Boyle Street receives $21M from federal government for central Edmonton hub

Boyle Street Community Services is now a lot closer to reaching its $49.5-million fundraising goal for its new headquarters in central Edmonton.

Boyle Street executive director Jordan Reiniger and Edmonton Liberal MP Randy Boissonnault announced Friday that the social agency will receive $21 million through a new federal program that supports green buildings for underserved communities.

The social agency applied for the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program, which launched last year, and has raised more than $24 million for its King Thunderbird Centre (okimaw peyesew kamik in Cree).

"We're at a place financially where there's no barriers anymore to moving forward," Reiniger told reporters.

"We're starting construction and we're full steam ahead."

He said the federal funds will allow Boyle Street to realize its full vision for the building, which is scheduled to open in June of next year.

The new carbon-neutral building, blocks away from Boyle Street's previous headquarters near Rogers Place, will provide health and housing services to people experiencing poverty and homelessness.

Energy efficiency enhancements are expected to reduce the building's energy consumption by about 99 per cent and annual greenhouse gas emissions by 709 tonnes.

Edmonton Centre MP Randy Boissonnault speaks about the federal government's investment in Boyle Street Community Services' new location. (Jamie McCannel/CBC)

Boyle Street agreed to sell its previous building to the Katz Group in 2021 and left the space, after not renewing its lease, at the end of September last year.

Without a hub, the social agency has been offering services in temporary locations.

CBC Edmonton reported in February that a subsidiary of the Katz Group was suing the social agency for breach of contract. The dispute is over a conditional $5 million donation for the King Thunderbird Centre.

Reiniger said arbitration for that dispute is ongoing.

Boissonnault, the MP for Edmonton Centre, said the new building will be a "transformative centre" for the city and that the investment marks the biggest to date for Alberta in this funding round for the new federal program.

"We pushed, we never let go and we got the job done," he said.