Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees can now use a new online housing registry to find much-needed short-term accommodations.
“Losing a home and personal belongings can be devastating. Most of us will never truly understand the experiences of the Fort McMurray evacuees,” said Greg Dewling, CEO of the Capital Region Housing Corp., at the official site launch Monday morning.
The housing corporation worked with Yardi Canada Ltd., the Alberta Residential Landlord Association, the City of Edmonton and other industry partners to develop the housing registry. The rentcafe.ca service is also available through a mobile app.
“Home is essential to moving forward and we are here to help families find a home again,” Dewling said.
Yardi Canada developed the site in under 72 hours following a request by the housing corporation, said Peter Altobelli, the vice-president and general manager of Yardi Canada Ltd.
The site launched Friday morning for landlords to list available rental units. By Monday morning, about 2,000 rental units had been listed across Canada.
Most of the units listed on the site provide breaks for Fort McMurray evacuees, such as reduced damage deposits or two-months free rent.
Dewling noted that the Edmonton market has had rent incentives for the last number of months due to a high vacancy rate, which was 4.2 per cent as of October 2015, up from 2014’s 1.7 per cent vacancy rate.
While Yardi Canada usually charges landlords to list rental properties on its site, the company has offered those services free for six months to help Fort McMurray evacuees find housing.
Capital Region Housing Corp. is also working with the Wood Buffalo Housing Development Corp. to ensure they are connecting with any affordable housing tenants who have evacuated to the Edmonton area, Dewling said.
The housing corporation has already received some applications for its affordable housing units, 39 of which were available at last count, he said.
Currently, there is a waiting list of 4,500 families for social housing, and the housing corporation is receiving about 300 applications a month, Dewling said, noting that all applications, including any by Fort McMurray evacuees, will be assessed based on need.
For its affordable housing units, the corporation is offering breaks to Fort McMurray evacuees alongside private landlords including reduced damage deposits of $199 and up to two-months free rent. Like most private landlords, the housing corporation is asking for proof of residency in Fort McMurray.
Dewling said the corporation is also working with the provincial government to address anyone who may need rental assistance due to the wildfire evacuations. He noted rental assistance was made available to those in need in previous emergencies including the Slave Lake fires and the southern Alberta floods.