Housing crisis remains dire, even as Manitoba cuts thousands-long wait-list
Wait-list of 9,000 has been halved, families minister says, but many remain homeless
The Manitoba government boasted Monday of halving the wait-list of 9,000 households seeking subsidized housing units, but one housing advocate says nobody should assume the crisis in affordable places to live has been solved.
When asked during a news conference on the soaring demand for subsidized housing, Families Minister Rochelle Squires announced the wait list was half as long as before — with about 4,600 applicants waiting.
"Last year at this time, we had 9,000 people on a wait-list and we targeted that and said that's just not acceptable."
However, that doesn't mean thousands of housing spaces were suddenly built or repaired.
The province says it contacted all applicants last summer and found more than 2,000 people were no longer interested in housing.
"Manitoba Housing now contacts applicants on a twice-annual basis to confirm they are still interested in social housing, and this has impacted the true demand for social housing as client circumstances change due to employment, Rent Assist expansion and/or finding other suitable housing," a government spokesperson said by email.
Units for vulnerable persons
Over the last year, roughly 800 housing units were found for "highly vulnerable clients," and 120 units for people escaping domestic violence.
The province funded the construction of 254 housing units in 2019-20, according to data the government provided to the Right to Housing Coalition. However, it didn't specify whether those units are ready for tenants.
Beyond that, the province says Manitobans lacking housing have been redirected to other providers or tapped financial aid programs, such as Rent Assist. The government didn't specify how many people took these approaches.
"Still a lot of work to do, but we've tackled a good portion of our wait list," Squires said.
However, housing advocate Kirsten Bernas says the crisis in affordable housing is far from over.
"I'm concerned that with the announcement … that's going to create an illusion that we're doing great in Manitoba," said Bernas, chair of the Right to Housing coalition's provincial working group.
Over the four years the Progressive Conservatives have been in power, 713 units were built.
Fifty of those beds are in a shelter and 11 are social housing units in which rent is tied to a person's income, according to a provincial document provided to Right to Housing.
Bernas says there is a dire need for social housing units.
"Without new housing being built and with the decline in maintenance investments by this government, it's hard to see that reduction in the wait list is actually because we're meeting people's housing needs," Bernas said.
Manitoba budgeted $31.2 million in repairs in 2020-21. The province spent $120 million in 2015-16 under the previous NDP government.
The government also said Monday it has cut the number of vacant units by 25 per cent to 1,575 units since the fall. The spokesperson added that 741 of the units are being repaired.
In her work, Bernas says she sees people filling out applications for affordable housing on a daily basis. Thousands of people waiting for housing is far too many, she said.
"Living on the streets right now, there's still a massive need for affordable and safe housing in our communities."
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