Report Release – Bill C-10: The Truth About Consequences

Thursday March 1, 2012 @ 1:30
The John Howard Society of Manitoba
3rd Floor, 583 Ellice Avenue.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Mb. and
The John Howard Society of Manitoba, Inc. will release their report:

Bill C-10: The Truth About Consequences

This report was produced with the collaboration of Ogijiita Pimatiswin Kinamatwin, The Community Education Development Association, The Canadian CED Network, Maintain the Momentum and Make Poverty History Manitoba.

The Federal Government’s Omnibus Crime Bill C-10, if passed, will cost the province of Manitoba an estimated $90 million a year. The vast majority of these funds will be spent on locking more people up for longer, a strategy that fails to create safer communities. Strategies that focus on prevention, not punishment, succeed. Our plan focuses on investing that $90 million in four key areas: housing, education, employment and mental health/addictions.

Please join us for the release of this report.

CCPA Participates in Enbridge Pipeline Public Forum

On February 16 the Green Action Centre, along with several other organizations, hosted a public forum on the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. This pipeline, if built, will run from Alberta’s tar sands to the pristine northern coast of B.C. It will send crude oil to Kitimat B.C., which will host hundreds of oil tankers that will ship the crude to China.

Before reaching the coast, the pipeline will pass through B.C’s Great Bear Rain Forest and other natural areas. Given the track record of the oil industry, we must ask what the impact of a pipeline leak will be.

The consequences of an oil spill in these treacherous waters will be devastating, with unthinkable damage to wildlife and First Nations communities.

Notwithstanding the environmental concerns, it is not even clear if there is a credible economic argument to be made for going ahead with the pipeline. The political economy of the tar sands already creates regional disparities and jeopardizes our national energy security.

The panel included Gerald Amos from Haisla First Nation (B.C.), Lynne Fernandez from CCPA Mb., Anne Lindsay and Wade Davis, explorer in residence for the National Geographic Society. To view a video of the presentations, go to: http://greenactioncentre.ca/2012/hundreds-fill-hall-for-pipeline-forum/

Winnipeg City Council Misses the Bus – Again

Councillor Harvey Smith will be introducing a motion at City Council tomorrow to rescind the 20 cent bus fare increase slated for June 2012. There will also be the possibility for public input on the issue at the Public Works Committee on March 5 at 1:00 pm.

PDF version

by Lynne Fernandez

Council’s recent decision to increase bus fare by a total of 25 cents by June 2012 adds to a growing list of wrong-headed policies moving the city further away from the desires Winnipeggers expressed in OurWinnipeg, the City’s own master development plan. Not only does the policy quash hopes for more rational, environmental transportation, it wantonly disregards the plan’s stated goal of creating a more inclusive, equitable city.

It’s difficult to understand what the Mayor and those councillors who voted in favour of the increase were thinking, especially given that council’s constant flip-flopping with the provincial and federal governments is largely responsible for the funding shortfall and construction delays for Rapid Transit. One justification reverted to a “user-pay” argument: those who use transit should pay for rapid transit. Never mind investing in public infrastructure that will benefit all Winnipeggers — including businesses, non-profits, community groups — for generations to come and put the city squarely in the 21st century.

But this move is disappointing on a more fundamental level: it lets motorists off the hook for their wear and tear on city infrastructure while passing the expense of more sensible urban development onto the backs of Winnipeg’s low-income earners and poor. Many low-income/poor Winnipeggers live in the North End and will not reap the benefits of their “contribution” to rapid-transit, because it only services the south end of the city – at least into the foreseeable future. It also sends the wrong message to higher-income Winnipeggers who responsibly choose public transit over automobile use. Not only will the fare increase impact lower-income and poor Winnipeggers disproportionately, it will also be more costly to the City in the long run.

CCPA Mb.’s recently released report by Linda DeRiviere and Jeffrey Brojges (Community transformation from an economic costing perspective) explores the potential benefits of creating jobs close to where low-income people reside. Although transportation is not its focus, the study helps us understand that public transportation greatly helps the inner-city’s low-income population move about the city. DeRiviere and Brojges looked specifically at Lord Selkirk Park (LSP), finding that 65.5 % of employed people living there use public transit, walk or get a ride in someone else’s car to get to work. This figure compares with 29.4 % for the rest of Winnipeg. DeRiviere and Brojges note that labour in LSP is “relatively immobile”, with fewer families having access to a private vehicle. The report cites research concluding that lack of access to transportation, combined with an unreasonably lengthy commute, can prevent people from reaching jobs in other areas of the city. This suggests that increasing bus fares 10.2% in 6 months will make transit less accessible to low-income earners and the unemployed.

According to DeRiviere and Brojges, 52 % of economic families in LSP (compared with 10 % for Winnipeg as a whole) qualify for government transfer payments because of their low income – which affects 68 % of LSP economic families. If we connect the dots between the transportation and income data, we can conclude that the unemployed who cannot afford to get to where the jobs are, and the low-income employed who have to deal with steep increases in their transportation costs, will remain poor and in need of government subsidies. In other words, there’s a relation between being able to work and having access to public transportation. There is also a connection between access to transportation, social inclusion and quality of life. Calgary made these simple connections.

Calgary figured out that you don’t empower marginalized people by increasing transit fares: you help them by decreasing them. The book Cities Reducing Poverty includes the chapter “Fair Fares in Calgary” which documents the story of how and why Calgary’s city council decided to lower transit fares for all adult Calgarians with incomes below 75 % of the low-income cut-off.

A dedicated coalition of citizens and organizations worked hard to make council understand that:

Economically disadvantaged people benefit from urban planning options that support walking or cycling and from transportation alternatives that include public transportation, taxis, para-transit [e.g. handi-transit], ride sharing and vehicle sharing.

According to a 2007 survey, those who qualified for Calgary’s Low Income Transit Pass (LITP) increased their use of public transit. Before the passes were available, 63 % of participants took public transit fewer than 8 times a week; once passes were distributed, 81 % used it 8 times or more per week. Participants were able to: save money and/or buy more products they needed; socialize more; access school more easily; and, fully half the group found it easier to obtain and keep a job. Almost half said it was easier to volunteer, and 97 % reported that their lives had improved once they had the LITP. But measures like the LITP don’t just improve individuals’ lives; they benefit society as a whole. Governments can reduce overall costs to society by implementing simple policies such as the LITP.

DeRiviere and Brojges found that if the employment rate in LSP and South Point Douglas matched the City’s overall rate, the net present value of such job creation could well be in the tens, even hundreds of millions of dollars. Improving access to public transit is not the only remedy required; DeRiviere and Brojges’ report, for example, concentrates on the net benefit of increasing the number of jobs located in the inner city. Nonetheless, we can reasonably conclude — given that inner-city residents need public transit to access jobs in other parts of the city, and given the results of the LITP experience in Calgary— that lowering bus fares for low-income Winnipeggers would improve their lives significantly.

Poverty and social exclusion will not be removed by simply implementing a LITP policy, but such a move is one step in building a comprehensive set of policies that will make a difference. According to “Fair Fares in Calgary”:

[The] Fair Calgary lens helped shift attitudes about what causes people to live in poverty and what keeps them there; transportation came to be seen to be an important component of social and economic inclusion.

In stark contrast, Winnipeg seems bent upon adopting policies that make it harder for marginalized Winnipeggers to improve their lives and which move us further from the goals stated in OurWinnipeg.

Lynne Fernandez is a political economist with the CCPA Mb.


New CCPA report – Stranded in Suburbia

One of the biggest topics of conversations these days is the impact that the baby boomer generation will have on Canadian society as it turns 65. In Winnipeg, baby boomers live primarily in the suburbs. Suburbs are generally characterized by low-density development and land use separation: buildings are spread out, and homes are completely segregated from the vast majority of services.

If boomers continue to live in the suburbs as they age – which is likely – we will face significant challenges in delivering services and meeting this group’s housing, transportation and other needs. In a new report released by the CCPA-MB, Art Ladd asks if Manitoba’s policies and strategies for addressing the aging population are sufficient.

The report examines current suburban development patterns, the expected population change, as well as the aging process itself. It reviews the social aspects of health and how these relate to housing, transportation, and support service needs. This review is followed by a critique of the Government of Manitoba’s current strategies and policies on aging. In conclusion, it offers a range of recommendations to help make Manitoba cities more liveable for older adults.

For a copy of the report, click here.

Cuba: Going beyond borders to scale up access to universal health care

PDF version

by Rebecca Fries

I have just read Errol Black and Jim Silver’s review of the book Revolutionary Doctors (“Revolutionary Health Care,” CCPA-Manitoba Fast Facts, January 4, 2012). I agree with what they say about the important role that Cuban doctors play in Central America. Based on my experience, what Cuban medical personnel do in Central America is a testament to Cuba’s commitment to providing quality health care services, both within and beyond their borders. After living and working in Central America and Mexico for over 10 years, I can confirm many of the central points argued by Black and Silver.

After attending Brandon University in the 1990s, I studied Social Work at the University of Calgary and later pursued a practicum placement in Central America. This experience led to over 10 years of supporting local development with organisations of small farmers, indigenous people and women in Central America.

I learned a lot about economic and social conditions there, including the vital role played by Cuba in supplying doctors and other professional health care workers to the region. I learned also about the role of Cuba in helping citizens of other countries to acquire the same knowledge, skills and qualifications in Cuban medical schools.

In Central America and Mexico, conditions of poverty are exacerbated by governments’ failure to provide accessible education, health and social services, particularly to the rural indigenous population. Complex historical socio-economic and political factors combine with the widening war amongst drug cartels in the region, and the extreme levels of corruption and impunity in Mesoamerica, and all of these have contributed to the creation of near failed states in countries such as Guatemala and Honduras. Governments are not accountable to their populations, and there are generalized levels of distrust, misuse and mismanagement of public funds, and severe fraud among public officials. Attempts to improve access to public services such as health and education have been stunted by corruption, and the lack of available public resources has limited attempts to make advances in this area.

I had many experiences with the Guatemalan healthcare system that were appalling, and that highlighted the lack of quality service. This was especially the case in remote areas of the country. The one factor that has caused a shift in access to health services is that for several years the Cuban government has been providing Guatemala and other countries with one of their most valuable resources—highly skilled people. Based on my experience, the presence of Cuban doctors in Guatemala together with the Cuban government’s programme that brings international students to study top-notch medicine in Cuba is making a marked difference in access to health care. In remote areas where previously there was no access to services, medical professionals from Cuba are providing high quality care.

In 2007, my partner at the time was on an assignment to photo-document an inhumation in the remote Guatemalan highlands of the Quiche Department. In Guatemala, inhumations usually involve the ceremonial re-burial by family and community members of remains uncovered in communal mass graves from the period of the 30 year internal conflict, during which genocide was committed largely against the rural indigenous population. During the drive back to Guatemala City, on a treacherous dirt road winding through the mountains, his jeep skidded on the gravel and plummeted over a sharp cliff. Upon regaining consciousness, Ulysses knew that he and his colleague were in trouble. Rodrigo had been thrown through the windshield and was half buried in dirt, not breathing. They were very far from an urban centre, and in any event public health services in Guatemala are sketchy at best. To make a very long story short (which includes local indigenous healers, raw eggs and the amazing will and solidarity of local villagers), they were eventually transported to the closest small village. Ulysses managed to gain consciousness and speak to me a few times briefly. He described the “facility” as bare, with little for supplies and equipment, and without electricity to do a simple X-ray to determine internal injuries. Then he said, “but, we are in luck, there is a Cuban doctor here!”

That brought huge relief. We all had witnessed the commitment of the Cuban government to educating and sharing skilled Cuban medical practitioners in acts of solidarity with Guatemala, and with other Latin American countries with less access to top universally accessible health care. These acts of global solidarity had produced a huge and positive impact on health services throughout the region.

Additionally, Cuba offers several scholarships every year to aspiring doctors, in Guatemala and other countries. Several Guatemalans I know have family and friends who have been supported by the Cuban government to study in Cuba, where they can earn a top-quality medical education. This would have been otherwise impossible.

Ulysses and Rodrigo recovered fully; weeks later they were raving about the amazing work of the Cuban professional, who, in this remote village without electricity, stitched them up and attended to their injuries. Later they were flown by their agencies to the top hospital in Guatemala City, but by then they were already well. I was left thinking about all the villagers in this remote area of Guatemala who rely on this doctor. They would not otherwise have access to care.

The high quality medical service provided to Guatemalans as part of Cuba’s commitment to countries “in development” is a no-brainer. I had known in a theoretical way about Cuba’s international health care work. But this, along with other personal experiences, made me more aware of the situation of those leaving Guatemala to study in Cuba. I noticed Cuban optometric and orthodontic delegations, and also looked for medical attention myself from Cuban professionals, which dramatically changed my own experience with healthcare in Guatemala.

I could share several more anecdotes about the provision of health services by Cuban medical professionals doing their service in Guatemala, but my greatest lessons included the reiteration of the importance of the values of sharing and solidarity, and the amazing power of building and sharing human skills in a country historically excluded by embargos and with little access to material resources.

Rebecca Fries is currently working as an independent consultant out of Mexico City with international NGOs in the field of development.

Are we about to lose our City-owned golf courses?

Tuesday February 14 – Meeting at City Hall

The February 14, Property and Development Committee Meeting is a very important opportunity to voice your concerns about the sale of City-owned golf courses for commercial and residential development. There is a motion on the agenda regarding sale of golf courses. The meeting will be chaired by Jeff Browaty. Committee members are Councillors Nordman, Pagtakhan, Wyatt, and Mayor Katz (ex officio).

Date: Tuesday, February 14
Where: City Hall, 510 Main Street
Time: The meeting begins at 9:00 am. The agenda may be viewed at www.winnipeg.ca/CLKDMIS 96 hours before the meeting. Select ‘latest agendas’ from the menu.

Attend if you can: your presence will be felt by the committee. OURS (Outdoor Urban Recreational Spaces) will be presenting.

If you’re interested in keeping City golf courses owned by and accessible to the public, attend the February 14th meeting.

For more information on this issue, please see the Fast Facts.

Tar sands, Pipelines, and Tankers: A public forum on the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline

Friends of CCPA will be interested in this public forum. CCPA’s Lynne Fernandez will be one of the presenters.

February 16, 7 pm.

University of Winnipeg

Richardson College for the Environment & Science Complex

599 Portage Ave.

Speakers:

Dr. Wade Davis, Explorer in Residence, National Geographic Society, Visiting Professor and Senior Fellow of the Masters in Development Practice (MDP) Indigenous Development program, University of Winnipeg and author of The Sacred Headwaters: the fight to save the Stikine, Skeena and Nass.

Gerald Amos, former elected Chief Councillor for the Haisla First Nation for 12 years. He has been a leading voice for conservation in Canada for thirty years. He is the author of an open letter to Prime

Minister Stephen Harper and Natural Resources Minister, Joe Oliver “No apology forthcoming”.

Lynne Fernandez, Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives. Lynne has an MA in economics from the University of Manitoba. Lynne researches municipal and provincial social and economic policy. She is also interested in labour and environmental issues. Lynne is an ex-pat Albertan who was born and raised in Calgary. She likes living in Winnipeg.

Anne Lindsey, former executive director, Manitoba Eco-Network. Anne has worked and volunteered on Manitoba and national issues such as nuclear waste, forestry, food and pesticides, since 1984,  including numerous experiences with environmental reviews.

Moderated by Richard Cloutier, host of Richard Cloutier Reports on CJOB 68.

This event is organized by the Manitoba Eco-Network, Green Action Centre, Climate Change Connection, the Council of Canadians, and the Green Action Committee of the First Unitarian-Universalist Church, with the support of the University of Manitoba’s Global Political Economy Program, the Masters in Development Practice (MDP) Indigenous Development program with the University of Winnipeg and the University of Winnipeg.

Check out the Facebook event for updates and more info.

Brandon Park Named in Honour of CCPA-MB founder

On February 3rd, 2012, the City of Brandon dedicated a park in honour of Errol Black. Errol is a founding member of CCPA Manitoba and a long-time board member. CCPA Manitoba extends a heartfelt congratulations to Errol. This is a well deserved honour for his continued dedication to the City where he was raised and has contributed so much to. The following letter from Errol was printed today in the Brandon Sun.

On Feb. 3, the new park in the east end (situated on land occupied for many years by the “Skunk and Junk” and an Imperial Oil Depot) was dedicated in my name.

I’m not really sure I understand how this happened, but it did, and I must say that I’m both humbled and pleased by this honour.

First, I would like to thank the mayor and city councillors for their unanimous decision to do this. I watched on TV the discussion the resolution brought forward by Coun. Len Isleifson and Coun. Jim McCrae. I was touched by the kind words from all councillors.

Second, I tip my hat to the editors at the Brandon Sun who encouraged and approved council’s decision.

And third, I must acknowledge the support of our family members and the many people who either came out to participate in the naming of the park or sent cards or emails of congratulations.

As most people know, I’ve lived virtually my whole life in the east end of Brandon. I was born at 224 Percy St. and later lived at 132 Frederick St. (about a block from the southeast corner of this new park). For the past 42 years, Margaret and I have lived at 212 13th St. E.

All of our lives we’ve been blessed with good friends and neighbours in the east end, and also many others who have shared our interest in politics and life in general.

A lot of east enders were at the ceremony last Friday. I want to recognize all the people past and present who have devoted, and continue to devote their time and energy to make in the east end a robust, civil and engaged community based on mutual respect and sharing.

Their dedication and labour are reflected especially in the assets and activities at the East End Community Centre and Rideau Park.

Among those people, I would include previous city councillors from the east end: Walter Green, Jim Campbell, Emily Lyons (who attended the dedication), Jim Armstrong, Barry Brooking and Ross Martin.

Also present at the ceremony were many people we have met over the years through our places of work, our participation in the East End Community Centre and similar organizations as our children were growing up. And also through our membership on many boards and committees and our longtime involvement in the labour movement and the NDP.

All of the people we’ve come in contact with over these many years have shared with us an abiding interest in the City of Brandon, and a recognition that we are indeed blessed to live in this “city of promise.”

Cheers.

Errol Black, Brandon

Labour-Management Conflict in Brandon’s Public Sector: Chapter 2

PDF version

by Errol Black

Labour-management conflict has once again taken centre stage in the city of Brandon. The first episode involved the Brandon University Faculty Association (BUFA) and Brandon University. The recent conflict involves the City of Brandon and the Brandon Professional Firefighter/Paramedics Association (IAF Local 803). The two conflicts have important similarities.

On October 12, 2011, the Brandon University Faculty Association (BUFA) went on strike against Brandon University in an attempt to resolve a collective bargaining impasse and secure a new collective agreement. As it turned out, Brandon University (assisted by a Vancouver-based consultant and Grant Mitchell, a Winnipeg-based labour lawyer) was intent on crushing the union and imposing conditions detrimental to its members. The strike ended 45 days later, on November 25, when it became evident that BUFA members were prepared to reject the University’s latest offer in a government-mandated vote.

The conflict in the City of Brandon first emerged publicly on October 14, 2011. At that time, Local Union President Wade Ritchie was reprimanded by the City for “deceitful conduct” apparently arising from an exchange of communications on October 3, 2011, relating to the commencement of negotiations on a new collective agreement. Subsequently, the Brandon Sun reported that, following an internal investigation, Ritchie “was stripped of his lieutenant’s rank, demoted to a rank-and-file firefighter and suspended without pay for five days.” In response, the local union filed a complaint with the Manitoba Labour Board.

In the weeks that followed, it became apparent that some of the same people that were advising and acting for Brandon University are employed in the same capacity with the City of Brandon. Grant Mitchell has for many years been the City’s lawyer for labour relations issues. Some months prior to the conflict with the firefighters, the City hired Canadian Professional Management Services, Inc. (CPMS) a Vancouver-based consulting firm (in the person of Mohamed Doma) for the purpose of “showing the City how to get back control of its workers,” and negotiating collective agreements with three of the four City unions – Fire Fighters (and E911 employees), Transit and Police.(1)

In recent months, the City has pushed a number of grievances forward to arbitration, and stalled on negotiations with firefighters. Then on January 26, the City announced that Wade Ritchie was fired. He was given a letter explaining that the action was “based on the totality of his employment record.” Alex Forrest, International Association of Fire Fighters Canadian trustee, said the timing of the action “is very suspicious. This occurred just a few days after they had exchanged [correspondence regarding potential dates for meetings to deal with collective bargaining proposals].” And now this has made it very difficult for the union president to do his job representing his members as they seek a fair and reasonable wage and benefit package.”

Forrest also told Brandon Sun reporter Keith Borkowsky: “There is no limit to the financial support we will give Brandon’s firefighters. It’s unfortunate that Brandon will be known for this incredible action against a labour leader.” On January 31, Ritchie and the Fire Fighters filed an unfair labour practice claim against the City of Brandon. Forrest told Borkowsky that the claim “alleges everything from coercion to intimidation to interfering with the union’s ability to represent its members.”

All the while this has been going on, the City has been embroiled in conflict over its budget for 2012, a budget that proposed major increases in expenditures and a significant tax hike. A petition on ebrandon is accumulating hundreds of names and a number of organizations and prominent individuals, including recently retired city treasurer Grant MacMillan, called on the City to rework the budget. The City has now agreed to rework the budget in an effort to scale back tax increases.

Although the mayor subsequently provided information that demonstrated otherwise, at one point the City tried to blame union wages and collective bargaining costs for the need for tax hikes. They published data on the website reporting major increases in expenditures on labour relations since 2010, highlighting increases for firefighters.

* Includes $80,000 for a new Deputy HR Director.

The amount allocated to labour relations with the Fire Fighters has increased by a significant amount. In 2010, this allocation accounted for 50 per cent of the total labour relations budget; 57 percent when the Deputy Director is removed from the equation. The City told the Brandon Sun “the increase was needed to hire an external labour relations expert to negotiate a new deal because it had ‘neither the staff resources nor the time.’” If this is true, it raises questions as to how the City was able to find staff resources and time to negotiate new deals in the past – new deals that were touted by the City and Union as the outcome of a mature bargaining relationship and in the mutual interest of both the City and the Fire Fighters? And why, at the very time when the City must depend on its employees to secure a collective agreement that works for everyone, would the City hire an external consultant who will not only cost a bundle directly, but seems likely also to drive up other costs – for grievances and claims to the Manitoba Labour Board – and undermine morale in the Fire Department.

A more disturbing question is: why is it that two of Brandon’s major public sector employers – the City and Brandon University – are suddenly seeking to undermine their unions using anti-union consultants and lawyers? Perhaps we will get an answer to this question as the current conflict plays out in the weeks to come.

It the meantime, it would seem that the best course of action for the City is to cut its losses and send the consultant back to Vancouver; reinstate Mr. Ritchie; settle the outstanding grievances; and seek to negotiate a collective agreement that is based on mutual respect and trust.

(1) A story in the February 1 edition of the Brandon Sun reports that the Police Union has ratified a one-year contract that provides for a wage increase of two per cent.

Errol Black is a member of the CCPA-MB board.

Winnipeg Housing Statistics

Looking for information about housing in Winnipeg? Look no further – here are the updated facts and statistics about housing in Winnipeg and Manitoba. (The previous page is here).

References are available at the bottom of the page, in case you are looking for more details.

Core Housing Need

Definition of Core Housing Need

“Acceptable housing is defined as adequate and suitable shelter that can be obtained without spending 30 per cent or more of before-tax household income. Adequate shelter is housing that is not in need of major repair. Suitable shelter is housing that is not crowded, meaning that it has sufficient bedrooms for the size and make-up of the occupying household. The subset of households classified as living in unacceptable housing and unable to access acceptable housing is considered to be in core housing need.”(1)

Core Housing Need

In 2006: (2)

  • 11.3 % of all MB households lived in core housing need (46,900 people)
  • 24.0 % of MB renter households lived in core housing need (28,800 people)
  • 6.2 % of MB owner households lived in core housing need (18,100 people)
  • 22.3 % of those who immigrated to Canada between 2001 and 2006 lived in core housing need in Manitoba (1,600 people)

In 2006: (3)

  • 37.3 % of Winnipeg tenant-occupied households spent over 30% of their income on housing.
  • 11.6 % of Winnipeg owner-occupied households spend over 30% of their income on housing.

Renting in Manitoba

Current Vacancy Rates

In October, 2011, the vacancy rate was (4)

  • 1.0 % in Manitoba, the lowest vacancy rate in the provinces
  • 1.1 % in Winnipeg, the second-lowest among all CMAs in Canada
  • 0.0 % in Thompson
  • 0.6 % in Brandon
  • 1.0 % in Portage la Prairie

Source: (5)

Winnipeg’s Rental Universe

(This data only applies to apartment buildings with three or more units)

The rental universe in Winnipeg (6)

  • has declined in 15 of the past 18 years.
  • Lost 835 rental units, of which at least 450 units were permanently removed from the rental universe, between October 2009 and October 2010 (leaving 52,319 units).

Since 1992, Winnipeg’s rental universe has declined from 57,279 units to 52,319 in 2010, a decline of about 9 percent (7). At the same time, the population of Winnipeg has increased from 677,000 to 753,600, an increase of about 11 percent (8).

  • The result is a drop in the number of rental units per 100 people from 8.5 units to 6.9.

 

Rents

In October 2011, the average rent was (9)

  • 744 $ in Manitoba (compared with 711 $ in October 2010)
  • 754 $ in Winnipeg (compared with 719 $ in October 2010)
  • 683 $ in Thompson (compared with 668 $ in April 2010)

In 2011, the Median Market Rent in Manitoba was: (10)

Affordability of Average Rents in Winnipeg (11 and 12)

EIA and Rent in Winnipeg (13 and 14)

Demographics

Migration

In 2010, 15,803 international migrants came to Manitoba, and 12,340 immigrants moved to Winnipeg. (15)

The population of Manitoba increased by 15,800 people from 2009-2010 (from 1,219,600 to 1,235,400). (16)

The population of Winnipeg increased by 9,700 people from 2009-2010 (from 674,400 to 684,100). (17)

Social Housing

Manitoba Housing “owns the Province’s housing portfolio and provides subsidies to approximately 34,900 households under various housing programs. Within the portfolio, Manitoba Housing owns 17,600 units of which 13,100 units are directly managed by Manitoba Housing and another 4,500 units are operated by non- profit/cooperative sponsor groups or property management agencies. Manitoba Housing also provides subsidy and support to approximately 17,300 households (including 4,700 personal care home beds) operated by cooperatives, Urban Native and private non-profit groups.” (18)

National Social Housing Construction

In 1993, the federal government withdrew from housing. Until then, about 10 percent of the housing built each year in Canada was affordable to lower income households; since then it has been less than one percent.

Sources

(1) CMHC 2011, Canadian Housing Observer.

(2) CMHC 2006, Canadian Housing Observer. Also offers data on types of family, Aboriginal status, and period of immigration

(3) City of Winnipeg 2006. 2006 Census Data – City of Winnipeg.

(4) CMHC 2011, Fall. Rental Market Report: Manitoba Highlights.

(5) CMHC 2011, Fall. Rental Market Report: Winnipeg CMA.

(6) CMHC 2011. Rental Market Report: Manitoba Highlights. 

(7) CMHC 2011. Personal communication from Dianne Himbeault, CMHC.

(8) City of Winnipeg. 2011. Population of Winnipeg.

(9) CMHC 2011, Fall. Rental Market Report: Manitoba Highlights.

(10) Government of Manitoba, date unknown. Housing Income Limits and Median Market Rent

(11) City of Winnipeg 2006. 2006 Census Data – City of Winnipeg.

(12) CMHC 2011, Fall. Rental Market Report: Winnipeg CMA.

(13) CMHC 2011, Fall. Rental Market Report: Winnipeg CMA.

(14) Employment and Income Assistance Facts. Government of Manitoba.

(15) Government of Manitoba. 2011. News and Resources.

(16) City of Winnipeg. 2011, May 1. Population of Winnipeg.

(17) City of Winnipeg. 2011, May 1. Population of Winnipeg.

(18) Manitoba Housing and Community Development. 2010. Annual Report 2009-2010.

(19) CMHC. 2011. CHS – Public Funds and National Housing Act (Social Housing).