Indwell and the City of St. Thomas are converting a former public elementary school into supportive housing units for vulnerable residents.
The project addresses critical local housing needs by repurposing a shuttered public asset into a residential facility. This conversion aims to provide stability and support services for individuals facing housing insecurity in Ontario.
Groundbreaking for the project took place on April 9, 2026 [3]. The facility will be located at the site of a former school building, referred to as both the Balaclava and Wellington Street Public School [1, 2, 3].
The development will provide 78 supportive-housing units [1]. The building itself is a historic structure, originally constructed in the late 1800s [2]. By utilizing an existing building, the partnership seeks to preserve local architecture, and expand the city's social infrastructure.
Indwell, a charity based in Hamilton, is leading the conversion in partnership with the municipal government. The initiative follows a trend of transforming underutilized institutional buildings into residential spaces to combat the housing crisis.
The project represents a coordinated effort between the non-profit sector and local government to scale the availability of supportive housing. This model allows for the integration of health and social services directly within the residential environment.
“The development will provide 78 supportive-housing units.”
The conversion of the Balaclava/Wellington Street school reflects a strategic shift toward adaptive reuse in urban planning. By transforming a late-19th-century school into a supportive housing hub, St. Thomas is utilizing existing footprints to address the systemic shortage of affordable, service-integrated housing without requiring entirely new land development.
