Sign up to Support the Campaign to keep Public Housing Public!

The Pallister government is selling our public housing. This will leave a legacy of poverty and homelessness across the Province. 

We need your help to stop this.

1. SIGN UP to support the Campaign

2. EMAIL the Premier and the Minister responsible for housing

3. SHARE the campaign on social media: [DISPLAY_ULTIMATE_SOCIAL_ICONS]

Learn more: check out our poster and read our latest article.

Keep Public Housing Public in Manitoba

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2. Send an email to the Premier and the Minister responsible for housing.

Tell the Province you do not want it to sell Manitoba Housing units and ask it to build more. 

Premier Pallister and Minister Squires:

I am writing out of great concern for the direction that Manitoba Housing is going in by following the KPMG report recommendations to privatize public housing as has taken place in other jurisdictions like Australia, Great Britain, and New Zealand. I am concerned because of the alarming outcomes found in a recent report that examined the privatization of housing in these jurisdictions:

  • Rising costs in the private sector and the social housing sector with increases in overcrowding and homelessness.
  • No significant growth in the public and social housing sector for decades.
  • Increasing costs to live in social housing as what are defined by government as ‘affordable’ rents become increasingly ‘unaffordable.’
  • Government disillusionment with the non-profit sector as the sector comes up against the unavoidable fact that safe, decent, affordable housing for low-income people cannot be provided without subsidy.
  • Expensive subsidies to private landlords that have failed to relieve housing stress for low-income people.

Manitoba is heading down the wrong path at the worst possible time. Covid-19 has increased the urgency to ensure that all Manitobans are adequately housed. Increasing access to safe affordable housing requires a well-maintained supply of public housing. Emphasis on investment rather than cutting costs will help Manitoba avoid the pitfalls that have arisen in other jurisdictions that have adopted the policies proposed by KPMG.

When we invest in good quality public housing we are investing in the future of our communities. Good affordable housing can end homelessness, protect and improve public health outcomes, reduce poverty, keep children with their families and out of government care, and keep Manitobans out of justice and health care facilities. It is proven that providing good housing means less costs in health care, justice, and Child and Family Services.

I ask you to stop the sale of Manitoba Housing units and instead invest in our public housing.  At a minimum, there is a need for 300 new social housing units annually.