Windsor Hotel tenants told to leave by end of April

People living at the Windsor Hotel in downtown Winnipeg have received eviction notices telling them to leave by the end of April.

The 43-unit, 120-year-old building has been sold, dealing another blow to low-income renters like John Olinyk.

"It's not too fair, but I mean, at least it's not as cold as it would be," said Olinyk, who has lived at the hotel for more than a year.

Olinyk is one of at least 20 people living at the hotel who received eviction notices. He and his girlfriend, who is pregnant with their child, have already found a place to live on Assiniboine Avenue, but he said others in the building haven't been as fortunate.

"I mean, there's some people here that haven't left the building. For those people, it's gonna be hard for them, right?" he said.

Olinyk said he's had trouble finding housing in the past. He previously lived at the Winnipeg Hotel on Main Street, which closed for renovations in 2019.

"We all knew this day was gonna come, one day," he said.

The closing of the Windsor Hotel and the loss of these units is part of an ongoing trend in Winnipeg. 

Last year, a report from McMaster University found that the city lost more than 24,000 units with rents under $750 between 2011 and 2021.

"So the pressure for people who are losing their housing right now is extreme. There are not options," said Kate Sjoberg, who works with Main Street Project, which has been helping tenants from the Windsor facing eviction.

Hotels fill an important role in the low-income housing market, she said.

"As a city, we've lost a tremendous amount of downtown hotel spaces where people have been living over the last 20 years," Sjoberg said.

A spokesperson for the city said the hotel is being sold because the owner has not paid their property taxes. An online listing put the price at $2.5 million.

The 120-year-old Windsor Hotel has a colourful history.

It's served as an incubator for the city's music scene, and hosted many legendary artists, including early 20th century silent film star Charlie Chaplin, whose image is immortalized in a life-size cutout on the exterior of the building.

Now, the building's future is uncertain.

One city councillor said she wants a system to alert agencies like Main Street Project when mass evictions happen. 

"I definitely want to make sure that we have preventative models, where we're really exercising them on behalf of residents," said Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Sherri Rollins, whose ward includes the Windsor Hotel.