The Honourable Adrien Sala, M.L.A.
Minister of Finance
Room 103 Legislative Building
450 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8
Dear Minister:
With public consultations for the Manitoba Budget 2024 underway I am expressing my support for a significant investment towards social housing in Manitoba. I would like to see the government prioritize this in the upcoming budget. Specifically, I support the following investments proposed by the Right to Housing Coalition:
- A capital and acquisition fund to add 1,000 rent-geared-to-income social housing units in 2024/25 owned by public, non-profit, and co-op housing providers.
- A capital maintenance fund and an operating subsidy fund to protect existing social housing and ensure no units are lost due to disrepair or lack of subsidies.
- Funding to ensure all social housing tenants have access to support workers with a minimum ratio of 1 worker per 100 units.
Housing is a basic human need, essential to survival, health and well-being. Housing provides the foundation to address poverty, crime, addiction, poor health, unemployment, gender-based violence, and the apprehension of children by Child and Family Services. Additionally, the Manitoba government cannot meet its goal of ending homelessness without ensuring access to low-rent housing. Not only is housing a basic human need, it is also a basic human right, recognized by the United Nations and the Government of Canada.
In Manitoba, thousands of people are unable to find stable housing. The private rental market is increasingly unaffordable to people experiencing poverty and homelessness. For example, households in the lowest quartile of incomes spend an average of 68% of their incomes on housing. This has escalated the demand for non-market, social housing where rents are capped at 30% of a household’s income. Nearly 6,000 households are on the waitlist for a social housing unit. With nowhere else to go, many people end up staying with friends, family, in shelters, or outside. According to the 2022 point in time count, there are at least 1,200 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in Winnipeg alone. Another 4,000 more are conservatively estimated to be experiencing hidden homelessness.
There are clear ways to address the housing needs in Budget 2024. I strongly urge the Manitoba government to support the recommendations put forward by the Right to Housing Coalition, which have been endorsed by more than 90 organizations across Manitoba.
Sincerely,
(your signature)
CC:
The Honourable Bernadette Smith, M.L.A., Minister of Housing, Addictions, and Homelessness
The Honourable Wab Kinew, M.L.A., Premier of Manitoba