\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"MIKAELA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/3971750_web1_260210-End-Homelessness-Winnipeg-00104.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
End Homelessness Winnipeg executive director Jennifer Rattray said the latest data underscores the growing scale and urgency of the city\u2019s humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n
EHW executive director Jennifer Rattray said the latest data underscores the growing scale and urgency of the city\u2019s humanitarian crisis and highlights sustained, increasing pressure on Winnipeg\u2019s homelessness response system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main takeaway for me is the desperate need for deeply affordable housing and supportive housing,\u201d Rattray told the Free Press Monday. \u201cWe can get really good at other types of interventions, at trying to prevent additional homelessness, etc., but what we\u2019re doing is not keeping up with the crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have, month over month, 104 more human beings \u2014 more relatives \u2014 who are now chronically homeless is just staggering, and we all need to be alarmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
EHW\u2019s data comes from the By-Name List, a real-time count of people experiencing homelessness who have either used services or made contact with a homeless-serving agency in the last 90 days. The report is generated from the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have, month over month, 104 more human beings\u2026 more relatives\u2026 who are now chronically homeless is just staggering, and we all need to be alarmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization publishes HIFIS data monthly on its website, consistently showing inflows into homelessness far outpacing outflows. It says the imbalance is leading to longer periods of homelessness and a growing number of people becoming chronically homeless.<\/p>\n
The latest figures also point to a profound need for deeply affordable housing \u2014 also known as rent-geared-to-income housing \u2014 where rent is set at 30 per cent of household income in Manitoba.<\/p>\n
Since November 2022, there have been 4,051 housing units approved with city support. Of those, 1,640 are considered affordable and an additional 962 are rent-geared-to-income.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Mayor Scott Gillingham said Monday that as more homes and thousands of market units come online, they\u2019ll free up space across the system.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Housing, addictions and homelessness minister Bernadette Smith sidestepped questions on whether the province will end chronic homelessness by its self-imposed 2031 deadline in its Your Way Home strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re taking a closer look at these numbers to understand what they represent and how they line up with other data,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cBut what\u2019s important is that the city is continuing to work closely with the province and other partners to get people out of encampments and into safe housing with the supports they need.\u201d<\/p>\n Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith touted more than 2,100 units she says her government has built.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to continue to work with all of our partners to ensure that we are getting as much housing online, but also ensuring that we are working towards making sure that people are getting in programs so that they can move and exit into the market rental,\u201d Smith said, sidestepping questions on whether the province will end chronic homelessness by its self-imposed 2031 deadline in its Your Way Home strategy.<\/p>\n Smith said 214 people have been moved from encampments into housing.<\/p>\n The provincial plan, unveiled in January 2025, aims to move about 700 people from encampments into housing by 2031. EHW reported 949 active people experiencing chronic homelessness in March.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan was critical of the NDP\u2018s handling of the homeless crisis.<\/p>\n That plan focuses on those actively living in encampments and does not include the broader homeless population, such as people in shelters or those without permanent housing \u2014 for example, someone staying on a couch or in a spare room where tenancy is not guaranteed.<\/p>\n Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said the situation is \u201cconcerning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really sad to see that under this NDP government, it has grown more than three times what the homelessness numbers were prior to them taking office,\u201d Khan said, pointing to a chronic homelessness figure of 1,256 in November 2022 compared to the present figure \u2014 an increase of 3,207.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is not progress, that is going in the wrong direction. That is not moving the pendulum in the right direction. This NDP government is completely wrong, and they\u2019re only reporting the stats and facts that they want.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is not progress, that is going in the wrong direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, CEO of the Collaborative Housing Alliance and a former senior adviser on homelessness to Premier Wab Kinew, said the data underscores the need for greater collaboration to build housing across the city and province.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be a partner to non-profits, First Nations and other groups who are ensuring more affordable housing comes online,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the primary focus of our work at the Collaborative Housing Alliance is building out the missing middle, we know that solving homelessness takes supportive and deeply affordable units.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, CEO of the Collaborative Housing Alliance, said the data underscores the need for greater collaboration to build housing across the city and province.<\/p>\n The alliance was created to partner with the private sector to address the shortage of safe, low-cost housing and includes a real estate investment trust to help fund projects.<\/p>\n The first two are slated to be announced in May, and Blaikie Whitecloud said they will be \u201cdirectly linked to reducing inflow into homelessness and increasing space to move out of homelessness.\u201d<\/p>\n Meantime, sector partners will meet next month to develop a unified set of requests for all levels of government.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to crystallize those requests to governments \u2014 those respectful requests \u2014 and work with our government partners to make those things happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to look at the investments, and if governments are going to look at costs \u2014 and I think the human cost is what\u2019s important \u2014 but if governments are going to look at the cost, then rent-geared-to-income, deeply affordable, supportive housing is a great investment because it\u2019s actually going to save money.\u201d<\/p>\n scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Scott Billeck Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade\u2019s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.\u00a0 Read more about Scott<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMIKE DEAL \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Reporter
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n