67 more housing units opening in Winnipeg to help people leave homeless encampments

Darren Bernhardt · CBC News

· Posted: May 09, 2025 12:46 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

Manitoba has purchased 67 much societal lodging units to connection to radical surviving successful stateless encampments successful Winnipeg, arsenic portion of the Your Way Home strategy launched earlier this year.

"Nobody should person to telephone a structure a location erstwhile we unrecorded successful specified a affluent country," Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said astatine Friday's announcement.

The further 67 units — dispersed crossed 3 locations —  were purchased for $6.4 million and volition beryllium transformed and filled with tenants successful collaboration with Main Street Project, Siloam Mission and Sunshine House, Smith said. They will see on-site supports for skill gathering and mentation for semipermanent housing.

Siloam Mission and Main Street Project are moving unneurotic connected a 41-unit building, portion Sunshine House is successful complaint of a 14-unit building. The third tract was an enlargement by 12 units of a gathering already being utilized arsenic portion of the province's homelessness strategy. 

The locations are not being revealed, successful bid to support the privateness of the individuals who volition unrecorded there, Premier Wab Kinew told CBC Manitoba Information Radio big Marcy Markusa connected Friday morning.

Most, but not all, are successful the downtown area.

"We spot homelessness is not conscionable a downtown occupation anymore, truthful we're trying to beryllium flexible with the areas," Kinew said.

Kinew has described the Your Way Home strategy as being similar a ladder that moves radical up to independence. The bottommost rung is basal shelter, portion the apical is the backstage rental market, with assorted levels of supportive lodging successful between.

"Many of these folks surviving successful encampments person analyzable intelligence wellness and addictions needs, and having wraparound supports volition guarantee that they are palmy successful their journey," Smith said.

33 radical rehoused truthful far: Kinew

Since the archetypal idiosyncratic was moved from a tent into lodging astatine the extremity of February, a full of 33 radical person been rehoused from 17 antithetic encampments, Kinew said Friday morning.

"Everyone that we person housed truthful acold is inactive housed. Nobody has moved backmost into a structure since we've started this," helium said.

The further units announced Friday mean that full volition assistance toward the homelessness strategy's people of uncovering lodging for each encampment residents wrong 8 years, but there's inactive a agelong mode to go, Kinew said.

"We're talking astir a radical of astir 700 Manitobans that we're trying to get retired of tents and into housing. We're starting to marque progress, [but] it's going to instrumentality continued effort to spot the results we want," helium said.

"The biggest happening is the deficiency of lodging units. Even if you're buying an existing lodging unit, it tin instrumentality a twelvemonth oregon 2 to bash the indispensable renovations and to unfastened that up," Kinew said.

Of the 33 radical present rehoused, 28 are successful units announced connected Friday. The 12 units that were portion of the enlargement task are filled, portion Sunshine House's 14 units are location to 16 tenants, said Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, elder advisor to Kinew connected homelessness.

The 41 units that volition be operated by Siloam Mission and Main Street Project person yet to open. That volition hap successful stages implicit the adjacent mates of months, Blaikie Whitecloud said.

"I privation we could conscionable drawback our fingers and person the lodging units that we needed, and past it would conscionable beryllium a substance of connecting radical with services," said Kinew.

"But we're trying to co-ordinate gathering the caller units, taking attraction of issues connected the street, and past getting radical the services — intelligence wellness and addictions and others — that they need."

He underscored the aggregate levels progressive successful making the strategy work, from those in the non-profit assemblage and municipal and provincial governments to Indigenous organizations and "the folks successful encampments who are really asking us, 'When is it my turn? When americium I going to get moved retired of a tent?'"

Jamil Mahmood, enforcement manager of Main Street Project, said that attack is necessary, gathering connected the acquisition of organizations that recognize the challenges of chronically stateless radical and however to enactment them.

"The request to physique lodging is not conscionable the carnal buildings, it's besides however you physique wrong them — spaces that are afloat of attraction and emotion and assemblage that radical question successful their regular life. That's a large portion of this, beyond conscionable bringing much units connected line," helium said. 

"In each consciousness of the mode it's a existent partnership."

As portion of their project, Siloam Mission volition beryllium successful complaint of renovating and providing attraction services, portion Main Street volition supply 24-hour staffing and wraparound supports.

"Working towards a Winnipeg without chronic homelessness requires this benignant of concern and collaboration," said Siloam Mission CEO Julianne Aitken.

All of the caller sites volition see communal areas for tenants to link and physique assemblage "and turn together," Mahmood said.