New agreement made to help seniors at Winnipeg's Lions Place facing rent increase

Residents of a Winnipeg seniors building will get a little extra help with their rent, after an agreement has been reached to replace a rent subsidy that ends this summer.

In January, residents at the Lions Place building on Portage Avenue, near the downtown, told CBC News they were worried about paying higher rent come Aug. 1, when a 35-year-old subsidy agreement tied to the building's mortgage is scheduled to end.

Some tenants expected to see their monthly rent jump by $169.

The province says Lions Place entered the deal with Ottawa and the provincial government when it took out a 35-year mortgage to build the housing complex.

Under the agreement, the province provided money to Lions Place that was used to subsidize some of the units. But the deal was linked to the amortization of the mortgage and will effectively end when the mortgage ends on Aug. 1 of this year.

That means seniors who need assistance will have to apply to the provincial Rent Assist program come August, because the building is privately owned and not part of Manitoba Housing.  

Deal reached with Lions board

On Tuesday, though, the province said the Lions Place board had agreed to a new two-year agreement, which will see the Lions use their own money to subsidize tenants.

Tenants who need assistance will still have to enrol in the Rent Assist program. However, if there is a gap between the amount of money they currently receive and what they qualify for under rent assist, Lions will make up the difference out of their own money.

The two-year deal means affected seniors will continue to pay what they are currently paying, while allowing for "further discussions with the province and [Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation] on how to go forward," the province said.

"As this is a private property, not a Manitoba Housing property, we do not have a mechanism to subsidize tenants ourselves. What we do have, however, is a conscience and concern for low-income tenants," the province said in a statement.

"Our goal, and the way the program is designed, is for the organization to be self-sufficient and wisely use extra cash flow that comes from being free of mortgage debt."