Manitoba affordable housing providers worry trade war could result in cost spikes, delays for families

CBC

08-02-2025

A pair of not-for-profit Manitoba organizations are concerned a potential trade war between Canada and the U.S. could have a negative impact on their ability to provide housing for those who need it most.
"We already have our shelters working at capacity. We have our emergency services that are stressed and strained. We have pressure on our health system. So if we are to say that these tariffs might contribute to more homeless, there's a very real threat of that occurring," End Homelessness Winnipeg chief executive officer Jason Whitford said Thursday at one of the organization's build sites.
U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to levy a 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian goods before agreeing to a 30-day pause with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday. If the U.S. tariffs do come into effect, the Canadian government plans to put counter-tariffs on U.S. goods.
Whitford says End Homelessness Winnipeg has at least a dozen developments underway related to social, transitional and supportive housing that addresses the needs of various demographics, including for women fleeing domestic violence.
A potential economic spat with the U.S. would likely result in increased costs of materials to build low-income housing, despite about 70 per cent of supplies coming from within Canada.
"The reality across new construction, across renovations is we're highly reliant on the U.S. economy to provide us with products that we need. And currently across the board, it's estimated that 30 per cent of those products originate from the United States," Whitford said.
Rising costs of lumber, steel and heating and ventilation will likely have an impact on individual projects, he said.
"That's going to impact our ability to produce 300 to 400 housing units a year. It might knock that down by 25 per cent, and that's concerning, because we already have a challenge out there," Whitford said.
New approaches have to be undertaken, he said, like finding new suppliers and exploring cost-effective ways to supply low-income housing, such as whether it's cheaper to renovate an existing property or build new.
Whitford said organizations like his could also be affected by financial constraints that tariffs could cause for community partners and multiple levels of government.
"We don't want to be hit with sticker shock at the end of the project and look at the ability of organizations to pay the bill at the end. And where is the money going to come from for these projects?" he said.
"We're heavily reliant on community organizations to take on these projects."
At Habitat for Humanity Manitoba, CEO Jamie Hall also worries that counter-tariffs could make it tougher to attract donor support.
"We have some very generous donors, but if they're feeling uncertain, they may not be able to be as generous because of the uncertainty in their businesses, and so that will affect us," Hall said Thursday.
Habitat for Humanity is committed to building a minimum of 26 homes this year in Winnipeg, Brandon, Selkirk, Killarney, Portage la Prairie and Neepawa, Hall said, but if costs go up, that could cause delays.
"It's going to slow down the pace at which we can build, but we'd still be committed to serving those families that we're working in partnership with," Hall said.
"It just might take us longer."
Fortunately, and like End Homelessness Winnipeg, most of Habitat's products are sourced in Canada, but any increase in costs due to tariffs and counter-tariffs will limit the amount of construction that can be done.
"We're still in the wait and see and figuring out how, you know, how much that will affect the material that we have that might come from the U.S.," Hall said.