
Affordable housing projects in limbo after fund ends
Non-profit organizations say an interruption to federal funding is putting millions of dollars for affordable housing projects in limbo.
Last week, some groups say they learned funding had been 'exhausted' for the Affordable Housing Fund's community housing development stream, said Stephanie Haight, director of development and construction for the Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corporation.
Haight said groups were told the key Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation funding stream is now on hold and 'waiting for further direction from government.'
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES
Manitoba Non-Profit Housing Association's Christina Maes Nino fears a 'cascade' of uncertainty.
Her corporation fears that will put their $46-million affordable housing project at risk, along with many others.
'We're in a pretty terrible position right now because we've actually put in $768,000 of our own cash with the understanding that CMHC would be supporting our project and moving it forward, only to receive this information … This housing project likely won't be built without CMHC support,' said Haight.
The group planned to build 154 housing units at 145 Transcona Blvd., all with affordable rents. The project would include 68 units rented at 69 per cent of the median market rate and 31 units with provincially supported rents 'geared-to-income,' with some monthly one-bedroom rates as low as $285. The remaining 55 units would meet CMHC median market rent (the middle point of rental rates in a specific area).
'The 31 (rent-geared-to-income) units are fully accessible and they are dedicated to providing affordable housing for vulnerable populations facing homelessness or at (risk of) homelessness with a physical disability,' said Haight.
The organization applied for CMHC funding to cover more than half its costs, seeking an $11.5-million grant and $14.8 million in long-term, low interest loans.
Haight said the funding delay could also jeopardize $5 million the project is set to receive from Winnipeg's $122-million share of the federal Housing Accelerator Fund.
Without CMHC funding, she said it's not clear if the project will get a building permit in time to qualify for that fund.
'If we don't get this project going, we can't recover that money so it will be very difficult for us to continue building deeply affordable housing into the future. So it definitely doesn't do anything to help our city work on the housing crisis that we currently have,' she said.
Haight said CMHC did not provide a written conditional approval for the Transcona Boulevard project but encouraged the group to pursue it.
Christina Maes Nino, executive director of the Manitoba Non-Profit Housing Association, said many of her organization's members are facing the same uncertainty.
'There is a lot to do on a project to be able to apply for CMHC capital funding, so they will often get funding from a bunch of other sources and invest a bunch of their money just to get to the stage where they can apply for the funding,' said Maes Nino.
She said projects across the country could be affected by the change.
Maes Nino said the federal government has expressed a commitment to affordable housing but the timeline for this key funding pocket is unknown.
'It's not clear how long the pause is for or what it's going to look like in the end,' she said, adding other housing funds could be compromised by CMHC changes, since many projects wouldn't be viable without it.
'It creates this cascade effect of uncertainty,' she said.
In a late May notice to members, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association warned that the Affordable Housing Fund's community housing development stream had been exhausted.
'This means any applications in the new construction — community housing sub-stream of the Affordable Housing Fund that have not yet been conditionally approved are being placed on hold … CHRA understands that these holds will remain in place until CMHC receives new direction from the federal government,' it states.
The memo says the funding issue is 'particularly concerning' because the federal government announced in November that the Affording Housing Fund would be extended to 2028-29.
'Organizations have been investing in and preparing proposals based on the assumption that funding would be available until this time,' the memo states.
Wednesdays
Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences.
A federal news release described the Affordable Housing Fund as a $14.6-billion program, which also includes a separate rapid housing stream and a repair-and-renewal stream.
A spokesperson for CMHC said its affordable housing fund has received many applications since it launched.
'CMHC continues and is committed to working with our clients and partners to process as many (affordable housing) funding applications as possible,' an email said, without confirming if the fund had been exhausted and whether more money would be added.
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
X: @joyanne_pursaga
Joyanne PursagaReporter
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Finding what's missing in the Winnipeg housing market
Opinion Last week, Winnipeg city council spent several long days and late nights debating a sweeping set of zoning bylaw amendments that could fundamentally change how our city is built in the future. Like all Canadian cities that signed on to the federal government's Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF), Winnipeg is being asked to revamp its planning policies to allow greater density and more diverse housing types to be built in every neighbourhood across the city. The federal government recognizes that if we are going to build more housing supply in cities to balance market demand and create more affordability, it can't be accommodated by simply expanding outward in sprawling low-density suburbs. Brent Bellamy photo New rules for infill housing can invigorate Winnipeg neighbourhoods. The costs of infrastructure and municipal services can no longer be supported by low density growth, evidenced by increasing taxes, reduced services, and deteriorating infrastructure. The federal government is using the financial carrots of HAF to push cities into making uncomfortable changes to policies that regulate where housing can be built. The planning changes being implemented effectively eliminate single-family zoning, allowing at least a duplex to be built on almost any lot in the city. It will also allow up to threeplexes and fourplexes depending on lot size, location, and considerations like proximity to transit and existing street conditions. To speed up development, these new housing types will be allowed as-of-right, meaning that if they meet certain restrictions like height, lot coverage, and setbacks, they can be built without a public hearing. The need for cities to densify, combined with ever-rising land and construction costs, means that the future of housing will be less and less about single-family homes. Already only one-quarter of new homes built in Winnipeg each year are houses, with three-quarters being multi-family dwellings. This is an almost perfectly inverted ratio from 25 years ago. Current zoning policies effectively segregate densities, protecting single-family neighbourhoods and pushing most multi-family options into downtown high-rises or six-storey buildings on large streets. The new zoning changes will allow smaller multi-family developments to be peppered throughout neighbourhoods instead of being relegated to their fringes. Many people prefer the quality of life offered in a single-family home, and much of what is desirable in that lifestyle can be more affordably found in the types of housing these new zoning changes promote, commonly called 'missing middle housing.' Low-rise, multi-family housing types like townhouses, duplexes and fourplexes can offer more flexible and diverse living arrangements than a neighbourhood that is exclusively single-family, accommodating a wider range of household sizes, ages, and income levels. Missing middle housing can fit seamlessly into the character of walkable residential neighbourhoods, while still increasing density and providing a greater range of home sizes and affordability options. This housing diversity responds to the needs of people at different stages of life, whether it's a rental or starter home for a young person, a downsizing option for a senior ageing in their community, or a family home. A concern often raised about missing middle development is that it can mean the loss of smaller, older houses that are often affordable. Winnipeg is fortunate in some ways to have the oldest housing stock of any major city in Canada, with one in five houses being more than 80 years old, and one in 10 more than a century old. An old housing stock creates affordability, but it can't be relied on as a strategy to achieve that forever. We must allow our housing stock to be organically replenished in a way that will respond more specifically to the evolving needs of people today and in the future. Change will happen to our aging neighbourhoods whether we like it or not, but we can shape and guide this change by designing zoning regulations that push more multi-family housing towards smaller scale, neighbourhood focused developments that provide a more desirable lifestyle option for many. When a small bungalow is demolished for a fourplex, one house may be lost, but three more families are able to gain access to the neighbourhood. The new construction may not be as affordable immediately, but a neighbourhood's transition to higher density happens slowly, and as more and more older houses are lost over time, the infill will age and start a new cycle of affordability. In today's market, most new missing middle housing is built as rental properties, but 10 years ago it would likely have been condominiums. Market trends change, and by creating zoning regulations that promote this scale of development, more ownership options and home types will appear in the future. As this housing type becomes more prevalent and ages over time, it will replace the old bungalow as a common type of starter home that is the first step in the property ladder for young people. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. The idea of allowing different densities and housing types to sit on the same street is not a new one. Many of our most beloved older neighbourhoods have houses, townhouses, condominiums and apartment buildings sitting comfortably side-by-side. Higher-density neighbourhoods serve the greater good of reducing the cost of infrastructure and services needed to support new growth, helping to keep taxes down. It also improves support for local shops and amenities like libraries and community centres, while making public transit more effective, and improving walkability. New zoning bylaws that will create more missing middle housing over time will result in more diverse and livable communities that provide varied ownership models, home types and sizes. Missing middle housing will also allow broader access to good neighbourhoods, creating a more prosperous, affordable, and socially equitable city in the future. Brent Bellamy is creative director at Number Ten Architectural Group. Brent BellamyColumnist Brent Bellamy is creative director for Number Ten Architectural Group. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.


Winnipeg Free Press
5 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Affordable housing projects in limbo after fund ends
Non-profit organizations say an interruption to federal funding is putting millions of dollars for affordable housing projects in limbo. Last week, some groups say they learned funding had been 'exhausted' for the Affordable Housing Fund's community housing development stream, said Stephanie Haight, director of development and construction for the Winnipeg Housing Rehabilitation Corporation. Haight said groups were told the key Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation funding stream is now on hold and 'waiting for further direction from government.' MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Manitoba Non-Profit Housing Association's Christina Maes Nino fears a 'cascade' of uncertainty. Her corporation fears that will put their $46-million affordable housing project at risk, along with many others. 'We're in a pretty terrible position right now because we've actually put in $768,000 of our own cash with the understanding that CMHC would be supporting our project and moving it forward, only to receive this information … This housing project likely won't be built without CMHC support,' said Haight. The group planned to build 154 housing units at 145 Transcona Blvd., all with affordable rents. The project would include 68 units rented at 69 per cent of the median market rate and 31 units with provincially supported rents 'geared-to-income,' with some monthly one-bedroom rates as low as $285. The remaining 55 units would meet CMHC median market rent (the middle point of rental rates in a specific area). 'The 31 (rent-geared-to-income) units are fully accessible and they are dedicated to providing affordable housing for vulnerable populations facing homelessness or at (risk of) homelessness with a physical disability,' said Haight. The organization applied for CMHC funding to cover more than half its costs, seeking an $11.5-million grant and $14.8 million in long-term, low interest loans. Haight said the funding delay could also jeopardize $5 million the project is set to receive from Winnipeg's $122-million share of the federal Housing Accelerator Fund. Without CMHC funding, she said it's not clear if the project will get a building permit in time to qualify for that fund. 'If we don't get this project going, we can't recover that money so it will be very difficult for us to continue building deeply affordable housing into the future. So it definitely doesn't do anything to help our city work on the housing crisis that we currently have,' she said. Haight said CMHC did not provide a written conditional approval for the Transcona Boulevard project but encouraged the group to pursue it. Christina Maes Nino, executive director of the Manitoba Non-Profit Housing Association, said many of her organization's members are facing the same uncertainty. 'There is a lot to do on a project to be able to apply for CMHC capital funding, so they will often get funding from a bunch of other sources and invest a bunch of their money just to get to the stage where they can apply for the funding,' said Maes Nino. She said projects across the country could be affected by the change. Maes Nino said the federal government has expressed a commitment to affordable housing but the timeline for this key funding pocket is unknown. 'It's not clear how long the pause is for or what it's going to look like in the end,' she said, adding other housing funds could be compromised by CMHC changes, since many projects wouldn't be viable without it. 'It creates this cascade effect of uncertainty,' she said. In a late May notice to members, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association warned that the Affordable Housing Fund's community housing development stream had been exhausted. 'This means any applications in the new construction — community housing sub-stream of the Affordable Housing Fund that have not yet been conditionally approved are being placed on hold … CHRA understands that these holds will remain in place until CMHC receives new direction from the federal government,' it states. The memo says the funding issue is 'particularly concerning' because the federal government announced in November that the Affording Housing Fund would be extended to 2028-29. 'Organizations have been investing in and preparing proposals based on the assumption that funding would be available until this time,' the memo states. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. A federal news release described the Affordable Housing Fund as a $14.6-billion program, which also includes a separate rapid housing stream and a repair-and-renewal stream. A spokesperson for CMHC said its affordable housing fund has received many applications since it launched. 'CMHC continues and is committed to working with our clients and partners to process as many (affordable housing) funding applications as possible,' an email said, without confirming if the fund had been exhausted and whether more money would be added. X: @joyanne_pursaga Joyanne PursagaReporter Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne. Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.


Canada Standard
02-06-2025
- Canada Standard
Why Canada should apply labour protections to the rental housing sector
Gregor Robertson, Canada's new housing minister, was likely tapped for the job on the basis of his decade as Vancouver's mayor, where he introduced zoning changes, incentives for rental construction and the country's first empty-homes tax. Those moves nudged supply but fell short: housing designed specifically for renting trickled in slowly and the city's homeless count hit a 13-year high of 2,181 in 2018. Robertson once blamed the housing shortfall on tight-fisted provincial and federal budgets. Now that he controls part of that money, he can test his claim. He can plug a hole his municipal toolkit never could by being, as he vowed in 2018, "more abrasive and more vocal", and by coupling fresh federal dollars with legal protections that empower tenants to bargain collectively. The urgency is clear: one-third of Canadians rent, yet tenant unions, though legal to form, have no right to negotiate. This absence of statutory protection for tenants is often treated as a policy oversight. By withholding legal recognition, lawmakers preserve a model that allows landlords to negotiate from a position of structural dominance as tenants confront systemic harms - rent hikes, unsafe conditions and evictions - all on their own. Soaring rents and evictions have been described as a temporary "housing crisis." But researchers at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives counter that the market is not broken; it works exactly as designed. Calling it a crisis justifies "extraordinary" fixes - most often lower interest rates that lure first time home-buyers to take on debt larger than they should, according to Canadian policy scholar Ricardo Tranjan in his book The Tenant Class . The results are structural, not temporary: median national rent for a one-bedroom dwelling now tops $2,000, vacancy rates sit below two per cent and 33.1 per cent of renters spend more than 30 per cent of income on shelter. That's the rent-burden line - the threshold used to determine if a household is struggling to afford housing - of the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC). Since the 1990s, the CMHC has replaced public construction with mortgage-insurance programs that flood markets with credit, kicking the can down the road. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Carney's choice of Robertson as housing minister has advanced a familiar credit-led package: GST rebates for first-time buyers. When asked whether housing prices should fall, Robertson said "no," arguing that wages will eventually catch up - an adjustment economists project would take roughly 20 years even if prices stopped rising today. Expanding credit under these conditions is more likely to swell asset values than improve affordability, trading a housing emergency for an indebtedness emergency. Ontario's Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) typifies Canada's token approach to renter power. It affirms tenants' right to form associations but, in the very next clause, excuses landlords from any obligation to meet or negotiate with them. The result is performative legality: tenants can speak but landlords are free to ignore them. The chilling effect resembles pre-industrial labour markets, where organizing invited dismissal. Recent history confirms the weakness. In 2023, the tenants of 33 King Street in northwest Toronto mounted a five-month rent strike and won partial rollbacks, but the tribunal still refused to recognize their union; every renter had to sign a separate settlement. By settling disputes that way, the system drains collective power and drags cases through attritional timelines that encourage capitulation. Canada confronted a parallel power imbalance during industrialization. Early 20th-century governments criminalized picketing and blacklisted organizers. The upheavals of the Great Depression forced Ottawa to adopt the Wartime Labour Relations Regulations (1944) and the Industrial Relations and Disputes Investigation Act (1948). Those statutes codified three enduring principles: Legislators acted not from moral awakening, but to temper exploitation and preserve social stability. Housing now mirrors that earlier asymmetry: corporate landlords command capital, legal expertise and mobility, while tenants have none of that power. Extending labour-style protections to tenant unions would simply apply a proven regulatory formula to rental housing. Landlord associations often voice four main objections to statutory tenant-union rights: the anticipated administrative burden, the spectre of disinvestment, purported constitutional limits and a moral claim that responsible owners don't need to be legally compelled to act in good faith. Labour history suggests these concerns are overstated. As Tranjan recalls, reputable employers already paid decent wages and offered sick leave before such standards were legislated. Regulation merely imposed a baseline on those profiting from exploitation. In housing, conscientious landlords who maintain units, honour rent control and eschew predatory fees wouldn't require mandatory bargaining or anti-retaliation clauses. But those enriching themselves through vacancy decontrol, renovictions or steep rent hikes would. Their resistance to tenant protections underscores their necessity. Empirical evidence further weakens objections. First, administrative overload is improbable: collective bargaining consolidates individual grievances into a single agreement, dramatically reducing repeat hearings, and the system would work the same in landlord-tenant tribunals. Second, claims that stronger tenant rights deter investment clash with comparative experience. In Vienna, where nearly half of all dwellings fall under tenant councils wielding union-like powers and stringent rent regulation, construction activity remains robust and affordability stable; Third, constitutional concerns are overstated. Although landlord-tenant law is chiefly provincial, the federal government already shapes rental markets through CMHC insurance, targeted tax expenditures and the National Housing Strategy Act, which recognizes adequate housing as a human right. Ottawa could condition financing on tenant-union recognition or incentivize provinces to harmonize standards, echoing its mid-20th century push for uniform labour legislation. Historical precedent and evidence across the country make clear that formalizing tenant-union protections is constitutional, would streamline dispute resolution and sustain construction - substantially benefiting the one-third of Canadians who rent without destabilizing the housing market. Read more: How corporate landlords are eroding affordable housing - and prioritizing profits over human rights To make housing genuinely affordable, Robertson must see Canada's rental sector not as a malfunctioning "crisis" but as a lucrative system of organized inequality. Legislators once recognized that individual workers could not bargain fairly with industrial adversaries and created the collective-bargaining framework that undergirds labour relations today. Housing demands the same logic. Tenant unions already operate in neighbourhoods such as Toronto's Thorncliffe Park, Vancouver's Mount Pleasant and Montreal's Rosemont. But without legal status, landlords can simply ignore them. Federal legislation could correct this imbalance. Automatic certification would follow when a simple majority of tenants in a building sign membership cards, triggering a duty for landlords to bargain in good faith over rent increases, maintenance schedules, security of tenure and essential services. Read more: Financial firms are driving up rent in Toronto - and targeting the most vulnerable tenants Anti-retaliation clauses would bar eviction or harassment of organizing tenants, with remedies mirroring labour law: reinstatement, damages and arbitration to deter stalling. Negotiated standards could be applied across neighbourhoods while still allowing investors reasonable but socially responsible returns. Granting labour-style protections to tenant unions is hardly radical; it simply extends a principle Canada embraced nearly a century ago: collective problems require collective rights. Renters cannot wait for market forces to self-correct. Recognizing and regulating tenant unions is the most direct route to balancing power, safeguarding homes and treating housing as a human right rather than an asset class.