A city goal to approve 8,000 new housing units by Nov. 30 appears within reach, despite a recent decline in local housing starts.
Mayor Scott Gillingham announced the target on Feb. 9, which includes single homes, apartments and condos.
A city report notes 7,603 housing units were approved between Dec. 5, 2023 and Sept. 4, 2024.
Mike Sudoma/Free Press Files
A construction worker frames a home in a new subdivision. A recent City of Winnipeg report notes 7,603 housing units were approved between Dec. 5, 2023 and Sept. 4, 2024.
“Every City of Winnipeg department needs to see itself as a housing department … They’re stepping up, they’re working very hard to get housing units approved. And, so, 7,600 units approved towards 8,000 is a really good start … I’m confident that we’ll meet that 8,000 target,” Gillingham said Wednesday.
Fewer new homes have been built in the city so far this year. Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data shows Winnipeg housing starts between January and August were 16 per cent lower than the same period last year, dropping to 3,407 from 4,049.
The mayor said the city is focused on what it can control, noting some factors affecting that figure aren’t within municipal jurisdiction.
“I’ve spoken to developers who’ve said they’re waiting on interest rates to drop. Sometimes, it’s an issue of labour … We have some of the most substantive development reforms that we’ve ever undertaken as a city that are going on right now to get more housing built and to increase that housing pipeline,” he said.
The city also aims to create 14,101 new housing units by Dec. 5, 2026, as part of an agreement funded through $122.4 million from the federal housing accelerator fund. The city has approved 2,667 net new units towards that agreement, which only counts projects that have received their first building permit.
Gillingham expects that number to climb soon.
“We’ve built the program but we haven’t announced the first grants (for development projects). And so that announcement will come very, very soon,” he said.
This year’s $25-million grant program aims to attract new, primarily affordable and downtown housing units this year.
The city report also notes that just 123 affordable housing units are included within the 7,603 overall approved units, with no increase since June 25. The document cautions some permits aren’t yet tracked for affordability.
Gillingham said many more affordable units should be approved within the projects receiving the new federally funded grants.
“I’m confident we’ll see some good numbers in those announcements,” he said.
Coun. Sherri Rollins, chairwoman of the property and development committee, welcomed the progress toward adding thousands of homes to Winnipeg’s supply.
“I’m really confident, given what’s on deck this month and the major projects that are going online… it looks like we might exceed the (8,000-unit) goal,” said Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry). “We are doing all we can to … respond to the core housing need that is out there.”
Rollins noted the proposed redevelopment of Portage Place and the major Naawi-Oodena redevelopment of the former Kapyong Barracks are expected to produce affordable homes.
“It’s a matter of where (a project) is at in the pipeline. I know our affordability numbers are higher,” she said.
Lanny McInnes, president of the Manitoba Home Builders’ Association, said he’s glad to see the progress.
“The puck’s not in the net yet but it looks like meeting that target is likely. We’ve certainly seen some improvements in … the past few months on the permitting side,” said McInnes.
He said monthly housing starts actually increased in August from the previous month, offering some hope following the year-to-date decline.
McInnes noted CMHC housing starts also declined in multiple Canadian cities this year, so Winnipeg is being affected by broader market trends.
“The stability and decreases in interest rates, certainly, are going to help that situation moving forward,” he said.
joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca
X: @joyanne_pursaga
Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter
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.