Winnipeg making 'very good progress' on goal for increasing housing supply: Gillingham

The city says it's nearing a target the mayor set earlier this year for expanding Winnipeg's housing supply — but so far, few of the new units it's approved are designated as affordable.

During his state of the city address in February, Mayor Scott Gillingham said he wanted the city to approve 8,000 housing units by December.

A report to city council's executive policy committee this week says the city approved 7,603 units between Dec. 5, 2023, and Sept. 4 of this year.

"I think that's very good progress," Gillingham told reporters Wednesday.

"It was a target that was set to challenge … our departments. Every City of Winnipeg department needs to see itself as a housing department," he said, adding he's "confident that we'll meet that 8,000 target."

Last year, the federal government announced Winnipeg would receive $122 million from its housing accelerator fund — a Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation program that gives municipalities funding for housing development.

A condition of the funding is that the city delivers 14,101 new housing units by Dec. 5, 2026. 

The EPC report states that building permits have been issued for 2,667 units — the final stage in the approvals process before construction can begin. Those permits are the key unit the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will use to measure the city's progress toward the target set for the federal funding.

But Gillingham said the city still has work to do to speed up the permitting process.

"We're trying to keep control of, and improve, processes internally so that we can do a better job as a city in getting development applications approved, building permits out the door, so that it's easier for developers to develop," he said.

'More work to do' on affordable housing

Of the 7,603 units approved so far, only 123 are designated as affordable. Gilllingham says he expects that to increase once the city announces the recipients of the first round of funding the city is distributing as part of its housing accelerator fund allotment.

The city announced the first part of its program in May — a capital grant program worth a total of $25 million, offering grants of up to $35,000 per unit for affordable multi-family projects, and up to $25,000 for projects located downtown.

Projects that qualify for the affordable housing grant could be eligible for an additional $15,000. 

"There is more work to do, for sure, when it comes to getting more affordable housing units built," said Gillingham.

"One of the emphases of the first round of grants of the housing accelerator fund is on affordable units. And so stay tuned — I'm confident we'll see some good numbers in those announcements."

However, housing starts overall have dropped this year. According to CMHC, construction has begun on 2,942 housing units to date this year, compared with 3,602 by the same point last year — a drop of 18 per cent.

Gillingham said some of the reasons for that are outside the city's control.

"I've spoken to developers who said they're waiting on interest rates to drop. Sometimes it's an issue of labour. There may be other factors that are beyond the city's ability to affect," he said.

Lanny McInnes, president and CEO of the Manitoba Home Builders Association, said the drop in housing starts is not unique to Winnipeg, with cities across Canada experiencing similar declines in construction projects.

He noted that housing starts increased from July to August, a sign that the pace of construction could pick up. 

McInnes also said the progress the city has made on reaching the 8,000-unit goal is "very encouraging."

"There's still more work to do, the puck's not in the net yet, but it's encouraging that it looks like they're well on their way," he said.

Coun. Sherri Rollins, chair of the property and development committee, called the 8,000-unit target an "important milestone."

"I think that that's what Winnipeggers would expect. They absolutely want government to be working on relieving the housing crisis," she said.