2021 in review: A look back at the P.E.I. stories that made headlines

It was the second year in which Islanders faced a global pandemic — but it was also a year of hope as the first COVID-19 vaccines were made available to the public, with a return to normal on the horizon.

As 2021 draws to a close, CBC P.E.I. is taking a look back at just some of the stories that made headlines this year.

P.E.I.'s hot housing market continued to skyrocket in 2021.

Home prices have nearly doubled in the last five years, giving sellers the upper hand and freezing out potential buyers.

The cost of renting on the Island continued to soar as well. The rising rents, coupled with chronically low vacancy rates — all of which was exacerbated by the pandemic — left tenants across P.E.I. struggling to find a place to call home. 

Students arriving on the Island to attend post-secondary institutions were left scrambling, one Island woman on a fixed income told CBC News she was facing homelessness and a family of seven was forced to live at a campground over the summer because they couldn't find a place to rent.

A grassroots campaign aimed at helping tenants make sure they aren't paying too much rent, as well as providing advice on challenging illegal rent increases, was launched early in 2021.

Housing advocates have long called for restrictions on short-term rentals, especially in Charlottetown, which they argue is making it even harder for Islanders to find long-term rentals.

The province has expressed support for the idea of a rental registry, but no such registry is currently in place.

P.E.I.'s large-scale COVID-19 vaccine rollout began in 2021 — the first step toward the province reopening and some public health restrictions being lifted. 

Most eligible Islanders over the age of 18 were able to get their first doses in the spring, following a campaign to get health-care workers, seniors over the age of 80, members of Indigenous communities and rotational workers vaccinated.

Mass vaccination clinics started up across the province, as all eligible Islanders were urged to get vaccinated as quickly as possible. 

Premier Dennis King, Chief Public Health Officer Heather Morrison and Chief of Nursing Marion Dowling all received their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine at a mass clinic with the media in attendance.

By late May, the province announced it was moving up the schedule for eligible Islanders to receive their second doses.