1944, Commission of Inquiry on Housing and Town Planning in St. John's, Newfoundland Government

1944, Commission of Inquiry on Housing and Town Planning in St. John's, Newfoundland Government

Background & mandate

• The city of St. John’s (Newfoundland) faced acute housing problems in the early 1940s: a large central slum area, many substandard houses, inadequate services (water, sewer) and overcrowding. 

• In April 1942, the City Council asked the Newfoundland Government’s Commission of Government to appoint an enquiry to examine housing and town‐planning issues in St. John’s.

• The Commission was formally appointed under the Public Enquiries Act on or about 8 May 1942. 

• Leadership: Chaired by Brian Dunfield, with ~13 members representing the city, business, and civic organizations. 

Key findings and recommendations

• The Commission carried out a large survey of housing: of ≈4,613 houses examined, over 1,700 were deemed substandard and in need of replacement. 

• Major conclusions: the housing crisis was as much a town‐planning/urban development problem as it was a purely housing supply issue — i.e., narrow streets, lack of zoning, haphazard growth. 

• Major recommendation: creation of a dedicated statutory housing corporation (or housing authority) to acquire land, service it, and develop new housing and suburbs in a planned fashion. 

• The fifth interim report (January 1944) laid out detailed proposals and provisional estimates for a suburban extension and housing development. 

Outcomes

• In July 1944 the city government (with the Commission of Government’s approval) created the St. John’s Housing Corporation (SJHC) to implement the recommendations. 

• One major implementation was the development of the garden‐suburb Churchill Park just north of St. John’s as a planned residential area built under this new regime.

Significance

• The CEHTP marks a turning point in the urban planning history of St. John’s: moving from reactive housing fixes toward planned suburban development and modern town‐planning principles.

• It also reflects the wartime-era boost in resources and impetus for public infrastructure in Newfoundland. 

• Although it did not fully solve the central slum problem immediately, the groundwork laid by the Commission and the Housing Corporation was critical for post-war housing and urban development in the city. 

Caveats / Things to Note

• The Commission issued a series of interim reports rather than a single final comprehensive one. 

• While the garden suburb concept was promoted as a modern solution, it did not fully address affordability for the lowest‐income residents of the central slum. 

• As with many planning initiatives of the era, implementation depended on broader economic, political and institutional factors (including the arrival of Confederation in 1949).