150 affordable units coming to west Winnipeg in Shoal Lake 40-led development

Ottawa, Manitoba, Winnipeg, and Shoal Lake 40 First Nation are spending $51 million on a new housing project for St. James.

Construction is underway on a 150-unit affordable housing development along Portage Avenue in Winnipeg’s St. James area, led by Shoal Lake 40 First Nation in partnership with three levels of government.

The project, situated between Ronald and Harcourt streets, was announced Tuesday with a total price tag of $51 million. The federal government is contributing the largest share — more than $43 million through its affordable housing fund.

“Everyone here understands the challenge we are facing across Canada. There are not enough homes, and too many of the homes that do exist are out of reach for the people who need them the most,” said Doug Eyolfson, the area’s member of Parliament.

“It means Indigenous communities are not just participating but leading major developments, creating jobs, building capacity, and ensuring that long-term benefits flow back to their members.”

Chief Herb Greene said it is the first housing project Shoal Lake 40 has undertaken in Winnipeg, but that the community plans to pursue more once this one is complete.

More than 40 per cent of the rental units will be kept at affordable rates for at least 20 years, according to Eyolfson, with the remaining units offered at market rates.

The City of Winnipeg is contributing $2 million to the project from its housing accelerator fund allocation, along with $4.4 million through tax increment financing. The remaining funds come from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation and a Manitoba Housing grant.

Housing project a step toward reconciliation

Eyolfson said the build is “what economic reconciliation looks like in practice.”

In 1919, drinking water from Shoal Lake—situated on the Manitoba-Ontario border—was made accessible to Winnipeggers through an aqueduct. The project resulted in a canal that severed the community from the mainland to protect the aqueduct’s intake.

Chief Herb Greene said as a result, Shoal Lake 40 was “led to isolation… and many hardships” over the decades, while “Winnipeg was able to flourish and grow as a modern city.”

The community endured a boil water advisory for 24 years before opening a new water treatment plant in September 2021—made possible by the completion of Freedom Road in June 2019, which reconnected the community to the mainland.

“We are now coming to the city’s aid again, … providing a cost-effective housing solution to the city’s critical housing shortage,” Greene said.

Bernadette Smith, minister of housing, addictions, and homelessness, said the development will be completed in “700 plus days.”

The build will feature a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, according to the federal government.

“At the heart of this work is a simple belief that every Manitoban deserves a safe, stable place to call home,” she said.