March 29, 2021
Province Providing $12 Million to Municipalities to Create Affordable Housing Options for Vulnerable Manitobans
– – –New Funding Will Enable and Empower Communities to Help Protect Manitobans Facing Barriers to Housing: Squires
The Manitoba government is providing a total of $12 million in grant funding to 10 municipalities throughout the province to address the housing needs of vulnerable Manitobans and help protect them through affordable housing initiatives, Families Minister Rochelle Squires announced today.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all of us in one way or another and vulnerable Manitobans, including lower-income families, have been hit particularly hard,” said Squires. “This funding will enable and empower our municipal partners to help those who face barriers to housing in their communities, by supporting the creation of affordable housing and home ownership opportunities that will protect more families for years to come.”
The municipalities receiving the funding are Brandon, Dauphin, Flin Flon, Morden, Portage la Prairie, Selkirk, Steinbach, The Pas, Thompson and Winkler. Each of the 10 municipalities is to determine how to address best its objectives for housing affordability and development. The minister said this approach enables the municipalities to leverage additional sources of funding, if desired.
The minister noted the federal government’s recently announced Rapid Housing Initiative has targeted funding to Winnipeg and Indigenous on-reserve communities only, and the new provincial funding aligns with current needs and represents a balanced approach to creating affordable housing opportunities.
The Manitoba government’s funding will benefit groups that are more likely to experience barriers to housing, such as Indigenous households, single-parent families and new Canadians, including refugees, as well as youth-led households, seniors and people with a physical or mental disability, and support them in achieving stable tenancies, the minister said.
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