‘We can build good things’: grand opening of affordable units near U of M

Raina Alexander has eyes on the “big sister” role as resident manager of 939 Chancellor Dr.

The 95-unit building, built by Paragon Design Build and Bockstael Construction, has one- to three- bedroom suites, with Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation members getting first dibs.

Alexander, 30, is familiar with transitioning from reserve to Winnipeg. Now she hopes to help others navigate life in the big city.

“My mind is here but my heart is there,” she said during a news conference celebrating the grand opening of the $38.5-million building.

Alexander, who is originally from Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation, knows all about dealing with homesickness. She hopes to help tenants from the First Nation adjust to city life, find resources and navigate buses.

The University of Winnipeg student is taking Indigenous Studies and learning Ojibwa. She said she had anxiety herself when she was on the wait list for the apartments, noting there’s not a lot of subsidized housing for Indigenous peoples.

The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Winnipeg is $1,571, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.’s 2025 Rental Market Report stated.

A one-bedroom unit at 939 Chancellor Dr. is $940 a month, while a two-bedroom suite goes for $1,065 a month. All units include internet and water. Fifty-five units have already been sold. Twenty-five per cent of them are earmarked for First Nations people.

Alexander said she feels safer being in the south side of the city compared to downtown, where she currently lives with her parents. She’s set to move into her new digs on Dec. 27.

She said she hopes to see more affordable housing projects in the future so it can encourage students from First Nations to pursue post-secondary education.

Funding for the building included $32.2 million from Ottawa through the affordable housing fund, $3.5 million from Roseau River and $2.8 million in tax rebates from the City of Winnipeg.

Lillian (Lil) Fisher, a community connector at the Border Land School Division, brought three students from Roseau Valley School who are interested in attending university.

“If you know you have a safe place, you’re going to try,” said Fisher. “And if you don’t have a safe place to land, you go back to what you know — because that’s safe.”

The 2024 high school graduation rate for Indigenous students was 54.5 per cent, Manitoba’s K-12 education data dashboard said.

Fisher said one of her former students wanted to quit university after two weeks because she was homesick. That’s easier to remedy when one knows people from their home community.

“You want to go home and visit family. If you know people in the building, you can get a car together and go home once in a while,” she said.

Former Southern Chiefs’ Organization chief Terry Nelson said at first the kids were concerned about moving to Winnipeg.

“When we first started talking about the place, 939 Chancellor, they thought they were going to the ghetto… But this is what we’re talking about. We can build good things,” he said.

The building is about a five-minute drive to the University of Manitoba and is near a bus stop.

“For years, partnerships didn’t happen with First Nations communities. In fact, we know First Nations communities were locked out, but now we’re in a time as it should be… now there’s real tangible work happening,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

The first official move-in date is Jan. 1.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca