Manitoba spending $176.5M on rental housing incentive program

The Manitoba government is spending $176 million to help spur the development of affordable rental housing in the province.

The Manitoba government has announced a new incentive to help spur the development of affordable rental housing in the province.

Premier Wab Kinew announced Thursday the province will spend $176.5 million over the next five years to create the Rental Housing Construction Initiative. The initiative is available to private and non-profit housing developers to help build new rental housing across Manitoba.

“This is how we’re going to make Manitoba more affordable; more affordable for you, more affordable for your kids and grandkids, more affordable for people in all walks of life,” Kinew said. “When we look at what’s going on in other parts of the country, we can’t let what happened in Vancouver to housing prices and to rents happen here in Manitoba.”

The incentive would provide refunding tax credits of $8,500 per unit, and an additional $5,000 available for affordable units.

“People are struggling to find housing they can afford,” said Bernadette Smith, the province’s housing, addictions and homelessness minister. “Young people, seniors and families are being priced out of their communities. That’s why our government is stepping up. We’re stepping up to jump start rental housing construction by giving builders a direct incentive to build more homes that people can actually afford.”

The province said affordable units under the incentive must meet rent thresholds set annually by the Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation and must be occupied by households with incomes below provincial limits - $67,900 for households without children and $90,500 for households with children or dependents.

The projects must include a four-unit minimum to qualify and must qualify as rental housing for 10 years.