Terrace city council has voted to send a letter to both B.C. housing and the Ministry of Housing voicing concerns with the removal of security presence at a local emergency shelter. 

The move comes after news that security funding to ‘Ksan Society, which runs Joe’s Place, will not be renewed after March 31. 

Joe’s Place is a 40-bed emergency shelter located in southwest Terrace and under contract to B.C. housing. 

“Removing security is ill-advised, unappreciated and frankly not acceptable,” said councillor James Cordeiro, who put forth the motion at the Feb. 23 meeting.

Cordeiro said he thought there would be an ongoing security presence at the shelter. He also said he believes a security presence there benefits staff safety.

“That was one reason why I was not adamantly opposed to it, and begrudgingly went along with it,” he said. 

“I don’t appreciate that the city in effect is now going to have to pick up the tab to be their security.”

RCMP hours at shelter projected to increase

The Terrace RCMP have been tracking the time spent at Joe’s Place Shelter, at request of council. 

In its most recent quarterly report, it noted that officers spent 10.5 hours at the shelter between July to September 2025. 

“Our numbers are going to go up,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Bourguignon at the meeting.

“Before they had security, the numbers were a lot higher than they are currently, and this last quarter they were down significantly.”

Having visible security presence at the location has made a noticeable difference, Bourguignon said.

“At the end of the day, the taxpayer pays 70 per cent of the RCMP cost,” said Terrace Mayor Sean Bujtas to CBC News.

“If we are sending our RCMP there more, it’s just going to put more burden on everyone else.”

B.C. Housing working with ‘Ksan Society

In a statement, B.C. Housing said it recognizes creating safe neighborhoods requires a co-ordinated approach with all levels of government.

“We have heard the community’s concerns and will work with the society to maintain security at the site,” the statement said.

When asked, Bujtas said he has not heard anything about that from B.C. Housing so far, but it would be welcome news. 

“It’s great if they could maintain [security],” he said.

“I think the government should be doing more than maintaining, they should be securing the properties around this facility as well, not just the shelter property.”

B.C. Housing said bylaw enforcement and policing remain the responsibility of local authorities.

“In rare circumstances, we provide funding for security to monitor the property, but only when there is a demonstrated need,” the statement added.

CBC has reached out to ‘Ksan Society for comment, but did not receive a response.