$16M for affordable housing downtown

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This article was published 22/02/2024 (564 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland travelled to Winnipeg Thursday to announce Ottawa will chip in $16 million for a 214-unit apartment tower downtown that includes a large number of affordable suites.

“This is a prime example of what a great housing project in Canada in 2024 looks like,” Freeland said about 308 Colony St., a project spearheaded by the University of Winnipeg Community Renewal Corp.

Construction began last summer, and tenants are expected to start moving in by December 2025.

The project is described as “mixed income” housing because 86 of its units will be designated “affordable”; the remaining units will be rented out at market rates.

All of the units, ranging from studios to two bedrooms, are being built the same way so the affordable units won’t be identifiable.

The provincial government has put up $2.73 million in tax-increment financing. The City of Winnipeg is providing up to $5 million of tax-increment financing over 25 years and grants worth more than $270,000.

“These projects would not just simply be possible without the federal government and its national housing strategy,” said Jeremy Read, CEO of the U of W renewal corporation.

The $16 million comes from the $14-billion affordable housing fund, which prioritizes project partnerships between governments and non-profits and provides funding and low-interest or forgivable loans for the construction of affordable housing.

Construction of the tower, by Bockstael Construction, has created more than 200 construction jobs.

Freeland said she was told new techniques for wintertime construction of housing have been invented on site.

Since 2016, the U of W renewal corporation has been involved in the construction of 229 housing units on Colony Street, a short distance from the downtown campus. About 105 of those units — 45 per cent — have been designated as affordable housing, Read said.

Thursday’s announcement is among several announcements Freeland has made in recent weeks about making rent and housing more affordable for Canadians.

On Friday, the federal government plans to make an announcement with Premier Wab Kinew regarding the Port of Churchill. Freeland declined to confirm a CBC report that the federal and provincial governments will each spend $30 million to upgrade the Hudson Bay Railway.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca