Housing advocates call on Kinew government to add 10K social housing units in new budget

A Winnipeg advocacy group is calling for more affordable housing funding in the next Manitoba budget.

Advocates are calling on the Kinew government to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in social housing in the upcoming provincial budget.

The Right to Housing Coalition said the province needs at least 10,000 new social housing units to meet the needs of the more than 5,000 Winnipeggers who experience homelessness, as well as the thousands of households across the province who live in housing that is unaffordable, in poor condition, or overcrowded.

According to the advocacy group, many low-income tenants are spending more than half of their income on housing in the private rental market.

It also noted rents in social housing are capped at 30 per cent of a household’s income, but there are roughly 6,000 people on the waitlist for those available units.

To combat the issue, the organization outlined three priorities it wants included in the upcoming 2025 provincial budget: a capital and acquisition fund to add 1,650 rent-geared-to-income social housing units in 2025/26 as part of a long-term commitment to add 10,000 social housing units by 2034; a $232 million capital maintenance fund and an operating subsidy fund to upkeep the existing social housing inventory; funding to ensure social housing tenants can access wraparound supports like addictions, mental health, and primary care professionals.

Right to Housing Coalition member Shauna MacKinnon said while Manitoba is moving in the right direction, the province continues to fall behind in its social and affordable housing inventory.

“We need all sorts of housing,” she said.

“We’re getting other housing that’s affordable, like at median-market rent, which is important too, but the scale of need for the kind of housing that we’re advocating for is great, and we’re just not seeing enough investment by all levels of government.”

The coalition called on its supporters to send postcards to Premier Wab Kinew and Finance Minister Adrien Sala asking them to support investments in housing in the upcoming provincial budget.

Minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Bernadette Smith told CTV News Winnipeg she reviewed the coalition’s news release.

“When I look at what we’re doing and the investments that our government has made, $116 million, we’re building more housing. We’re investing in maintenance. We’ve housed over 1,200 people,” she said.

Smith also noted the government’s new homelessness strategy, which involves moving people from encampments into social housing, including 300 new units the province purchased for the initiative.

The government hopes the strategy will help end chronic homelessness by 2031.

Smith said the upcoming budget will show that housing is a priority to the NDP government.

“We want to ensure that people get the supports in the housing that they need, and that housing just isn’t a house, but that the supports are there, and that we are committed to maintaining the housing that we have.”

- With files from CTV’s Jon Hendricks