THUNDER BAY — One in four tenants in social housing in the Thunder Bay area feel unsafe in the buildings they reside in.
That's one of the findings of a tenant satisfaction survey conducted by the District of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board.
Results of the survey were presented Thursday at a social services administration board meeting.
The board owns and operates nearly 2,500 social housing units.
Last May, it mailed nearly 2,200 surveys to tenants, receiving responses from about 20 per cent of them.
The response rate is considered statistically significant, representing all TBDSSAB tenants 95 per cent of the time, with a margin of error of plus or minus five per cent.
The proportion of tenants who don't feel safe in their building increased from 13.7 per cent in 2018 — the last time the survey was conducted — to 24.8 per cent this year.
About 64 per cent report feeling safe, but that's down from 79 per cent in 2018.
A separate question asking tenants about safety in the neighbourhood where their building is located also indicates increasing concern about security.
Almost one in three reported not feeling safe in the neighbourhood, an increase from about 23 per cent in the previous survey.
Those tenants who indicated they don't feel safe in their building or neighbourhood were given an opportunity to explain why.
The report submitted to the board found the three main themes in the responses were alcohol and drug activity, crime, and verbal and physical harassment.
Georgina Daniels, the social services board's director of corporate services, told TBnewswatch there's been growing concern in the broader Thunder Bay community about safety issues around the city, and that the board takes the safety and security of its own tenants very seriously.
She noted that a majority of the tenants still feel safe in their homes, but added that the board has done a significant amount of work to improve security.
"We're going to continue to do that work, to try to enhance safety. Not just that in reality they are safe and secure, but that they actually feel safe and secure in their homes," Daniels said.
The social services board reviews its security protocols and practices on an ongoing basis, but this year it commissioned a comprehensive study that's just recently been completed.
Daniels said the results will be presented at the next board meeting, in November, and will be reviewed in conjunction with the results of the tenant survey.
Any potential budget implications in proceeding with recommendations are expected to be considered by the new board next year.
