Surrey - Newton Supportive Housing - The Nest

Consultation has concluded

A white, three-storey supportive housing building on a clear day.


BC Housing and The Phoenix Society are pleased to announce that The Nest has opened at 13620 80th Avenue in Surrey. Residents are moving into their new homes in July. This new housing provides self-contained homes for residents of Surrey who are at risk of, or currently experiencing, homelessness.  

The Nest will have 40 residences including 16 supportive recovery units for people who have completed a 90-day treatment program, and 24 for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The program’s supports will focus on equipping residents in building their skills and becoming more independent.

This project would be the third site to be developed as part of the commitment by the Province to deliver 250 new supportive housing units in Surrey.

The Name

The Phoenix is an ancient symbol of transformation across cultures, a symbol of rebirth and of new beginnings, individual transformation, and community transformation. “The Nest” symbolizes a place where individuals can be supported through connection, empowerment and stability.

Housing with Supports

Supportive housing is a self-contained home with supports provided on-site, to ensure people can achieve and maintain housing stability. Supports include outreach workers, wellness checks, life skills training, employment assistance, connection and referral to community services and support groups. Residents have access to counselling, as well as health, mental health, and addiction recovery services.

BC Housing and the Phoenix Society lead the resident selection process, in collaboration with local service providers. All residents pay rent and sign a program agreement.

The Phoenix Society

The Phoenix Society are the selected operator and will provide onsite 24/7 management. The Phoenix Society is a non-profit society dedicated to providing accessible services and opportunities to people who face barriers related to addiction, mental health, housing, education, criminal justice involvement and/or employment. The Society responds to the needs of their clients by offering an extensive continuum of care from outreach and harm reduction services to a diverse range of residential addiction treatment, housing and recovery supports.

Community Engagement

BC Housing and the Phoenix Society held an online community engagement session on June 25, 2020, to provide more information about the project, answer questions and collect community feedback.

Community Advisory Committee

A Community Advisory Committee (CAC) has been formed. The purpose of the CAC is to mitigate and address any related concerns or questions that arise and provide the project team and a broad cross-section of the community with the ability to:

  • Build and maintain positive relationships amongst the community, the building operators and the program partners
  • Facilitate information sharing and dialogue
  • Identify and resolve any issues, opportunities and concerns related to the building

If you have any questions about the CAC, please contact The Phoenix Society at thenest@phoenixsociety.com

Please send questions and feedback to communityrelations@bchousing.org


BC Housing and The Phoenix Society are pleased to announce that The Nest has opened at 13620 80th Avenue in Surrey. Residents are moving into their new homes in July. This new housing provides self-contained homes for residents of Surrey who are at risk of, or currently experiencing, homelessness.  

The Nest will have 40 residences including 16 supportive recovery units for people who have completed a 90-day treatment program, and 24 for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The program’s supports will focus on equipping residents in building their skills and becoming more independent.

This project would be the third site to be developed as part of the commitment by the Province to deliver 250 new supportive housing units in Surrey.

The Name

The Phoenix is an ancient symbol of transformation across cultures, a symbol of rebirth and of new beginnings, individual transformation, and community transformation. “The Nest” symbolizes a place where individuals can be supported through connection, empowerment and stability.

Housing with Supports

Supportive housing is a self-contained home with supports provided on-site, to ensure people can achieve and maintain housing stability. Supports include outreach workers, wellness checks, life skills training, employment assistance, connection and referral to community services and support groups. Residents have access to counselling, as well as health, mental health, and addiction recovery services.

BC Housing and the Phoenix Society lead the resident selection process, in collaboration with local service providers. All residents pay rent and sign a program agreement.

The Phoenix Society

The Phoenix Society are the selected operator and will provide onsite 24/7 management. The Phoenix Society is a non-profit society dedicated to providing accessible services and opportunities to people who face barriers related to addiction, mental health, housing, education, criminal justice involvement and/or employment. The Society responds to the needs of their clients by offering an extensive continuum of care from outreach and harm reduction services to a diverse range of residential addiction treatment, housing and recovery supports.

Community Engagement

BC Housing and the Phoenix Society held an online community engagement session on June 25, 2020, to provide more information about the project, answer questions and collect community feedback.

Community Advisory Committee

A Community Advisory Committee (CAC) has been formed. The purpose of the CAC is to mitigate and address any related concerns or questions that arise and provide the project team and a broad cross-section of the community with the ability to:

  • Build and maintain positive relationships amongst the community, the building operators and the program partners
  • Facilitate information sharing and dialogue
  • Identify and resolve any issues, opportunities and concerns related to the building

If you have any questions about the CAC, please contact The Phoenix Society at thenest@phoenixsociety.com

Please send questions and feedback to communityrelations@bchousing.org

Consultation has concluded

  • How is this project going to be a success when Phoenix has done a terrible job running transitional housing at Rising Sun at 13969 100 Avenue. They are not even providing the minimum transitional housing rooms that the legal declaration sets out until the end of March 2025.

    Corwin F. asked over 3 years ago

    The Phoenix Society is dedicated to providing accessible services and opportunities to people who face barriers related to addiction, mental health, housing, education, criminal justice involvement and/or employment. 

    BC Housing evaluates the non-profit operator’s performance through a combination of onsite visits, community feedback, as well as operational and financial reviews.  We also receive feedback from other partners who collaborate with to provide supports, such as Interior Health.

    The Society responds to the needs of their clients by offering an extensive continuum of care from outreach and harm reduction services to a diverse range of residential addiction treatment, housing and recovery supports. This follows the guidelines set out in the Residential Policies Guideline: 

    An individual in transitional housing may be moving from homelessness, an emergency shelter, a health or correctional facility or from an unsafe housing situation. 

    Supportive housing is a self-contained studio home with supports provided on-site, to ensure people can achieve and maintain housing stability. Priority would be given to Surrey residents who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and meet the eligibility criteria. BC Housing and the Phoenix Society would lead the resident selection process, in collaboration with local service providers. All new residents would pay rent and sign a program agreement and good neighbour agreement.  

  • Not a question ,but a statement . SUPPORTIVE HOUSING IS 100 % DIFFERENT THAN TREATMENT OR RECOVERY BASED APPROACH . As soon as i hear statements such as "WHAT A TERRIBLE PLACE TP PUT HOMES" I have 2 statements .! Not all of these people desire abstinence based approaches and 2 ok so lets put these modulars in your area , how about as your neighbours ? You probably wont like that ? I am a harm reduction /outreach/peer support /support worker in Fraser Health and we are all doing our best . So most negative ideas and stigma have zero place here .

    Cb7161 asked over 3 years ago

    We agree that supportive housing is an important step in maintaining housing stability. 

    BC Housing’s supportive housing buildings are operated based on the widely recognized and proven Housing First model. Residents at these sites, and all other supportive housing buildings that BC Housing is affiliated with, are permitted to make their own choices regarding lifestyle. This includes the decision to abstain or use drugs/alcohol in the privacy of their homes. 

    We take a harm reduction approach, which means staff is available to support any residents who are in various phases of substance use. When residents are ready to make a change, staff on site would connect them with the appropriate support services.

  • The supportive housing at 140 th Street and 80th avenue is a 64 bed rehabilitation / transition facility. The bridge across Hunt Creek will link the two facilities through a quiet neighborhood and also past an elementary school. The residents in this neighborhood are very concerned that the people recovering from substance abuse will be travelling back and forth between these two facilities. Is there any way this will be monitored ?

    Brad asked over 4 years ago

    Thank you for your message and the opportunity to clarify some information. Your input has been noted and will be included in a summary report provided to the City of Surrey as part of the temporary use permit process for the site.

    The City  of Surrey’s transportation department is working on a proposal for a pedestrian bridge. Public consultation regarding the proposed bridge has not started yet. Please contact Katarina Stevovic in the City’s Transportation Engineering section with any questions or comments about the proposed pedestrian bridge. She can be reached by email at Katarina.Stevovic@surrey.ca or by telephone at 604-591-4426.

    All residents in supportive housing buildings pay rent and sign a program agreement (similar to a tenancy agreement). They have the same rights as any person living in a rental property and are able to come and go and move throughout the community as they please.

  • Why is this a Temporary Use Permit if you plan to develop the site into 40 units of supportive housing? How large will the building footprint be? How many floors? I've read your material about Supportive Housing and visited the Phoenix Society's website. How have the neighbours reacted to the Quibble Creek and Rising Sun Villa facilities? Do you have statistics from RCMP or City of Surrey about any change to the number of police incidents before and after these facilities are operational? This particular location (80th and King George) doesn't seem to offer much in the way of community services to residents. There are a few restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores. This neighbourhood has plenty of challenges.

    Andy asked over 4 years ago

    Thank you for your message and the opportunity to clarify some information. Your input has been noted and will be included in a summary report provided to the City of Surrey as part of the temporary permit use process for the site.

    The proposed project would be purpose-built and designed so that it can be moved at the end of the ten-year lease. The proposed design would be three stories and would include 40 new studio apartments with on-site supports.

    The Phoenix Society has over 30 years experience supporting people experiencing homelessness, mental illness and who have problematic substance use. They offer a broad range of care options from outreach and harm reduction services to a diverse range of residential addiction treatment, housing and recovery supports. They have established a reputation as excellent partners in the community.

    Potential supportive housing developments are considered with many factors in mind, including proximity to community services (health services, commercial and recreational activities), accessibility to transit, adequate lot size, connections to utilities and compatible land use policies.

    BC Housing, along with the rest of the Province, relies on the RCMP to provide information regarding crime statistics. The Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General Policing and Security Branch released a report for Crime Statistics in British Columbia, 2018 based on information gathered from Statistics Canada and various Ministries. You can access the report on the Government of BC’s website, here.   

    We have posted a recording of the online community engagement session that was held on June 25. There were many great questions asked during that session that may also be of interest to you.

  • Why is the meeting been held between 5pm – 6pm on a week day. There are several individuals working and this is not the best time. Most people are either working, traveling from work or making dinner. Is this done on purpose ?

    greg asked over 4 years ago

    We hope you can join us in the online community engagement session on June 25 to learn more about the project, ask questions and provide feedback. You can find more information, including how to register for the session, at https://letstalkhousingbc.ca/newton.

     We recognize the time chosen for the session may not work for everyone. If you are unable to attend, the session will be recorded and posted online to view at your convenience. You are also welcome to send questions and feedback to communityrelations@bchousing.org. We will ensure they are included as part of the report to the City of Surrey.

  • Why pick 80th & King George Blvd to put “Supportive Housing”. There are so many drug dealers between King George to the end of 80th (bear creek) Lots of drug addicts living inside the forest in this area, Also one of the homes in Leeside Mobile park entertain drug addicts and homeless all day and night. Temperature for recovering addicts would be at an all time high! Garbage and drug and drug Paraphernalia is all over this area. Will this mess increase? Leeside Park is always cleaning this up will the people in this housing unit contribute to the mess or? How do you know if the tenants are doing drugs/drinking are they aloud to partake? Are they aloud to have people move in with them? Are there rules that they must follow to live there? What happens if they break the rules? How many warnings do they get before being evicted? Will any of the tenants hold down a full time job? If yes how many? Does social assistant pay for everyone’s rent? Tell me 3 success stories from other supportive housing? I’d like to hear from other neighbours with supportive housing in their neighborhood. What happens to all the HOMELESS people that already live here?? I understand crime will go up for 6 months once the building is occupied! What do I need to do to feel safe? Will I be able to walk my dog up 80th and feel safe? The value of my home is going to go down who will make up the loss? Real Estate agents have already told a few of us good luck in selling! Leeside Mobile Park is “Private Property” will the residents respect this? Please confirm the trees will NOT be removed as they are my only privacy from the building? There is drug deals that happen over the fence where the housing is being built, will this be stopped?

    Chenderson asked over 4 years ago

    Thank you for your message and the opportunity to clarify some information. Your input has been noted and will be included in a summary report provided to the City of Surrey as part of the temporary permit use process for the site.

    A common misconception around supportive housing is that all residents have addictions issues. It is unfortunate that those experiencing homelessness are so often painted with the same brush when in reality there are many reasons why someone might have become homeless or need support in maintaining a home. They are seniors, people with disabilities, people who have employment but no housing, and people who are working through mental health concerns and/or substance use.

    The concerns you are experiencing with garbage and drug paraphernalia are existing issues in the community. The best way to reduce these concerns, and public drug use/needles/etc., is to provide housing with supports to bring people indoors to safe and supportive environments.

    All residents in supportive housing buildings pay rent and sign a program agreement (similar to a tenancy agreement) that outlines expectations about appropriate and respectful behavior. Both staff and residents will be committed to keeping the property cleaned and maintained, just as any other resident in the neighborhood. Residents have the same rights as any person living in a rental property and would be able to come and go as they please and make their own choices in regard to lifestyle. This includes the decision to abstain or use drugs/alcohol in the privacy of their homes. If they choose to use, the operators will work with each tenant ensure they use safely.

    The Program Agreement signed by residents would address appropriate and respectful behavior as it relates to the health and safety of themselves and others. The Phoenix Society may end an agreement at any time if a resident is:

    • Engaging or behaving in a manner which is abusive and/or a threat to the mental or physical health or safety of anyone in the building/community;
    • Significantly disrupting the quiet enjoyment of other participants and/or neighbours; and 
    • Engaging in willful vandalism or damage to the building, property or community.

    Studies show that property values immediately surrounding supportive housing sites typically keep pace or surpass similar housing in surrounding communities. This suggests that introducing supportive or affordable housing does not affect residential property values.

    We hope you can join us in the online community engagement session on June 25 to learn more about the project, ask questions and provide feedback. You can find more information, including how to register for the session, at https://letstalkhousingbc.ca/newton. If you are unable to attend, the session will be recorded and posted online to view at your convenience. You are also welcome to send questions and feedback to communityrelations@bchousing.org.

  • Would like to know if the existing community has any say in this project. Many seniors live in this area and I must say there are grave concerns as to what projects are going in here Who is going to monitor, on a constant basis the comings and goings of these people. Why have other areas not been considered for this project Why has some empty buildingd (the like of Riverview) not been considered? Buildings already exist and wud need to be updated only. I'm pretty sure there are several in existance. Medical buildings are nearby everywhere in Surrey What is going to happen to reality costs. Prices are going to go down even more I would have no problem with a non-assist senior complex but I have strong issues and concerns with what is currently being proposed I do not want this in my neighbourhood What is the cost of this project AND where is the money coming from. We are already taxed to death in this city/province!

    Faith asked over 4 years ago

    Thank you for your message and the opportunity to clarify some information. Your input has been noted and will be included in a summary report provided to the City of Surrey as part of the temporary permit use process for the site.

    Surrey is facing an ongoing housing crisis. These new homes are needed to ensure some of Surrey’s most vulnerable people can access a basic and fundamental human right: housing. They will provide an opportunity for people to leave the streets and shelter system for safe and stable housing, towards improved quality of life.

    All residents in supportive housing buildings pay rent and sign a program agreement (similar to a tenancy agreement) that outlines expectations about appropriate and respectful behavior. Residents have the same rights as any person living in a rental property and would be able to come and go as they please. To ensure the safety of residents, staff and neighbours, developments like these typically feature optimized lighting, security cameras, fob access only, staffed reception, and a contained outdoor space for smoking and dog walking.

    Potential supportive housing developments are considered with many factors in mind, including proximity to community services (health services, commercial and recreational activities), accessibility to transit, adequate lot size, connections to utilities and compatible land use policies. BC Housing has been working extensively with the City of Surrey to identify potential sites for supportive housing in order to confront community pressures regarding the degree of homelessness experienced in Surrey.  New facilities are being located in a number of communities, including Surrey North, Guildford and now this proposed project in Newton.

    Studies show that property values immediately surrounding supportive housing sites typically keep pace or surpass similar housing in surrounding communities. This suggests that introducing supportive or affordable housing does not affect residential property values.

    We will provide details on funding for this site as the project moves closer to construction.

    We hope you can join us in the online community engagement session on June 25 to learn more about the project, ask questions and provide feedback. You can find more information, including how to register for the session, at https://letstalkhousingbc.ca/newton. If you are unable to attend, the session will be recorded and posted online to view at your convenience. You are also welcome to send questions and feedback to communityrelations@bchousing.org. We will ensure they are included as part of the report to the City of Surrey

  • The Petro Canada across the street is a notorious hangout of opioid dealers and users. How is building a recovery house in this location going to prevent "triggers" for the recovering addicts. This is a terrible location for this building. How about a location in South Surrey?

    vdogg asked over 4 years ago

    Thank you for your message and the opportunity to clarify some information. Your input has been noted and will be included in a summary report provided to the City of Surrey as part of the temporary permit use process for the site.

    This building is not a “recovery house.” It is supportive housing - or safe and secure homes with supports provided on-site, 24/7 to help people achieve and maintain housing stability. Supports could include outreach workers, wellness checks, life skills training, employment assistance, connection and referral to community services and support groups.

    People who experience homelessness are as varied as any neighbour and it is unfortunate that they are often painted with the same brush. They are seniors, people with disabilities, people who have employment but no housing, and people who are working through mental health concerns and/or substance use. For residents who may be working through substance use, BC Housing works with the Health Authority, local police and City by-law, as well as our supportive housing operators to ensure that the approach to supporting those with addictions follows an internationally demonstrated Housing First and harm reduction process.

    We encourage you to participate in the online community engagement session on June 25 to learn more about the project, ask questions and provide feedback. You can find more information, including how to register for the session, at https://letstalkhousingbc.ca/newton.