Mount Pearl contractor Redwood Construction will build 10 new units on Army Street in the Buckmaster’s Circle neighbourhood of St. John’s.

The provincial government hopes to have the homes complete and ready for residents who are currently unsheltered or facing homelessness to move into by summertime. 

Micro homes are roughly 450-square-foot units intended to house single occupants. Wall told reporters most people on Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation’s (NLHC) housing waitlist are single individuals. “Gone are the days of the three- and the four-bedroom units that families were looking for at the time,” he said.

As of September 2025, the NLHC’s waitlist stood at 2,614 applicants.

The contract, worth $1.67 million, covers the construction of two buildings, one with “six studio-style apartments and the other with four,” according to a government news release. Two of the units will be fully accessible.

The project is funded by the federal government’s Unsheltered Homelessness and Encampments Initiative, which prioritizes projects that directly support people experiencing homelessness.

Access to mental health support and an end to predatory practices

Dinn says while the 10 micro homes mark progress toward developing more affordable housing, the province must address the underlying issues that lead to homelessness in the first place. That includes improving mental health care services and better supporting the non-profit organizations working on the frontlines of the housing and homelessness crisis.

“If people are being put into housing and they’re in need of supports—whether that’s mental health support, social support, you name it—those [need to be] there,” he says.

Dinn says reducing homelessness also means catching up with most provinces in the country and implementing stronger rent controls so tenants can’t be so easily evicted by landlords.

“To keep people from being evicted and being rendered homeless, I think the government is going to have to look at what [the NDP has] been pushing: rent and vacancy control — at least [to] keep people from being victimized by what I would call predatory rental increases,” he says.

The provincial government plans to build 10,000 units over the next five years to reduce homelessness in Newfoundland and Labrador. In their fall election platform, the PCs also said they will “explore modular home construction as a solution to build homes faster,” and “aggressively repair or replace uninhabitable NL Housing units.”

Since the pandemic, the province has faced a worsening housing crisis, with rising home prices and a decline in affordable housing options. According to the Consumer Price Index, Newfoundland and Labrador experienced the highest rent increase in the country between July 2024 and 2025, at 7.8 per cent, surpassing Canada’s overall average of five per cent. 

According to End Homelessness St. John’s, at least 1,400 people experienced homelessness in 2024, an increase from 900 in 2022. Among those surveyed in 2024, 64 per cent identified high rent as a key reason for their homelessness.

Wall said the forthcoming builds in St. John’s Buckmaster’s Circle neighbourhood were the first of many the government hopes to build across the province.

In 2019 the Canadian government enshrined adequate housing as a human right in federal law. Canada’s federal housing advocate Marie-Josee Houle has urged provinces to follow suit, though none have yet. In (month), responding to a question from The Independent, Premier Tony Wakeham said housing is “absolutely” a human right, though he didn’t make any firm commitments to tabling legislation recognizing that right in provincial law.