A seniors housing non-profit saved Elliot Lake, but now a local charity says its holding the city back
When the uranium mines closed for good in Elliot Lake, the small northern Ontario city was able to reinvent itself as a retirement community.
To do that, the city created a non-profit organization called Retirement Living that was tasked with managing houses and apartment buildings that were originally built for people who worked at the mines.
"In 1990, when the mines were unloading those houses, they were either gonna have to give them to the city or, you know, pay the taxes on them or demolish them, all of which would have cost them too much money," said Peter Harris, the CEO of the Silver Birch Centre, a charity that promotes the arts and economic development in Elliot Lake.
Low rental costs, especially compared to southern Ontario, coupled with the quiet lifestyle Elliot Lake promised, proved to be a winning combination.
"They rented them out and it was very successful," Harris said. "It helped keep the town afloat."
But Harris now argues the time has come for Retirement Living to help Elliot Lake by selling off some of its housing stock.
"Every year Retirement Living says like 20 or 30 of these detached or semi-detached houses become available as retirees, you know, become ill or… leave town because of family reasons," he said.
Harris estimates that selling those 20 to 30 homes each year would generate around $9 million, which the city could use to address crumbling infrastructure.
"The last big construction boom was in the 1970s, but prior to that, the old neighbourhoods were built in the 1950s," Harris said.
"So these streets, sewers and water main supplies are like 70 years old. They are decaying."
A history of crumbling infrastructure
Elliot Lake is currently working to repair its only arena, which was closed out of fears its wooden structure could collapse back in September 2023.
The municipal swimming pool was closed for two years for renovations, before re-opening at the end of 2024.
And Elliot Lake's Algo Centre Mall collapsed in 2012, which killed two people and injured more than 20 others.
Retirement Living owned the mall through its for-profit subsidiary NorDev, and was heavily criticized in the 2014 Report of the Elliot Lake Commission of Inquiry.
Commissioner Paul Bélanger concluded, "Secrecy and confidentiality often trumped candour, transparency, and openness. It pervaded contractual and professional relationships, and even the municipal administration sought to cloak some of its activities from public view."
Harris said that in his opinion, Retirement Living is more interested in preserving its relevancy by continuing to manage its properties, than to sell those properties and transfer the proceeds to the city.
"What's wrong with this picture? The city's broke and Retirement Living's rich. Those houses were given to Elliot Lake to help Elliot Lake. Not to create a bureaucracy that takes care of itself," he said.
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