City staff in Kamloops are hoping to receive provincial funding to do a report on affordable housing needs.

Social and community development supervisor Natalie Serl says the city has applied for a grant that would cover up to $50,000 for that report.

She says TRU students did a housing needs assessment just over a year ago, and says the city will be tweaking that report and adding to it.

“I’m pretty confident it won’t cost $50,000 dollars, I am just finalizing the budget, and that is because the university did do such a good job in compiling all the background information needed. So we’ll just need to do the (five-year) forecast piece,” Serl says.

“It’s also very timely to be doing this updated report because of the new housing announcements that have been made; Spero House on Tranquille Road that has opened up. There are some social impacts we’ll be seeing that will help inform the report. It’s also very timely too do be doing it now because we anticipate doing the 2020 point-in-time count in homelessness in March or April (of next year).”

Last month, on April 1, Housing Minister Selina Robinson mandated that each B.C. municipality do a housing needs assessment every five years.