Manitoba housing benefit stops taking new applications as minister points finger at Ottawa

A federal program that supports thousands of Manitobans who are at risk of homelessness has stopped taking new applications, and the province's housing minister says Ottawa is to blame.

The Canada-Manitoba housing benefit, which provided rent top-ups of up to $422 a month to about 4,500 individuals and families as of Tuesday, has stopped taking new applications as of Wednesday, the province says.

The program depends almost entirely on federal funding, which the province says has been exhausted.

Those already receiving the benefit or who plan to renew their applications will continue to get it, Manitoba Housing Minister Bernadette Smith told reporters on Wednesday.

"We're not washing our hands of it. We have an agreement until 2028, so whoever is currently in the program will continue to get their benefits," she said.

Manitoba's provincially led rent supplements, including Manitoba's rent assist program, were not affected and continue to support new applicants. The province will try to connect those who hoped to apply for the federal benefit to those other programs, Smith said.

But Codi Guenther, executive director of New Journey Housing, a housing resource centre for newcomers in Winnipeg, said that does little to help the people her organization supports, as rent assist is limited to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

"That leaves out a lot of people," she said.

Some people who were hoping to apply for the benefit but didn't make the deadline will now wait in emergency shelters longer or end up paying higher rent than they had planned, Guenther said.

"We've spent the week talking to our clients that were in that position. and they are very frustrated. They're really not sure what's going to be next for them," she said.

"We are the ones that are telling them face to face that this help no longer exists, and that's really hard to do, to be sharing this awful news with clients."

The loss of the housing benefit will also make her team's work more difficult, she said.

"It's going to be very hard to find those private landlords that are willing to rent to these folks," she said.

"They don't want to approve someone if they don't have enough money to cover the rent."

CBC News has reached out to federal Housing Minister Nate Erskine-Smith's office for comment.