Manitoba Housing moves tenants out

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This article was published 20/05/2021 (1570 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A number of northeast Winnipeg residents have found themselves on the move in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic’s third wave.

Earlier this month, East Elmwood residents Betty Palen and her husband Warren Fischer were speaking with neighbours who live in Manitoba Housing units along Panet Road north of Talbot Avenue. They were told that all residents of the housing project were to find new homes by the end of June.

“How many people are being displaced?” Palen said. “We are talking about a lot of people.”

According to a spokesperson for Manitoba Housing, the townhouses located between 600 and 634 Panet Road, which also includes a regional office, are in poor condition to the point where renovating or retrofitting them has been deemed unfeasible. 

At press time, 11 of the 18 units had been vacated. Concordia MLA Matt Wiebe expressed his concern that residents could be forced to upend their lives during a public health crisis.

“The clock is ticking now, with just over a month to go,” Wiebe said. “These are families, folks who lived in those houses for quite some time. This is their home community. We’re losing good quality affordable housing during a pandemic.”

“Housing units elsewhere in Winnipeg have been found for most of the tenants,” the spokesperson said. “Manitoba Housing will continue working with the remaining seven tenants to find suitable units for them at other direct-managed Manitoba Housing properties.”

All applicable costs, including moving expenses are being covered by Manitoba Housing.

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According to the spokesperson, the plan is to transfer ownership of the properties to Habitat for Humanity Manitoba. However, a deal had not been finalized at press time. 

While Wiebe noted that having Habitat for Humanity involved in revitalizing the site would be an exciting project for the community, it would not directly address the need for quality, affordable rental housing in the area.

“The work that Habitat does is a stepping stone, which is great,” Wiebe said. “But some of the folks losing their homes now might not be a fit for them.”

Even if new social housing were to be built in the area, Wiebe noted, it would be years now before they would be ready for residents to move in.

“There is less and less housing stock available to folks, especially the larger units,” Wiebe said. “I’m urging (Families Minister Rochelle Squires) that we don’t have a net loss of housing.”

Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist

Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112

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