Complete Community Assessment

Hi. Youth are one the City's target demographics when it comes to planning programs and activities. Over the last few months, the City's Parks, Recreation & Culture Department has offered various new activities for teens and tweens, many of which have been free. Examples include Netflix & Nacho Night, Scavenger Hunts, and Make-Your-Own-Pizza night. We've also offered Teen Yoga this spring. And in the summer, we offer activities such as drop-in basketball on the dry floors in the arena. 

While the City has no current plans to build a recreation centre, we will continue to increase and enhance programs aimed at youth and teens, using the facilities and resources we have. Thanks! 

Hi. Thanks for your questions. We recently posted a response to this question, as well as one about housing, on the Budget 2025 project page, as this is one of the questions we received during the budget process. Here's the answers we posted on that page. Thanks. 

14. What is the City doing about lack of rentals and affordable housing? 

We recognize there’s many housing challenges in our area: affordability, accessibility, adequacy and supply (both market-purchased and rental housing). We are doing what we can to support and create solutions for local housing challenges.

In recent years, Council and staff (Development Services) have supported many new housing initiatives to address our housing needs:

• The City's Development services department, which includes the City's planners, works with developers (including BC housing) to ensure housing fits with needs of community and community plan.
• From its Affordable Housing Reserve Fund, the City contributed $250,000 to Stoneridge affordable housing and $100,000 to the TDCSS Foundry project, which includes seniors housing.
• Last summer, we implemented a substantial zoning bylaw amendment to allow for small scale multi-unit housing units on low density residential parcels, with the aim of increasing housing supply. More info about that is available on the Bill 44 Engage Terrace project page. 
• The City recently completed the 2024 Housing Needs Report, which:
  • Includes anticipated housing demand over the 5 and 20-year periods.
  • Will guide the City and Housing Committee in identifying the residents in our community who have a priority need
  • Will support advocacy with the province to address homelessness and affordability facing our residents.
  • Will support applications for finding to construct new affordable and supportive housing units

The City also has a Housing Committee, which includes several local community representatives and meets regularly with Council and staff representatives. The Committee gives input and guidance to the City. This committee hosted a successful housing conference in March 2024 to stimulate discussions about local housing needs. A big part of that conference was facilitating connections between the people who build housing and the people who need it.

All of this work has resulted in significant number of units being built locally over the years, and this work continues.

15. What is the City doing about homelessness?
Note: See question #14 for more information about housing. 

Homelessness is a multi-faceted issue. Housing challenges are part of it, but so is mental health and addictions. The homelessness and drug crisis in BC has impacted all of us, and the City (Mayor, Council and staff) are working hard to do what we can. Specifically, we've got a couple programs in place aimed at supporting the most vulnerable populations in the City. This includes the City's Social Development program, run by the City's Social Development Coordinator. You can learn more about the coordinator and the future of this program in the following documents, both of which were adopted by Council in December 2024:

• Social Development Framework
• Social Needs Assessment

We also have a Community Safety Program in place. Community Safety Officers (CSOs) work closely with the City's bylaw officers. CSOs actively engage with the business community, street-involved population, other bylaw staff, RCMP, first responders, public facilities, and service providers to address community safety concerns. This position holds some of the usual compliance and enforcement responsibilities required of bylaw. However, Community Safety Officers prioritize relationship development, system navigation support, and the facilitation of connections to supports and services to address issues in the downtown core.

Social and drug issues are not something the City can address on its own and we take a multisectoral approach. Mayor and Council advocate regularly to the Provincial Government, the Office of the Premier, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions for support and a treatment centre. We also collaborate regularly on strategies and solutions with other agencies such as the RCMP, social agencies, Northern Health, and area businesses.

As for the homeless shelter, we're not sure which one you are referring to, but most of the shelters in town are run by 'Ksan Society and funded by the provincial government. Please reach out to 'Ksan Society if you have questions about them. 

Hi. Thanks for your questions. We recently posted a response to a question about health care on the Budget 2025 project page, as this is one of the questions we received during the budget process. Here's part of that response as it relates to your question about nursing homes and assisted living. Thanks. 

Health care is the responsibility of the Provincial Government; it's not a municipal service. However, City Council consistently advocates for improvements to health care in Terrace and area - including the need for programs and services for seniors. 

Council advocates to and meets regularly with the Northwest First Nations Alliance, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, and the Office of the Premier regarding healthcare in Terrace. Council also meets regularly with Northern Health, to discuss the status of important matters such as physician and staff recruitment, program chanes, service updates, and more. 

Council works hard to support the Health Authority in its efforts to offer high quality, accessible health care that benefits our community. 

We encourage you to reach out to Northern Health for more information.  

To determine how complete Terrace is as a community, we will be mapping “indicators” across four lenses:

1. Housing: the location and type of housing in the community. Indicators in this lens will be used to identify how well the housing stock is meeting residents’ needs through all stages of life, from emergency shelters to market housing and everything in between.
2. Daily Needs: the location and type of amenities and services that residents access on a frequent or daily basis (e.g., food or groceries, employment areas, schools, child care, medical services, and parks and recreation). Indicators in this lens will be used to look at how well different areas of the community are served by different amenities, and how that relates to meeting perceived needs and reducing commute distances.
3. Transportation: the location and type of transportation infrastructure, services, and routes that are available. Indicators in this lens will be used to determine how convenient it is to travel throughout the community using different modes of transportation and how complete and connected the transportation network is in the City.
4. Infrastructure: the location and type of linear municipal infrastructure (e.g., roadways, waterlines, pump and lift stations, storm ponds). Indicators in this lens will be used to measure infrastructure use and cost efficiency. We will also be reviewing where there is existing infrastructure capacity to accommodate future growth.

Following the review of mapped indicators, we will be able to determine baseline conditions for the City and better assess the strengths, opportunities, and challenges to Terrace becoming a more complete community. 

Once chosen indicators have been mapped, we will hold a Project Open House in mid-March with community members to present information on the objectives of the Complete Communities Assessment and the initial findings of the baseline data. We will engage with the community a second time following the scenario testing step of the project, to seek input on the growth scenarios and to inform the Implementation Plan and OCP update process.