The number of people waiting for public housing in Manitoba is the highest it’s been in five years and advocates say the government’s hyperfocus on ending homeless encampments is leaving other low-income families in need behind.
In September 2023, a CBC investigation revealed public housing in Manitoba was in crisis. Over 5,000 people were on the waitlist for Manitoba Housing while thousands of units sat vacant, awaiting repairs.
Two years later and with a new NDP government, the waitlist has ballooned.
There are now more than 7,500 people on the waitlist for Manitoba Housing as of November, compared to 5,313 in July of 2023. This is the highest it’s been since July 2020, when it was over 8,700.
Family on waitlist for six years
Savanna Huard was on the waitlist in September 2023 when she spoke to CBC. She was hoping to upgrade her Manitoba Housing unit to fit her family.
Huard, her husband and four children still live in the same cramped three-bedroom apartment in Winnipeg’s Central Park neighbourhood.
“They just keep telling me that there’s no space available,” she told CBC earlier this month. “We’ve been on the waitlist almost six years now and still no updates, still no nothing.”
Huard dreams of a townhouse, with a yard for her dog, separate bedrooms for the kids and getting out of the rampant drug use in her area.
Savanna Huard first spoke to CBC in 2023 when she used curtains to separate their kids’ rooms, but Manitoba Housing made her remove them. (Kristin Annable/CBC)
There are needles in the parking lot and no safe place for her children to play, she says.
Her nine-year-old sleeps in a closet that has been converted into a bedroom and her 12 year-old daughter’s bedroom is in the kitchen.
Gone are curtains she set up in 2023 to help separate the rooms after Manitoba Housing said they were a fire hazard.
A spokesperson for the province said the waitlist represents a spectrum of people wanting into Manitoba housing, including those currently living in Manitoba Housing but wanting to move to a different unit, people experiencing homelessness or living in a shelter and those living in a private market rental.
‘It takes years to build’: minister
When questioned about the growing waitlist, Manitoba’s Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said the NDP is still playing catch-up from the previous government.
A 2023 analysis by CBC found more social housing units were lost to sale to the private sector than were created during the Progressive Conservative government’s tenure.
“It took minutes to sell, it takes years to build. It’s gonna take us quite some time,” she said.
Since coming to power in October 2023, 51 new social housing units have been built under the NDP.
Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said it will take time to build up the needed housing stock to address the growing need. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)
There are 278 social units current under construction and a further 581 units in development, according to a spokesperson for the provincial government. A timeline for when they will be complete was not provided when asked.
Increases to the repair and maintenance budget have meant over 2,000 units have been freed up for use, she said.
Smith touted the province’s achievements through their Your Way Home strategy — a pledge to house the roughly 700 Manitobans living in encampments.
239 people housed
The plan, announced in January of this year, aims to eliminate chronic homelessness by 2031.
The 16-page plan said the government would continue to invest in social housing, but that the priority is to house those in encampments.
Since then, 123 people have been moved out of encampments, with the majority moving to one of the 300 transitional housing units acquired by the government.
A further 56 people, who the province says come from a second stream, have been moved directly to Manitoba Housing units.
The Manitoba government has pledged to find housing for the roughly 700 people who live in encampments. (CBC)
This stream, explained by an unnamed spokesperson for the province, is for the “next rung” of people on the housing ladder who periodically live in encampments but live long-term in an emergency shelter.
Smith promised people in this rung will also be getting “wraparound supports.”
The province’s plan commits to setting aside 20 per cent of Manitoba Housing for this purpose, she said.
Not enough social housing to go around
Shauna MacKinnon, a professor at University of Winnipeg’s department of urban and inner-city studies, said she supports focusing on ending homelessness, but is concerned about what that means for other low-income individuals.
Without a significant increase in the social housing stock available, she says, there isn’t enough housing to go around.
“The problem is when there’s not enough supply, there are a whole bunch of other people looking for housing that may not be homeless, but they’re living in really deplorable conditions,” she said.
“There is just not enough emphasis on creating the supply that we need and expediting that process and making it happen.”
Shauna MacKinnon, professor and chair of the University of Winnipeg’s department of Urban and Inner-City studies, says there has to be more housing built or repurposed to address the needs for everyone. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)
Marion Willis, the executive director of St. Boniface Street Links, says the government is relying on social housing as the solution to get people out of encampments.
Her organization’s model uses the private sector to find low-barrier housing for people. Since April, it’s found housing for 386 people living on the streets, shelters or in dangerous living situations, she said.
“There is too much focus on subsidized housing or social housing being the only housing that should be made available to end homelessness,” she said, noting the much-touted Houston Model relied on the private market.
Smith says it’s all about striking a balance between getting people a roof over their heads in the winter, and making sure there’s safe housing for families or seniors.
“These are folks that have been living in –30, –40 weather without the proper supports,” she said.
“We have priorities, ensuring that those that most need our housing are getting the housing.”
WATCH | Manitoba Housing waitlist soars to highest level in 5 years:
Manitoba Housing waitlist soars to highest level in 5 years
The number of people waiting for public housing in Manitoba is over 7,500 — the highest it’s been since July 2020 — and advocates say the government’s hyperfocus on ending homeless encampments is leaving other low-income families in need behind.
