Public Services and Procurement Canada
Canada Sells Marine House to Mi’kmaw Society
Everyone deserves a place to call home. However, for many across the country, home ownership and renting are out of reach due to the housing crisis Canada is facing. We need to build more homes, faster, to get Canadians into homes that meet their needs, at prices they can afford. That’s why in Budget 2024 and Solving the Housing Crisis: Canada’s Housing Plan, the federal government announced the most ambitious housing plan in Canadian history: a plan to build 4 million more homes. As part of this plan, the Government of Canada is identifying properties within its portfolio that have the potential for redevelopment into housing.
Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Quebec Lieutenant and the Honourable Darren Fisher, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Member of Parliament for Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, announced that Marine House, located in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, has been sold to the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society (MNFS), in partnership with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) under the Federal Lands Initiative (FLI) program, for redevelopment into affordable housing.
The FLI is a $318.9-million program, administered in partnership with Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada and Canada Lands Company, to transfer and lease surplus federal lands and buildings to eligible applicants for redevelopment into affordable, sustainable, accessible and socially inclusive housing.
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has partnered with CMHC and the MNFS, in consultation with Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn on behalf of the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs and the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia, to deliver this Indigenous-led housing solution. As the proponent for the project, the MNFS will work with its partners to deliver and operate the affordable housing redevelopment.
Once redeveloped, the property will include at least 61 units. Half of these units will be affordable, costing less than 80% of the average market rent. The project will also include space for the various support services of the MNFS, which aim to help residents and build a strong community. This initiative is a forward-thinking effort to meet housing needs and create a supportive, lively community. Occupancy is expected for February 2027.
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-services-procurement/news/2025/03/government-of-canada-completes-sale-of-marine-house-to-mikmaw-native-friendship-society-for-affordable-housing.html