ManitobaMore than 1,000 more housing units are being created in Winnipeg after permits for 10 major housing projects were approved, the city said Friday.’We just want to see more of this happening,’ says Winnipeg housing advocateLauren Scott · CBC News · Posted: Dec 12, 2025 7:22 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.A 154-unit apartment building planned at 145 Transcona Blvd., shown in an architectural rendering, is one of the 10 projects underway in Winnipeg through the first phase of the federal housing accelerator fund grant program. (Number Ten Architectural Group)More than 1,000 housing units are being created in Winnipeg after permits for 10 major housing projects were approved, the city said Friday. The 10 projects were partially funded through the first round of the federal government’s housing accelerator fund and will create 1,008 new housing units — including 590 affordable units and 274 rent-geared-to-income units, the city said in a news release. Construction will begin soon, the city said, putting all of the major housing projects funded in the first phase of the federal grant program underway.The city said it has surpassed its annual housing targets over the two years since Winnipeg signed on to a housing accelerator fund agreement, and is on track to see over 14,100 housing units receive all required building permits by by next December. A city spokesperson told CBC News that 9,727 housing units have received permit approvals over those two years. That leaves 4,374 more units until the city meets its goal, the spokesperson said. A dozen more housing projects are receiving funding in the second phase of the grant program, the spokesperson said, with some projects already under construction and others in the approvals process. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which provides the funding for the federal grant program, said in a statement to CBC that it applauds Winnipeg for using the funds “to create more affordable housing options for their citizens.” Housing advocate Yutaka Dirks, chair of the Right to Housing Coalition’s city committee, says Friday’s announcement is “great news.”Yutaka Dirks, chair of the Right to Housing Coalition’s city committee, says he would like to see more rent-geared-to-housing units built in Winnipeg. (CBC)”It’s certainly great to see these projects sort of move forward in the way that they have,” he said.Dirks said the accelerator fund has allowed the city to build more affordable housing and units that are priced based on a renter’s income — and the Right to Housing Coalition wants to see even more in the future. Rent-geared-to-income units are typically subsidized at 30 per cent of a tenant’s monthly income, Dirks said, while “affordable” units are usually closer to 80 per cent of market rate. “We just want to see more of this happening. It’s a matter of ramping up sort of the pace and the number of those units. But certainly the way that they’re working now is good,” he said.The city’s latest housing needs assessment report, published last month, also identified a need for affordable, rent-geared-to-income housing.”The real deep need in the city is for those rent-geared-to-income units, for those housing units … that are affordable for people who are living on very low incomes,” Dirks said. “We think that there should be more resources put towards the rent-geared-to-income units,” he said. But the first phase of accelerator fund investments in the city could have an “amazing impact” for Winnipeggers in need of housing, said Dirks.”Having that stable, secure place to live, because you know that you can afford to live there long term, is essential,” he said. “That helps that individual, that family, but it also helps the community.”ABOUT THE AUTHORLauren Scott is a Winnipeg-based reporter with CBC Manitoba. They hold a master’s degree in computational and data journalism, and have previously worked for the Hamilton Spectator and The Canadian Press.
More than 1,000 housing units being created in Winnipeg through 1st phase of federal housing fund: city
