Ottawa earmarks $1 billion for housing, mental health in Winnipeg

Prime Minister Mark Carney will be in Winnipeg Friday to announce more than $1 billion for transitional and supportive housing in Winnipeg as well as a centre for mental health and addictions.

The commitment was outlined in the federal government’s 2026 budget, released Thursday, and is part of a strategy to combat homelessness across the country.

The federal government says the cash is part of a partnership with the Manitoba government to create “the conditions” needed to end homelessness in Winnipeg.

Premier Wab Kinew, Mayor Scott Gillingham and Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada will also speak at Friday’s event.

The budget document says the federal government will work with public and private partners to build the centre, which will bring “acute and outpatient care together with permanent supportive and transitional housing and wraparound services.”

Ottawa is committing up to $800 million in capital to build 2,000 new transitional and supportive housing units, while Manitoba will fund operations.

The federal government said the Winnipeg centre will follow a model that’s being used at a supportive housing initiative in Toronto.

The province’s finance minister applauded the federal spending commitments.

“Premier Kinew and our government set an ambitious challenge to end chronic homelessness in our province,” said Finance Minister Adrien Sala in a statement Thursday.

“We’ve made progress on that, and the significant investment in this budget will allow our province to move even faster towards this goal.”

The provincial government, under the governing New Democrats, has committed to end chronic homelessness by 2031. It launched its Your Way Home strategy at the start of 2025.

As of late July, the provincial government said it had found housing for 249 people who had been living in homeless encampments.

In a statement, Gillingham said the federal spending commitment is a “huge step forward in addressing some of the biggest challenges facing our city.”

He called the money “the kind of investment that will change lives, restore hope and make our entire city stronger.”

erik.pindera@winnipegfreepress.com