Housing is a basic human need, essential to survival, health and well-being. Housing provides a foundation to address poverty, crime, addiction, poor health, unemployment, gender-based violence, and the apprehension of children by Child and Family Services. Additionally, we cannot end homelessness without ensuring access to housing.
The Problem – Thousands of people are unable to find stable housing in Manitoba. The private rental market is unaffordable to people experiencing poverty and homelessness.
For example, renters in the lowest quartile of incomes spend 51% of their income on housing. This has escalated the demand for non-market, social housing where rents are capped at 30% of household income. More than 6,000 households were on the waitlist for social housing as of May 2024. With nowhere else to go, many people stay with friends, family, in shelters, or outside. According to the 2022 point in time count, more than 1,200 people experience homelessness on any given night in Winnipeg alone. Another 4,000 more are conservatively estimated to be experiencing hidden homelessness. The Manitoba government’s plan to end chronic homelessness includes no new commitment to expand the social housing supply.
The Solution – All levels of government must do what is necessary to address the housing crisis. This means reinvesting in social housing and putting an end to the failed 30-year-old experiment of relying almost exclusively on the private market to produce low-rent housing. The Right to Housing Coalition released a social housing action plan for Manitoba in 2023. The plan focuses on expanding and preserving the supply of social housing with supports, strengthening rent regulations and tenant protections, and creating training and jobs for low-income people in the construction and maintenance of social housing. The plan’s 5 pillars have been endorsed by more than 90 organizations. The Manitoba government must implement this plan to address housing insecurity and homelessness starting with the following investments in Budget 2025:
- A capital and acquisition fund to add 1,650 rent-geared-to-income social housing units in 2025/26 owned by public, non-profit, and co-op housing providers, as part of a long-term commitment to add 10,000 social housing units by 2034.
- A $232M capital maintenance fund plus an operating subsidy fund to protect existing social housing and ensure no units are lost due to disrepair or lack of subsidies.
- Funding to ensure social housing tenants can access highly trained addictions, mental health, and primary care professionals as well as community support workers to stabilize tenancies and achieve other goals.