A First Nation and a disability support organisation have agreed to work together on a proposed housing development in Fort St John, British Columbia, with the aim of creating accessible homes alongside space for community services.
Blueberry River First Nations and the Fort St. John Association for Community Living signed their partnership agreement on 3 November. The mixed-use project is planned for part of the city’s former hospital site, but it remains a proposal and is still being advanced through government funding approvals.
The partners say their current plans combine market and below-market rental housing with accessible and adaptable homes. They also envisage space for community-serving uses. The partnership agreement does not itself approve construction or establish an opening date.
Jordan Soggie, the association’s chief executive, said the aim was to create a place where people with disabilities could live alongside other members of the community. In the organisations’ joint statement, he said: “This is about much more than developing a building.”
Soggie said the association had been developing the project for about three years and currently supports around 120 people in the Fort St John area. He said a shortage of local housing options could leave people who want to live independently needing to move to another community.
The association says it supports people with developmental disabilities and complex needs. Its services include support for adults and transitional services for younger people moving towards adulthood.
Housing and support needs
Blueberry River First Nations Chief Sherry Dominic said the proposed development could help members who need support during transitional periods or for mental health needs. She said homes would be allocated to members with such needs, although the partners have not announced how many or set out the allocation arrangements in their joint statement.
Dominic also pointed to the possibility of housing for members travelling to or from hospital. Blueberry River is about 80 kilometres north-west of Fort St John, and she said the partnership would increase the Nation’s presence in the city beyond its offices.
The two organisations said their shared objectives included inclusive housing and Indigenous access to housing. They also described the partnership as a way of building a longer-term relationship between their communities.
A former hospital site
Fort St John Mayor Trevor Bolin said the city had donated the land for the proposed development. In a public notice in September 2025, the city had said it intended to sell the site to the association for one Canadian dollar, below its appraised value.
That notice described a purpose-built rental building with at least 50 homes, at least a fifth of them below market rent. The partnership announcement does not specify a final number of homes, and the scale remains subject to the development process.
Earlier in 2025, the city said the potential project would include a mix of one- to three-bedroom homes, as well as subsidised units for people with disabilities. Those were preliminary plans rather than a guarantee of the final design.
The housing proposal forms part of a wider redevelopment of the former hospital site. A separate 115-home seniors’ building on another part of the site was nearing the end of construction when the partnership was announced.
The proposed development is being pursued under BC Builds, a provincial programme delivered by BC Housing. The programme has worked with landowners, First Nations, non-profits and developers, and offered low-interest repayable loans and grants intended to help reduce the cost of building rental homes.
For the Fort St John project, the partners have not announced rents, an application process or a construction timetable. The agreement brings a new partner into the plan, but the homes and community spaces remain dependent on the proposal progressing.
Featured image: AI-generated illustration.
