Partnership with Holland College adds to provincial housing supply

An additional three housing units built by Holland College students will support Islanders on the social housing registry in Summerside.

The Government of Prince Edward Island, through the PEI Housing Corporation, has partnered with Holland College to create five single-family homes. Last year, two homes were finished through the partnership, which are now occupied by families that had previously been on the housing registry.

“Partnerships like this one with Holland College are important to helping us achieve the goals set out in the province’s housing strategy and our collective effort to ensure all Islanders have access to adequate, affordable and suitable housing. The Government of Prince Edward Island will continue to invest, innovate and collaborate with our partners to increase housing options across the province.”

- Housing, Land and Communities Minister Rob Lantz

Each unit is a 1,200 square foot bungalow with three-bedrooms designed with energy efficiency in mind. Holland College students from multiple programs including carpentry, construction electrical, plumbing/pipefitting and HVAC are involved in building the homes.

“In addition to helping the Government of PEI meet the goals of its housing strategy, the partnership provides valuable experience to students,” said Holland College president Dr. Alexander “Sandy” MacDonald. “Building these units has given our students a sense of the importance of the skills they are acquiring. They aren’t just building structures; they are helping others in their community.”

Since 2019, the Government of Prince Edward Island has created over 300 government-owned affordable housing units through builds and purchases and partnered with private developers to add 261 affordable housing units to their projects. The provincial housing strategy identifies planned investments of $176 million over the next five years to establish 560 new government-owned housing units through new builds and purchases. There are 274 currently under construction.

Media contacts:
April Gallant
Department of Housing, Land and Communities
aldgallant@gov.pe.ca

Sara Underwood
Holland College 
sunderwood@hollandcollege.com