ManitobaMost Winnipeggers want to see restrictions to homeless encampments in the city, suggests a new poll published Friday — a day after council unanimously approved limitations to where tents can temporarily be set up.Over a quarter of respondents want tents outright banned from setting up anywhere in city: Probe ResearchLauren Scott · CBC News · Posted: Sep 26, 2025 6:42 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours agoMore than six in 10 Winnipeg residents want to see encampments limited to specific locations on a temporary basis, according to a new Probe Research poll conducted for the Winnipeg Free Press. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)Most Winnipeggers want to see restrictions to homeless encampments in the city, suggests a new poll published Friday — a day after council unanimously approved limitations to where tents can temporarily be set up. More than six in 10 residents want to see encampments limited to specific locations on a temporary basis, according to a Probe Research poll conducted for the Winnipeg Free Press that surveyed 600 Winnipeg adults through an online platform between Sept. 4 and 14. Over a quarter of those surveyed said encampments should be banned outright from existing anywhere in the city. Only four per cent of respondents said there should be no restrictions on encampments in Winnipeg. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus four per cent, 19 times out of 20. “There’s a strong level of support for putting some kind of restrictions in place, doing something to limit where encampments can go and for how long,” Curtis Brown, a principal with Probe Research, told CBC on Friday. “The majority of people in the city are on board with some kind of limits.” On Thursday, city council unanimously approved rules for where encampments can’t be set up after Nov. 17, when the restrictions are set to go into effect. Encampments will not be allowed within 50 metres of playgrounds, pools, schools, daycares or adult-care facilities, railway lines or crossings, spray pads or outdoor recreational facilities designed for children, families or seniors. Tents will also be banned within 30 metres of transit shelters, bridges, docks or piers. They are also not permitted within medians or traffic islands, or places where traffic hazards or obstructions exist. In July, Daniel McIntyre Coun. Cindy Gilroy put forward the original motion to ban encampments in some public places in the city, which was followed by calls from North Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty to prohibit them from major roadways. When it was first tabled, Mayor Scott Gillingham had raised legal concerns about the motion. Courts in other provinces have concluded that limiting encampments could violate the right to housing of people living there. The majority of residents surveyed in the Probe poll — 58 per cent — also said they believed the city is doing a poor job of addressing homelessness. Only 10 per cent thought the city was doing a good job. Residents were surveyed at the same time the amended motion was approved by the city’s community services committee earlier this month, but before it was passed by council. Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham says he shares residents’ frustrations over homelessness in the city. (Rudi Pawlychyn/CBC)Mayor Scott Gillingham said Friday that he shares Winnipeggers’ frustrations, assuring residents that the new rules have “struck a balance” to reflect different perspectives on the issue. “People cannot have an encampment anywhere they want. We’re putting some limits on where they can be,” he said. “We’re hearing from families who are worried about taking their kids to a park because there is a tent there, an encampment in that park or playground.” Gillingham said the city is “working full-out” alongside partners at the province, non-profits and within the private sector.Just under half of those surveyed said the provincial government was doing a poor job of addressing homelessness. In a statement to CBC News on Friday, Housing and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said provincial officials “share the frustration of Manitobans about homelessness in our province.”Smith pointed to the Your Way Home strategy, which has moved 77 Manitobans living in encampments into housing since it was launched in May, according to an announcement last month.”This work is going to take time, but we’re committed to moving people out of tents and into homes with the right supports to get them onto a path to success,” the minister said in the statement. There are at least 2,469 people experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg, End Homelessness Winnipeg’s most recent street census found. That’s the highest number recorded since the organization began doing the census in 2015. Four in five of those experiencing homelessness are Indigenous, the organization said. Jackie Hunt, End Homelessness Winnipeg’s senior director of strategy and impact, says Probe’s poll shows “many Winnipeggers have lost faith in the collective response to homelessness.” “Restrictions cannot address a housing shortage,” Hunt said in a statement to CBC News Friday. “Until housing is available and accessible, encampments will remain.”There are at least 2,469 people experiencing homelessness in the city, according to End Homelessness Winnipeg’s most recent street census. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)Nearly three quarters of survey respondents said seeing homeless encampments in Winnipeg makes them feel sad, with half of residents reporting they felt very sad about the situation. Four in 10 respondents reported feeling sympathetic, roughly the same proportion of those who said they felt frustrated. “People recognize that this is a big issue and for a lot of folks it is difficult. They have sympathy and they feel sad about the circumstances that [unhoused people] are in. But there is frustration, there is anger. That’s definitely there,” said Brown, the Probe principal. “They want to see something being done, but at the same time are increasingly uncomfortable and scared about how this affects them and their ability to spend time in spaces here in Winnipeg,” he said. 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.With files from Mike Arsenault
Most Winnipeggers want limitations on homeless encampments, poll suggests
