Trailer relocation could pave way for new Fort Erie apartments: Insinna

Temporary housing trailers near the Beer Store at Garrison Road and King Street are set to relocate in April to a serviced St. Catharines site as Niagara Region Housing advances its broader housing plans, including potential apartment development on the Fort Erie parcel.

The announcement follows Fort Erie Regional Councillor Tom Insinna’s recent confirmation as secretary of the Niagara Region Housing board, who told Fort Erie Radio about ongoing efforts to expand the affordable housing supply while managing long wait times the homeless face and rising rental costs affecting residents.

Niagara Region purchased the St. Catharines relocation site so sewer, water and electrical servicing can be completed before the temporary housing trailers move, according to Insinna.

Insinna said he intends to press the Niagara Region to transfer or dedicate the Garrison Road lands for apartment construction once the trailers leave, potentially through partnerships or modular building approaches similar to a recent Welland housing project.

“We have to look outside the box and see what we can do, because saying we can’t do this or that doesn’t solve anything,” he said.

Subsidized housing wait times in Fort Erie now sit at roughly 11 years, up from about seven years when Insinna joined regional housing governance about four years ago.

Market rents in Niagara continue to outpace geared-to-income housing levels. Insinna estimates geared-to-income rent for one adult with one child at about $900 monthly in Fort Erie, and roughly $1,200 for a one-bedroom rental.

“There’s nothing for seniors or anyone else to go to right now, and that’s the big problem,” he noted.

New apartment development near the Garrison Road and King Street area could create what Insinna described as a “domino effect,” where older residents who no longer want to maintain a house move into accessible rental units, which in turn frees existing homes for other residents.

Insinna also raised concerns about expiring affordable housing agreements tied to mortgages that often end after about 25 years, which could reduce subsidized units unless incentives keep landlords in the program.

Regional housing discussions include ongoing monthly board talks about homelessness tracking across Niagara municipalities and the difficulty of understanding the full scope of how many residents there are without stable housing.

“We know who is out there on the street, but we don’t know who is couch surfing. And they’re homeless, quite frankly,” Insinna said.

Insinna has an upcoming meeting with Town of Fort Erie CAO Chris McQueen to discuss next steps and pressure points for advancing the apartment development on Garrison Road after the trailer relocation, which he hopes will progress the initiative further.

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