Monthly Archives: September 2025

09.27.25
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Project Tiny Hope move-in day is Oct. 1: ‘The first phase of residents living, growing and creating the community we always dreamed of’

On June 27 of last year, construction began on the first tiny home to populate 21 Kains Street, where, eventually, 40 such homes and other amenities will provide safe, affordable housing in a downtown neighbourhood community.
A community of more than just housing, it’s a new beginning.
The Project Tiny Hope partnership includes the YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin, Doug Tarry Homes and Sanctuary Homes.
The community will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom rental units to accommodate adults, youth and families.
And 15 months later, the countdown to move-in day is underway for the residents who will call Project Tiny Hope their new home.

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09.20.25
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Element5’s St. Thomas expansion: ‘We have come here with a long-term vision – to stay, and to help shape the future of building with wood.’

At a ceremony Tuesday morning in St. Thomas, Element5 officially opened its new state-of-the-art glue-laminated production line and unveiled the expansion of its mass timber manufacturing facility in the city’s north end.
Element5 is the province’s first certified manufacturer of cross-laminated timber, and the expansion more than doubles the size of the plant from 130,000 square feet to over 350,000 square feet.
It will create 150 new jobs, increasing the company’s workforce to over 325 employees.
The expansion doubles the facility’s production capacity from 50,000 cubic meters annually to 100,000 cubic meters annually of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glued-laminated timber (Glulam) products.

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09.13.25
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The St. Thomas Terry Fox Run gets a shot of adrenalin for this year and beyond

For 45 years, it has been a fall tradition.
And tomorrow (Sept 14), St. Thomas will join more than 650 communities across Canada in hosting a Terry Fox Run, a fundraiser in support of cancer research.
This year’s event will take place in 1Password Park, notes one of the organizers, Bre Betts.
A St. Thomas native, Betts and her husband have moved back to the city in the past month, and participating in the annual run has been an important family tradition.
And she stresses, “The thing with Terry Fox, like any charitable work, it’s very much reliant on volunteers, so there’s been a very dedicated group here of a few people who have used their might, and who have really chugged it together each year to get something going, so I’m really grateful for that.”

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09.06.25
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Working together ‘on highly collaborative initiatives that support the community’s aim of functionally ending homelessness in the coming years’

A good portion of city council’s attention at Tuesday’s (Sept. 2) meeting was devoted to housing and homelessness initiatives and funding.
Which meant Danielle Neilson, Housing Stability Services Manager, fielded a significant number of questions from the mayor and council.
She authored the St. Thomas-Elgin 10 Year Housing and Homelessness Plan: 2024 Progress Report, which sees city staff and community partners “work together on highly collaborative initiatives that support the community’s aim of functionally ending homelessness in the coming years.”
We briefly touched on this report last week regarding the city’s emergency shelter, The INN.

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