Eleven people moved from encampments to housing units, province says

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This article was published 20/03/2025 (226 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Eleven more homeless people have been moved out of five encampments and into stable housing as part of Manitoba’s new strategy, the province said Thursday.

A ministerial spokesperson for Housing and Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith confirmed a dozen people have been housed since the province began executing its strategy six weeks ago.

In February, Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, who is leading the strategy, announced the program’s first encampment resident had moved into an appropriate housing unit.

The 11 people who were moved recently were living in encampments in downtown Winnipeg, though the ministerial spokesperson declined to specify which area, citing privacy concerns.

The province is expected to have 40 available housing units to move residents into by the end of April, the spokesperson said. The province has a goal of opening about 300 residential units.

At a mid-January press conference, Premier Wab Kinew unveiled his plan to end chronic homelessness within two terms of government beginning in February, aiming to move 300 people, one encampment at a time into housing with needed supports.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca