Publication date: Sep 06, 2022 • 8 hours ago • 3 minutes read • 47 comments Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during an announcement and groundbreaking ceremony at the Sen̓áḵSquamish Nation housing development site in Vancouver, Tuesday, September 6, 2022. The federal government is providing a $1.4 billion loan to a Vancouver First Nation to build 3,000 homes on land that was once an ancient village that was burned and expropriated a century ago. The Squamish Nation says it’s the largest Indigenous-led housing and retail development in Canadian history. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS

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The Government of Canada will help finance the Squamish First Nation’s Sen̓áḵw development in Kitsilano by providing a low-interest loan of $1.4 billion.

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Premier Justin Trudeau announced the loan Tuesday morning at a press conference hosted by the Squamish Nation at the site of the planned project. Start your day with a roundup of BC-focused news and opinion delivered straight to your inbox at 7am, Monday to Friday. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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“This project is the largest First Nations economic partnership in Canadian history. Initiatives like these are reconciliation in action,” Trudeau said. “It’s part of our vision for a better future for everyone.” The Sen̓áḵw project is planned to be a high-density development of 6,000 homes in 11 towers, built on a four-hectare section—equivalent to about four city blocks—land reserve around the southern end of the Burrard Bridge. The loan announced Tuesday will finance the construction of the first two of four planned phases of the project, about 3,000 homes. The low-interest loan will be the largest loan to date through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s rental construction financing program, which was launched in 2017 to support rental construction across Canada with a target of more than 71,000 new rental homes.

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The Squamish Nation reclaimed the property, a small piece of a long-standing First Nations community in the area, in 2003 after a lengthy legal battle. Sen̓áḵw is being developed by the Squamish First Nation in partnership with Westbank, one of Vancouver’s largest real estate developers, and initial work to clear the site began last month. The Sen̓áḵw project has been publicly praised by municipal, provincial and now federal leaders, as well as many Vancouverites who welcome the large number of transit-oriented rental housing near downtown. But some residents, including the low-density Kits Point neighborhood next to Sen̓áḵw, have raised concerns about the size and scale of the development, which would include towers as high as 59 stories.

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Asked how he would respond to those concerns and whether residents of Canada’s major urban centers should expect more similar high-density developments in the future, Trudeau said he has heard from many Vancouverites affected by the housing crisis. “This investment, this creation of thousands of new affordable rental units — a number of them low-income rental units — will make a huge difference in the lives of thousands of families. “This will be a big step forward for Vancouver,” Trudeau said. “And I know that’s good for the city, the county and the country.” Squamish Nation councilor Khelsilem, front left, speaks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they arrive for an announcement and groundbreaking at the First Nation’s Sen̓áḵw housing development site. Photo by DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS Affordability criteria for CMHC’s rental construction financing initiative state that 20 percent of the units in a development must have below-market rents. Of the 6,000 rental homes in Sen̓áḵw, the Squamish Nation plans for 1,200 units — or 20 percent — to have below-market rents.

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Khelsilem, president of the Squamish Nation council, began his remarks by acknowledging the Squamish families who lived on the site and were forcibly evicted in the early 20th century when the village burned. Khelsilem said that when the entity now known as the Squamish Nation was created in 1923 from the amalgamation of 16 different bands, they combined their financial accounts and “all their economic wealth accumulated up to that point would today be worth about 1.2 million dollars”. The Sen̓áḵw project is expected to generate more than $10 billion for future generations of the Squamish Nation, Khelsilem said. “Wealth that we will create from our lands to support the aspirations, the dreams, the hopes of the people of Squamish… The hope that I think every civilization has, that the next generation will have a better life than we did.” [email protected] twitter.com/fumano

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