ManitobaA real estate trust focused on increasing affordable housing in Manitoba will help close funding gaps for two projects that will deliver 48 transitional units after receiving a $7-million investment from the private sector.Business Council of Manitoba trust focused on housing gets help from True North, Mahon Family FoundationA file picture of a construction worker. A real estate investment trust created last year to increase affordable supply housing in Manitoba received a $7-million investment from True North Sports & Entertainment and the Mahon Family Foundation, which will be used to help fill funding gaps for projects building housing in the province. (Andrew Lam/CBC)A real estate trust focused on increasing affordable housing in Manitoba will help close funding gaps for two projects that will deliver 48 transitional units after receiving a $7-million investment from the private sector.The Collaborative Housing Alliance Real Estate Investment Trust — developed by the Business Council of Manitoba — was created last year with $10 million in funding from the provincial government.A year later, the trust has received what it calls its first major private investment — $5 million from Winnipeg Jets owner True North Sports & Entertainment, and $2 million from Paul and Anne Mahon through the Mahon Family Foundation, a Winnipeg charity.The trust works to attract private-sector investors to help bridge funding gaps for affordable housing, whether new builds or refurbished existing buildings, said Paul Mahon, who is also chair of the Collaborative Housing Alliance.”It’s that last mile that’s critical,” he told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday, when the housing alliance held an event to discuss affordable housing options in Manitoba among business leaders and prospective investors.”The private sector is a critically important partner.”The trust is in the process of formalizing commitments for two projects that will create 48 transitional units, according to the Collaborative Housing Alliance.One of the projects is a new building, while the other is a renovation of an unused building that will create housing spaces expected to be available by early 2026. Paul Mahon, chair of the Collaborative Housing Alliance Real Estate Investment Trust, says the trust will help close funding gaps for affordable housing projects. (Trevor Brine/CBC)Funding for those projects comes mainly from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and other fundraising, Mahon said. No specifics on the location of either project were provided, but Mahon said while the trust is part of a Manitoba-wide initiative, a significant chunk of its efforts will be in Winnipeg, where housing needs are deep. “We’ll be focused in areas where we can actually situate housing, where we can get the right supports in place,” he said. Every new housing unit matters to Manitoba’s efforts to end chronic homelessness, said Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, the senior adviser to Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew on the provincial homelessness strategy.Projects like the investment trust help increase the supply of spaces where people can move to better housing, she said. That, in turn frees up transitional units that can be used by others, such as those leaving homeless encampments, said Blaikie Whitecloud.”This is a tool in the toolkit to establish more units moving forward,” she said. “The more people that we can get out of shelters and into the housing that they need very quickly, the less likely people are to get stuck in homelessness.”Private sector has role in ending homelessness: ChipmanThe number of people without a home in Manitoba is a deplorable reality, said True North Sports & Entertainment executive chairman Mark Chipman, who hailed the trust as a direct investment to help address the most chronic expression of homelessness. While there is a strong commitment from the province and the social service network, Manitoba finds itself at an inflection point to address the issue, he said. The business community can play its part by funding some of the resources that are desperately needed through the trust, said Chipman.True North Sports & Entertainment chairman Mark Chipman says the Collaborative Housing Alliance Real Estate Investment Trust is an opportunity for the business community to play a role in fighting homelessness. (Trevor Brine/CBC)”We’re just obligated to do that,” he said. “There are organizations out there poised and ready to do this work — but don’t have the capital … to do a project like this — that we can partner with.”End Homelessness Winnipeg welcomed the funding to the trust, saying in a statement the funding arrives “at a critical moment.”The decision to make an investment “where profit is not guaranteed reflects courage and care for community” from True North and the Mahon Family Foundation, the statement said.Jamil Mahmood, the executive director of Main Street Project, said it’s standard for housing projects to have funding gaps, given that inflation often drives construction costs over budget. That means resources like the funding available from the trust are important to make up for shortfalls, he said.While there has been skepticism over the private sector’s role in housing in the past, Mahmood said the Collaborative Housing Alliance offers an approach that’s conscious of the need for supportive housing over profits. Main Street Project executive director Jamil Mahmood says a vision of Winnipeg without homelessness is easier to achieve when the private and public sectors work together. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)”If we can see this on a broader scale and combine it with the housing accelerator fund … the national housing strategy funding, you start moving that needle on the housing we need,” Mahmood said.”It’s a good process. And I think the rest will come over time.” Main Street Project has not been involved with the investment trust directly yet, but Mahmood said the outreach organization is preparing to pitch three supportive housing development projects next month that it hopes will get funding through the trust, along with government aid packages. “A vision of Winnipeg without homelessness is much more easy to imagine with all kinds of sectors — public, private, not-for-profit — working together,” Mahmood said.Private sector kicks in millions for transitional housing unitsA real estate trust focused on increasing affordable housing in Manitoba will help close funding gaps for two projects that will create 48 transitional housing units after receiving a $7-million investment from the private sector.ABOUT THE AUTHORSantiago Arias Orozco is a journalist with CBC Manitoba currently based in Winnipeg. He previously worked for CBC Toronto and the Toronto Star. You can reach him at santiago.arias.orozco@cbc.ca.With files from Gavin Axelrod
$7M boost from private sector for investment trust will help get 48 transitional housing units built
