Manitoba’s public housing waitlist has reached its highest level in five years, prompting concerns that the provincial government’s strong focus on clearing homeless encampments is leaving other low-income families behind. As of November, more than 7,500 people were waiting for Manitoba Housing, up from about 5,300 in mid-2023. Advocates note this increase comes despite longstanding warnings that the public housing system was already in crisis, with thousands of units previously sitting vacant due to disrepair.
Families like Savanna Huard’s illustrate the strain. She, her husband and four children have spent nearly six years waiting to move from a cramped Winnipeg apartment into a larger Manitoba Housing unit, living in unsafe conditions with limited space and exposure to neighbourhood drug use.
Housing Minister Bernadette Smith says the NDP government is addressing years of underinvestment, noting that building social housing takes time. Since October 2023, 51 new units have been completed, with hundreds more under construction or development, and over 2,000 repaired units reopened. The province’s Your Way Home strategy prioritizes housing people living in encampments, with 239 individuals housed so far.
Experts support ending homelessness but warn that without a major expansion of social housing supply, other vulnerable households will continue to face long waits and inadequate living conditions.
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