Province offers $175M in tax credits to encourage rental housing builds

The Manitoba government will spend more than $176.5 million over the next five years through a new incentive program to build rental housing.

“This is how we’re going to make Manitoba more affordable — more affordable for you, more affordable for your kids and grandkids, more affordable for people in all walks of life,” Premier Wab Kinew said Thursday as he announced the rental housing construction incentive at a new seniors residence in the Sage Creek suburb.

The province is offering refundable tax credits of $8,500 per new rental unit, with an additional $5,000 available for affordable units, to private and non-profit developers to build new rental units, including affordable housing.

“When we look at what’s going on in other parts of the country, we can’t let what happened in Vancouver — the housing prices and the rents — happen here in Manitoba,” Kinew said.

“In order for us to stay ahead, we have to keep building more rental units,” the premier said, flanked by area MLAs and Housing Minister Bernadette Smith.

“People are struggling to find housing they can afford,” Smith said.

“Young people, seniors and families are being priced out of their communities… We’re stepping up to jump-start rental housing construction by giving builders a direct incentive to build more homes that people can actually afford.”

There’s room for input from non-profits, private developers, municipalities and First Nations, the minister said.

“This program is designed so that all these partners can take part and help meet the diverse housing needs right here across our province,” Smith said, adding major invests are needed from each sector.

Projects must include a four-unit minimum to qualify. Affordable units must meet rent thresholds set by the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corp. and be occupied by households with incomes below provincial limits. The current limit is $67,900 for households without children and $90,500 for households with children or dependents.

Projects must continue to qualify as rental housing for 10 years. During that time, the number of units must not fall below the number for which a tax credit was received, a government news release said.

Nathan Janzen, co-founder of Janzen Projects Inc. that developed the 178-unit seniors assisted-living residence at Sage Creek, praised the new incentive program.

“This program enables us to continue looking after Manitoba seniors by providing them with access to top-tier, multi-family housing spaces designed with their dignity, comfort and well-being in mind while keeping rents low,” Janzen said at the news conference.

“It’s about more than just buildings. It’s about fostering communities where seniors can thrive and feel at home,” Janzen said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca