Manitoba Housing wait list grows despite vacancy dip

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This article was published 23/05/2024 (679 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Manitoba Housing’s wait list has grown even though vacancies have been slashed by the hundreds this year, signalling a rising need for publicly subsidized rental units, advocates told the Winnipeg Free Press.

The NDP government is facing calls to significantly add more homes for people on lower incomes to keep up with demand amid housing and homelessness crises.

“There is increasing need, because the cost of housing in the private market has grown,” said Christina Maes Nino, executive director of the Manitoba Non-Profit Housing Association. “We need to repair and build to catch up with demand.”

Manitoba Housing’s wait list had 6,079 applicants Tuesday, up from 5,822 on Jan. 1, a provincial spokesperson said. It is up from 5,423 in February 2023, but down from more than 9,000 in 2020.

Shauna MacKinnon of the Right to Housing Coalition said wait-list numbers can be off because some applicants may find housing elsewhere and not remove themselves from the queue, or some people in need may not join a list.

“What we do know is the wait lists continue to be long, which suggests there is a high need,” she said.

Manitoba Housing applicants submit requests for specific areas or buildings they want to live in. Priority is given to those with the highest needs.

The length of time an applicant spends on the wait list depends on the area selected and whether they are willing to live somewhere other than their first choice, the provincial spokesperson said.

Someone may decline an offer because the unit does not meet their request, and continue to wait for their preferred choice.

Manitoba Housing owns and operates 11,611 units — 6,241 of them in Winnipeg. It owns a further 4,357 units, which are managed by non-profit organizations through funding agreements. Non-profits have their own wait lists.

The Right to Housing Coalition said Manitoba needs to build 10,000 rent-geared-to-income social housing units — owned by public, non-profit and co-op providers — over 10 years to meet demand.

The Canadian Centre For Policy Alternatives-Manitoba estimated it may cost up to $1.5 billion to preserve Manitoba’s existing social housing stock.

A provincial spokesperson said 1,421 units owned by Manitoba Housing were unoccupied as of Tuesday, down from more than 2,000 in January.

Of those, 247 — two per cent of the agency’s portfolio — were vacant and available for rent. Almost half were in Winnipeg. A further 1,174 vacant units were undergoing repairs beyond the typical turnover time of 30-90 days, the spokesperson said.

Maes Nino said the decrease in vacancies — by about 600 — was significant.

“The most common reason (for vacancies) is that the unit needs repairs and there isn’t a budget for those repairs,” she said.

Manitoba budgeted $116 million in 2024 to build at least 350 social and affordable housing units, and repair more than 3,000 units.

Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said the province is working as fast as it can to build housing.

» Winnipeg Free Press