Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees offered free apartments in Saskatoon

Hundreds of Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees now have free room and board thanks to a housing company.

Mainstreet Enterprises Corp started a program where it gave out 100 apartments to fire evacuees and offered them three-months’ free rent.
 
President Bob Dhillon called it the company’s social and moral responsibility to help in a manner they were best at, providing homes.
 
“I think it’s a collective effort, and it’s a prairie way of giving back to the community,” he said. 

“When there was no social infrastructure, when someone’s farm barn burned down, the whole community came together and built a barn.”
 
While nearly 90 per cent of the apartments are in Edmonton, some are in Saskatoon.
 
The company was overwhelmed with responses, Dhillon said, and decided to offer up 100 more apartments with one month free rent, a month-to-month lease and a $500 Ikea gift card.
 
The company had similar programs for Slave Lake fire evacuees and Syrian refugees.