ManitobaManitoba’s provincial government is launching a financial incentive for private and non-profit housing developers to get more shovels in the ground and build new rental units, including for low-and-moderate-income households. $8.5K-per-unit incentive can go up to $13.5K if it’s considered affordable, province saysCBC News · Posted: Nov 06, 2025 4:02 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Developers building affordable units will get an additional $5,000 refundable tax credit. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)Manitoba’s provincial government is launching a financial incentive for developers building both private and non-profit rental housing.The province is allocating $176.5 million over the next five years to create the rental housing construction incentive, which will provide a refundable tax credit of $8,500 for each new rental unit, and an additional credit of $5,000 for affordable units.Housing Minister Bernadette Smith hopes the program will help jump-start rental housing construction and bring thousands of units online. ”We want to see housing built. There’s a need right across our province,” Smith told reporters at a news conference on Thursday.The rental housing construction incentive tax credit was announced in the province’s budget in 2024. It’s intended to help address pressures in the rental market and help keep rents lower. The government is now accepting applications. Housing Minister Bernadette Smith says the tax credit will expand the number affordable and market rental units in Manitoba, supporting the province’s initiative to end chronic homelessness. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)The province hopes the credit will help offset construction costs that have soared due to inflation, tariffs and supply-chain challenges, the minister said.To get the additional $5,000 incentive for affordable housing, the units have to meet the rent threshold set annually by the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation. The units need to be for households with an income below a provincial threshold that’s currently $67,900 for households without children and $90,500 for households with children or dependents.”That ensures that housing built through this program stays within the reach of the people who need it the most,” Smith said. In order to qualify, construction projects need to have at least four units, and they must remain rental housing for a minimum of 10 years. The number of units also must not drop below the number for which tax credit is received.Smith said the credits are part of Manitoba’s Your Way Home strategy, the province’s plan to end chronic homelessness. By expanding affordable and market rental units, Manitoba is helping stabilize rental rates and create more opportunities for people to move from shelters to transitional housing and eventually homeownership, Smith said. “Hopefully with more affordable rents, more affordable lifestyles, we’ll have more Manitobans coming home, building careers, building the economy for the future,” Premier Wab Kinew said at the news conference.”The government can’t do everything, but there are some things that we can do, and with the developers and the real estate sector to bring more units online … that is something that we can do to help.” With files from Santiago Arias Orozco and Bryce Hoye
Manitoba rolls out tax credits for private and non-profit developers building rental units
