Nanaimo – Sparrow - 1298 Nelson Street

BC Housing is leasing 78 units at the former Travellers Lodge care facility located at 1298 Nelson Street to provide transitional housing with supports for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Nanaimo. Pacifica Housing has been selected to operate the program, which has been named “Sparrow.”

This project is funded by the Province's HEARTH program. The Ministry of Housing and City of Nanaimo signed a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2024 committing to work together to create more housing and shelter options for people experiencing homelessness in the community. This project is part of that commitment.

Each unit in the building will be for one person and will have a locking door, bed, private washroom and place to store personal belongings. The building also has shared amenity spaces and gardens for residents to gather.

BC Housing announced this project in July 2024 and a phased move-in is starting February 2025.

Services & Supports

BC Housing and Pacifica Housing will work with community service providers to offer the housing units to single adults (19+) of all genders using a Coordinated Access and Assessment process. This process will:

• identify people in Nanaimo waiting for housing and individualized support services;
• For this building specifically, prioritize individuals who have expressed a desire to minimize exposure to alcohol and substances.

This, in turn, will help free up other essential programs for others experiencing homelessness.

Support services will include:

• 24/7 on-site supports
• Individualized attention
• Integrated supports and case planning
• Two meals a day and laundry services
• Life skills training
• Health & wellness education, along with self-management skills

About the Operator

BC Housing has selected Pacifica Housing through a fair and open process to manage the building and provide services to program participants. Pacifica Housing is one of Vancouver Island’s largest providers of affordable homes and supportive services. The organization operates over 1,500 units of subsidized, supportive and transitional housing in Nanaimo and Greater Victoria, including specialized supported housing for seniors.

Learn more about Pacifica Housing by visiting pacificahousing.ca.

Community Updates

July 2024: We wrote to neighbours and announced our plans to lease the former Travellers Lodge and provided contact information for questions. During that time, we met with immediate interested parties at request.

February 2025: We wrote to neighbours again to introduce the operator Pacifica Housing and provide the latest project updates and opening timeline.

Ongoing: To help build a healthy relationship with the neighbourhood, Pacifica Housing and other project partners plan to host regular meetings with community representatives. The goal of these meetings is to help effectively integrate the housing program into the community. Pacifica Housing will share more information about these meetings by mail.

Who to Call

To support neighbours and the Nanaimo community, we have added a Who to Call infosheet. This sheet provides a quick list of important contact details and in which situations they could be used.

Get in Touch

For general questions about the project and the Province’s HEARTH program, please email BC Housing at: communityrelations@bchousing.org.

For questions about program operations at Sparrow, please email Pacifica Housing at: communityfeedback@pacificahousing.ca.