A Greater Victoria non-profit housing provider is making cuts to vital programs as they struggle to keep up with rising costs and increasing demand, contributing to an ongoing pattern of provincially funded organizations being forced to scale back services.
The Cool Aid Society manages over a dozen supportive, subsidized and market housing buildings across Greater Victoria, along with three temporary shelter locations, while simultaneously providing health and outreach services to hundreds of vulnerable individuals across the region.
In late 2024, the society started to scale back some of its programs for supportive housing residents to curb spending 鈥� namely cutting a free breakfast for at least one of their seniors' buildings, along with an honorarium program where residents could complete small jobs for compensation.
"It's about building the life skills, and like the confidence that comes with it too," said a frontline worker for a Cool Aid supportive housing building, who preferred to remain anonymous. "For example, somebody maybe wants to work towards making a resume, or apply for a job, and maybe they haven't done that in 10, 15 years. It's a huge thing to have something to put on that resume, to have like a point of reference to say, 'I did do this. I did take care of my building'."
Additionally, the organization is using a "bumping system" where employees with greater seniority replace employees with less tenure when their jobs are downsized or eliminated, and employees are having to pick up more shifts while taking heavier workloads as a result of the cut to the honorarium programs. However, among the more concerning changes is the removal of paid breaks for supportive housing staff.
Each supportive housing building has a minimum number of staff, with some buildings' minimum being one staff member on the property at a time. When employees were paid for their breaks, if only one staff member was working, they had to stay in the building, on-call, just in case of an emergency. Now, as employees are not paid to be on-call, under Cool Aid's new "safe work procedure," employees who leave the building on their breaks in single-staffed buildings are told to lock their walkie-talkies when they leave the building.
"My worst fear, my worst-case scenario, would be a medical emergency, like a stroke, an overdose. I've had people come to my office choking and I've performed the Heimlich manoeuvre," said the employee.
"My main concern is that the tenants who are the most vulnerable people are going to take the worst brunt of this cut."
These issues are not new, nor are they confined to Cool Aid, but are, at least partly, the result of a pattern of structural issues and funding delays from BC Housing, according to Andrea Duncan, vice-president of community social services for the BC General Employees Union, which represents about 17,000 employees in B.C. community-based social services, including Cool Aid.
"I have a really good view of what's actually happening on the front lines throughout our province, and it's abysmal," said Duncan.
She told a story of another B.C. organization that went unstaffed for an entire weekend, and a woman in medical distress went to the unmanned office for help, where she eventually died.
"People stepped over her body over the course of the weekend. Our members returned to that. So you've got a woman whose life could have been saved by one of our frontline workers, and died without dignity," she said.
BC Housing has been met with criticism for the past few years. In 2023, 鈥� including Cool Aid 鈥� said in a letter to the province that they were owed as much as $20 million from BC Housing.
Carolina Ibarra, CEO of Pacifica Housing 鈥� one of the largest operators and providers of housing and support services on Vancouver Island 鈥� explained that the sector has been asking BC Housing to revise their budgeting process for years, pointing to two years ago when they had to wait nine months to get their budget approved.
She says they have spent time working with BC Housing and the Ministry of Housing to support Pacifica's finances so they are in a much more sustainable position compared to 2023. However, that may not be the case for others.
"The flip side of the coin is that this year, obviously, the government has financial challenges. We've got the tariffs coming. We've heard about the challenge of softwood lumber, and so there's not a lot of money to go around. So a lot of organizations, including some of our buildings, are still behind," said Ibarra. "We've got new, beautiful buildings in great shape, and we've got some where the balconies are a safety hazard, and replacing balconies is not cheap."
As a result, BC Housing has given Pacifica, along with other housing providers, a three per cent budget increase ceiling this year.
Though she understands there are financial constraints provincially, Ibarra noted rising costs for utilities, food, garbage removal, and other administrative expenses outpace the budget increase. And the increasing operational expenses and staffing challenges 鈥� namely, a pause on hiring additional full-time employees 鈥� are tough to manage with the small increase.
An emailed statement from the Aboriginal Housing Management Association (AMHA) acknowledged that it has received one-time grants and small budget increases through the years, but the measures have not kept pace with overall operational needs or the rising costs of expenses like insurance, utilities, and maintenance.
"AHMA members 鈥� who operate the majority of dedicated urban Indigenous housing in B.C. 鈥� are facing increasing funding shortfalls that threaten their ability to meet the growing needs of their communities," they noted.
Wendy Fung Graham, interim CEO of the Cool Aid Society, confirmed their experience aligns with Pacifica's and what Ibarra shared.
The issue doesn't seem to be confined to BC Housing. The shut its doors in May after Island Health and the B.C. Ministry of Health declined to renew its funding two days before its contract renewal.
The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness 鈥� which is largely funded by the Capital Regional District, the City of Victoria and Island Health 鈥� announced its closure in June, with coalition co-chair Sean Dhillon Sylvia saying their funding was either terminated, restructured, or kept at historical levels.
"What we've been hearing, and not only for this organization, but for the not-for-profit sector generally, is that the government has gone into austerity measures and that is translating into funding for the not-for-profit being either removed or restructured or changed," said Sylvia Ceacero, CEO of the coalition.
An emailed statement from the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs says this year's budget is about $3.2 billion, up from about $3.1 billion last year, saying the 2025 budget builds on investments to prevent and reduce homelessness across the province, including up to $1.5 billion through the 2023 budget.
鈥淲e鈥檙e also committed to making sure every dollar we spend has the greatest impact on the lives of British Columbians. We feel for any housing provider that is facing financial pressure, and we aim to do our best to meet their budget needs," noted Minister of Housing Christine Boyle in the statement. 鈥淣ow, more than ever, it is important for all of us to focus our resources on what matters most, and we will continue working with partners to ensure that housing is available for vulnerable people.鈥�
Ibarra says there are some positive programs coming from the province 鈥� like the Supportive Rent Supplement Program 鈥� and while she admits she's an outspoken critic of what doesn鈥檛 work, "I recognize there are a lot of people at BC Housing and the ministry working hard and having results in some areas, and it can be very defeating to only ever hear about what isn鈥檛 working.
"I think the key is going to be to keep on track with those things that are working," she said. "The good news is that our sector is very resilient and very adaptable and creative."
