Twenty-two seniors in Yorkton got a new home, as the Allan Bay Manor officially opened in the city last week. The new senior’s residence is a much needed addition to the senior’s housing in the city.

The project cost $3.5 million total, with thirty per cent being provided by the City of Yorkton and the remaining 70 per cent by the provincial and federal governments. The building is owned by the Yorkton Housing Corporation, and residents have been in the building since May.

“We now have 22 new units in this building, and the residents are really enjoying their new space,” says Les Arnelien, manager of the Yorkton Housing Corporation.

The addition of these units means that the housing corporation now manages 132 units for seniors in the city. Arnelien admits that even with Allan Bay, there’s still a shortage of senior’s housing in the city.

“At the present time, even with our 132 units, we have a waiting list of about 50 people to come into the facilities we own and operate. There is a continued need for seniors in the Yorkton area,” Arnelien says.

He notes that senior’s housing helps the market in Yorkton overall, with the 22 units that Allan Bay residents formerly occupied opening up for different families in the city.

The majority of the funding, about $1.5 million, came from the federal government, directed through the Economic Action Plan and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Yorkton-Melville MP Gary Breitkreuz says it’s money well spent.

“I’m very pleased with what I see here, this will be a tremendous boost to Yorkton. It provides housing to seniors who could not normally afford it. We need more of this in the city, but I think this will be just tremendous for our community.”

Given that the population in the area is aging, Breitkreuz says that projects like Allan Bay are needed in the area, and he hopes to see more seniors housing go up in Yorkton in the near future.