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
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An apartment block collapses in a Russian border city after heavy shelling, injuring over a dozen
An apartment block partially collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod on Sunday, leaving at least 19 injured. Officials blamed Ukrainian shelling and said there were also likely deaths.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Flash floods and cold lava flow hit Indonesia's Sumatra island. At least 37 people were killed
Heavy rains and torrents of cold lava and mud flowing down a volcano's slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island triggered flash floods that killed at least 37 people and more than a dozen others were missing, officials said Sunday.
Swiss fans get ready to welcome Eurovision winner Nemo back home
Swiss Eurovision fans were getting ready Sunday to give a hero's welcome to singer Nemo, who won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest with "The Code," an operatic pop-rap ode to the singer’s journey toward embracing a nongender identity.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
'It was violent': Police tear down U of A pro-Palestinian encampment Saturday morning
Multiple people at the protest camp torn down at the University of Alberta campus Saturday say police's actions against protesters were "violent" and "disproportionate."
Michael Cohen: A challenging star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial
He once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. Now Michael Cohen is prosecutors' biggest piece of legal ammunition in the former president's hush money trial.
Adopted daughter in the Netherlands reunited with sister in Montreal and mother in Colombia, 40 years later
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.