Coquitlam temporary homeless shelter officially closes Sunday

With no 11th hour extension in the cards, the last tenants who were sheltering at the SureStay Hotel in Coquitlam have moved out.

Located on Brunette Avenue, the hotel was been functioning as a temporary homeless shelter since May 2020 – in part to stem the spread of COVID-19 among the city’s homeless population.

The shelter was set to close in 2022 and again in 2023 but each time the province signed off on a 12-month extension to maintain support for SureStay’s approximately 30 residents.

“The shelter was always meant to be temporary as the building is not suitable for long-term use,” the Ministry of Housing stated in an email to the Dispatch.

While the shelter was meant to serve as transitional housing, SureStay became permanent for some residents who wouldn’t find any affordable housing to transition to, explained Tri-Cities Homelessness and Housing Task Group co-chair Cristina Pereira when speaking to the Dispatch in 2023.

B.C. Housing pledged to work with Phoenix Society, the shelter operator, to find housing options and relocation supports for the few residents who were still living at the SureStay in late-March.

“We will continue to work with the City of Coquitlam and non-profit operator partners to identify new shelter and supportive housing sites for vulnerable people in the community,” the ministry stated.

There remains a “severe shortage of services” in the Tri-Cities, noted Polly Krier, coordinator for the Tri-Cities Homelessness and Housing Task Group.

“We continue to ask residents to reach out to leaders at all levels of government with a plea to work together to find permanent solutions,” Krier wrote.

The winter shelter program, which provides food and overnight shelter in cold and wet weather, is scheduled to run until April 15. The 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. shelter rotates between four local churches.