City, province likely to see funding for new $4B Indigenous housing strategy
A $4 billion federal housing strategy targeting urban and rural Indigenous communities, outlined in the Liberal government’s Budget 2023, will likely lead to housing projects here in Winnipeg and Manitoba.
“Winnipeg is the Indigenous capital of Canada,” said Northern Affairs Minister and MP for St. Boniface – St. Vital Dan Vandal.
“So we’re going to be there at the table and make sure Winnipeg and Manitoba gets its proper allocation."
Four billion dollars over four years has been earmarked by the federal government in its proposed budget to develop and implement an Urban, Rural, and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy. This is new funding that will start in 2024, on top of $300 million announced in Budget 2022.
A report submitted to the House of Commons in 2020, however, noted a need for $25 billion in federal funding over ten years for a national Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous housing strategy.
“This is one program in a suite of different housing programs being rolled out simultaneously,” said Minister Vandal, noting the housing accelerator fund and distinctions-based housing programs as examples.
“This is for large cities and isolated areas in the north and rural areas where there is a real need,” he said.
Winnipeg has the largest population of urban Indigenous people in Canada and the newly announced funding will likely go towards supporting initiatives like Fre Maachi, the Manitoba Metis Federation's (MMF) new housing-first project at 670 Main Street.
“The $4 billion over seven years is an excellent start, there’s no doubt that there’s a need,” said MMF housing minister Will Goodon.
“If I build a couple of senior’s duplexes in one area, all of a sudden there’s three other communities that have the same needs. The more you pull back the rug the more you see what we really need,” he said.
Goodon has already been speaking with federal officials, including the housing minister, on elements of an urban, northern and remote Indigenous housing strategy.
The new funding will be a compliment to already-allocated federal funds for distinctions-based housing strategies for Indigenous communities.
“What ‘distinction-based’ means is that First Nations, Inuit and Metis will all receive funding specific to their government structures,” said Goodon.
“That’s an absolutely important thing to underline and we have to remind the decision makers… that we are the ones that can make that delivery to our people,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.