Winnipeg | Of Interest

[Wpg_Guy]

‘Just staggering’: city’s homelessness crisis worsening, new data reveals
By: Scott Billeck
Monday, Apr. 13, 2026



Winnipeg’s homelessness crisis is accelerating, not easing, as new data released Monday shows more people are falling into homelessness than are finding a way out.

End Homelessness Winnipeg says the number of people living without stable housing reached 8,248 in March, an increase of 104 from February.

Of those, more than half — 4,463 — are experiencing chronic homelessness, defined by EHW as someone who has been homeless for at least six months in the past year or has experienced repeated episodes over several years.

EHW executive director Jennifer Rattray said the latest data underscores the growing scale and urgency of the city’s humanitarian crisis and highlights sustained, increasing pressure on Winnipeg’s homelessness response system.

“The main takeaway for me is the desperate need for deeply affordable housing and supportive housing,” Rattray told the Free Press Monday. “We can get really good at other types of interventions, at trying to prevent additional homelessness, etc., but what we’re doing is not keeping up with the crisis.

“To have, month over month, 104 more human beings — more relatives — who are now chronically homeless is just staggering, and we all need to be alarmed.”

EHW’s data comes from the By-Name List, a real-time count of people experiencing homelessness who have either used services or made contact with a homeless-serving agency in the last 90 days. The report is generated from the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System.

The organization publishes HIFIS data monthly on its website, consistently showing inflows into homelessness far outpacing the number of people leaving. The organization says the imbalance is leading to longer periods of homelessness and a growing number of people becoming chronically homeless.

The latest figures also point to a profound need for deeply affordable housing — also known as rent-geared-to-income housing — where rent is set at 30 per cent of household income in Manitoba.

In 2022, Winnipeg city council launched the Affordable Housing Now program, approving up to $50 million in tax-increment financing and $2 million in grants. Since then, more than two dozen projects have been conditionally approved, promising 2,181 new homes — but fewer than half are affordable, including just 366 deeply affordable units.

Sector partners are set to meet next month to develop a unified set of requests for all levels of government, Rattray said.

“We need to crystallize those requests to governments — those respectful requests — and work with our government partners to make those things happen,” she said.

“We need to look at the investments, and if governments are going to look at costs — and I think the human cost is what’s important — but if governments are going to look at the cost, then rent-geared-to-income, deeply affordable, supportive housing is a great investment because it’s actually going to save money.”

Last week, Premier Wab Kinew said the province has moved more than 200 people from encampments into housing since unveiling its Your Way Home strategy in January 2025.

The provincial plan aims to move about 700 people from encampments into housing by 2031.

Winnipeg Free Press

[bomberjet]

It's noticeable. As in there has been no noticeable improvement in conditions out there. Moving 700 people out of homelessness out of over 8,000 is something. But merely a drop in the bucket..

[drew]

Why are we surpised when:

1) The City has allowed for what is essentially a homeless industry to set up along Main street on either side of Higgins.

2) The authorities make no real attempt to reduce or remove encampments, and even if they did, they would be met by concerned organizations (see #1) regarding the well being and treatment of people within the encampments, thwarting any reasonable efforts.

Meanwhile the businesses and residents/visitors of the central areas in and around downtown are left to fend for themselves with the resulting property theft, vandalism, drug use, etc. etc.

[Sheepish]

The question...as I alluded to last week, what proportion of the problem is due to housing availability vs the capability of many of these people to actually be housed? It may seem harsh, but based on observation driving through the area on a daily basis for MANY years (and seeing how much worse it has gotten), too many of these people are just too far gone for housing to be the solution. They are presently a danger to themselves and the community. The problem is growing faster than the govt can solve it. This is a bomb waiting to detonate.

[neutroniks]

What used to be contained within 1 block seems to now be spreading from Waterfront to Princess. it's out of control. They cleaned it up for a month and it's just exploded. Affordable housing, yes, but they also need to address the source of it. Need to stop vulnerable kids and vulnerable families from falling into homelessness in the first place.

[Wpg_Guy]

I’m curious what share of Winnipeg’s homeless population are long-term local residents — people born and raised here, who worked and paid taxes — versus those who migrated from Northern Manitoba, Northwest Ontario, or Nunavut. If a significant portion are transient arrivals drawn into the city’s street drug scene, especially with open encampment policies, then this is no longer just a municipal issue. It becomes a broader provincial and federal responsibility. Right now, the level of government with the fewest resources, The City of Winnipeg is left carrying most of the burden.

I know this isnt the whole story, but we need to treat housing and clean water on reserves and in Northern Inuit communities as a real priority. When those basic needs aren’t met, people leave — or don’t return after medical trips south. They arrive in the city facing culture shock, very limited support and can easily end up in gang/drug/🞵🞵🞵 trade/homeless culture. The result is that local governments and city taxpayers end up bearing the cost of a problem that started somewhere else. Improving the quality of life in these communities, which also includes food security and education can go a long way for future generations.

Trudeau's 2015 campaign promise was to end all long-term boil-water advisories on reserves within five years. As of April 2026, there are still 40 active long-term drinking water advisories affecting 37 First Nations communities in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Half of these systems can already produce clean water. The missing piece in many cases is a qualified, certified operator. As i mentioned in a previous post this is one clear example of how basic education and training gaps continue to hold back a large population of the First Nations community.

Anyway, I think HAF and similar programs are a positive step toward addressing long term housing affordability and the broader housing crisis. However, these initiatives fall way short when it comes to the most vulnerable population, the homeless individuals struggling with severe drug addiction. At a minimum, it would be prudent for both provincial and federal governments to invest in and operate dedicated drug treatment centres to provide targeted support for this group, along with stricter enforcements, zero encampment policies and tougher laws.

[Wpg_Guy]

It is a sad reflection on our local state of government that they cannot even find a solution to maintain one of the city’s most prominent areas free of garbage and drug paraphernalia.

There was recently a motion to install garbage bins along the Main Street strip, but it was rejected over concerns that the bins would be repeatedly set on fire, ultimately costing the city more in fire services than in garbage collection.

Surely there are practical solutions to this basic problem. Why not deploy nightly sidewalk and street sweepers to collect litter? Starting with the lowest hanging fruit makes sense, ignoring the garbage issue and allowing it to fester only makes matters worse.

[cllew]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

It is a sad reflection on our local state of government that they cannot even find a solution to maintain one of the city’s most prominent areas free of garbage and drug paraphernalia.

There was recently a motion to install garbage bins along the Main Street strip, but it was rejected over concerns that the bins would be repeatedly set on fire, ultimately costing the city more in fire services than in garbage collection.

Surely there are practical solutions to this basic problem. Why not deploy nightly sidewalk and street sweepers to collect litter? Starting with the lowest hanging fruit makes sense, ignoring the garbage issue and allowing it to fester only makes matters worse.

Does Siloam Mission still have a crew of uniformed people out walking with grabbers and 5 gallon buckets picking trash around Main St Princess St etc.?

Or did that end to funding issues? I use to see them around in the mornings before I retired two years ago.

[Wpg_Guy]

Every day is garbage pickup day in Winnipeg when the snow melts
By: Kevin Rollason
Monday, Apr. 13, 2026



Winnipeg sidewalks, boulevards and streets are not garbage cans, but some people don’t seem to know the difference.

As the snow melts away, along with the emerging grass and pavement are numerous take out cartons and bags, coffee cups, cigarette butts and plastic bags discarded by people through the winter.

And, according to Take Pride Winnipeg’s annual litter index, there are areas of the city worse than others.

Tom Ethans, Take Pride’s executive director, said what’s glaringly obvious to anyone out on the streets is while Mother Nature was dropping snow during the months of winter, a lot of people were tossing trash.

“Some streets are just filthy,” Ethans said on Monday while announcing the results of the index.

“It is amazing how many people just don’t seem to get it. I’m always shocked when I see people tossing stuff out their car window or tossing it out when they’re walking instead of taking it home. There are many areas of the city that can use some help to rid the streets of months of unwanted litter.”

Ethans said the scale of the index starts at one — no litter — to 10, indicating “a lot of litter.” He said no area of the city reached 10, but on the other hand, no part is anywhere near one, either.

This year’s “winner” — Winnipeg’s north central area — registered 6.88, which was slightly worse than the West End, last year’s filth champ at 6.8; that neighbourhood appears to be cleaning up its act to some degree, coming in at 6.07 this year.

The north central area includes everything north of Notre Dame Avenue, between McPhillips and Main streets, and north to the Perimeter Highway.

The cleanest area of the city is the Fort Garry/Linden Woods area, at 4.83.

The city average is 5.92, up from last year’s 5.51.

Darryl Friesen, owner of the King Cob Market Pub next to the West End Cultural Centre on Ellice Avenue, said this is the worst time of the year for seeing garbage outside his business.

“Cleaning is always needed on a regular basis,” Friesen said. “The back lanes are much worse, to the point of almost giving up.

“It’s a never-ending battle, with all the empty lots being used for dumping and scavengers going through all the garbage bins. (You) do some cleanup and the wind will just blow more in the next day.”

Keith Horn, owner of the Northern Hotel on Main Street — and chairman of the North End Business Improvement Zone (BIZ) — said he can’t believe how much garbage is out there.

“I see businesses putting out their garbage bags and then they are all torn open,” Horn said.

“I see people opening up garbage bags and leaving a large mess all the time. I ask them all the time: what are you hoping to find? It’s called garbage for a reason.”



Horn said his area of the city will look decidedly better once the BIZ’s Green Team gets out in May to clean up.

“But that’s not for another 3 1/2 weeks,” he said. “It feels like a losing battle a lot of times.”

Joe Kornelson, executive director the West End BIZ, said his area has been working hard the past few months to keep litter down, so he is glad to hear the results are reflected in the index.

“We are proactively going out there to pick up during the winter when we can,” Kornelson said. “But I was just out and while there are definitely some streets which look great, there are others where I say, ‘Oh, we need to send a team here.’”

“We try to keep up, but part of it is there are a lot of people and businesses in the area… 35,000 people live here and there are lots of businesses and a lot of people walking on the sidewalk.”

Meanwhile, Ethans said he is helping schools get ready for students to volunteer their time to clean up neighbourhoods in the coming weeks. And Ethans said local businesses are also going to be part of the cleanup effort, too.

“Last year, 11,000 students went to pick up litter,” he said. “Also, employees at the CIBC on Empress (Street) went out and picked up 60 bags of litter.

“Today, I would be embarrassed to bring somebody to the city, but not when it is June, after the cleanups.”

Ethans said areas desperately in need of litter cleanups include Sherbrook and Maryland streets, Abinojii Mikaneh, Bison Drive and Main Street from Euclid to Logan avenues.

Winnipeg Free Press

[pspeid]

To me this is the key point of the article that I think people are missing:

“It is amazing how many people just don’t seem to get it. I’m always shocked when I see people tossing stuff out their car window or tossing it out when they’re walking instead of taking it home. There are many areas of the city that can use some help to rid the streets of months of unwanted litter.”

Yes we need to examine how city resources are used, but falling back on what is essentially "why doesn't someone else clean this up", whether that "someone else" is a city employee or a volunteer group, misses the point.

It probably sounds corny, but the element of "civic pride" seems to have been largely ignored or derided by too many people. Winnipeg's Nimby-ism isn't just about stopping a mutli-family housing development on one's block, it's about only being concerned with one's own convenience and to hell with everyone else.

Some areas of the city have much worse garbage dumping problems than others. How much of this is a result of generations of poverty, substance abuse or lack of education, and how much is caused by the hostility of people who deliberately dump their trash in inner-city alleys as a joke or out of contempt for people living in poverty?

It's sad that "civic pride" efforts are so often greeted with ridicule, but I think they're important, even if it's aspirational.

"Life and death are in the power of the tongue".

[drew]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

I’m curious what share of Winnipeg’s homeless population are long-term local residents — people born and raised here, who worked and paid taxes — versus those who migrated from Northern Manitoba, Northwest Ontario, or Nunavut. If a significant portion are transient arrivals drawn into the city’s street drug scene, especially with open encampment policies, then this is no longer just a municipal issue. It becomes a broader provincial and federal responsibility. Right now, the level of government with the fewest resources, The City of Winnipeg is left carrying most of the burden.

This is a point that I have made in the past. Maybe a census of the homeless population here could lead to a direct path for Federal $$. The City should be looking at all potential funding paths.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by drew

This is a point that I have made in the past. Maybe a census of the homeless population here could lead to a direct path for Federal $$. The City should be looking at all potential funding paths.

That's a good point. The article stated their numbers come from this:"EHW’s data comes from the By-Name List, a real-time count of people experiencing homelessness who have either used services or made contact with a homeless-serving agency in the last 90 days. The report is generated from the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System."

Does this report ask if people are from Winnipeg or somewhere else? It would be good to know.

[neutroniks]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

I’m curious what share of Winnipeg’s homeless population are long-term local residents — people born and raised here, who worked and paid taxes — versus those who migrated from Northern Manitoba, Northwest Ontario, or Nunavut. If a significant portion are transient arrivals drawn into the city’s street drug scene, especially with open encampment policies, then this is no longer just a municipal issue. It becomes a broader provincial and federal responsibility. Right now, the level of government with the fewest resources, The City of Winnipeg is left carrying most of the burden.

I know this isnt the whole story, but we need to treat housing and clean water on reserves and in Northern Inuit communities as a real priority. When those basic needs aren’t met, people leave — or don’t return after medical trips south. They arrive in the city facing culture shock, very limited support and can easily end up in gang/drug/🞵🞵🞵 trade/homeless culture. The result is that local governments and city taxpayers end up bearing the cost of a problem that started somewhere else. Improving the quality of life in these communities, which also includes food security and education can go a long way for future generations.

Trudeau's 2015 campaign promise was to end all long-term boil-water advisories on reserves within five years. As of April 2026, there are still 40 active long-term drinking water advisories affecting 37 First Nations communities in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Half of these systems can already produce clean water. The missing piece in many cases is a qualified, certified operator. As i mentioned in a previous post this is one clear example of how basic education and training gaps continue to hold back a large population of the First Nations community.

Anyway, I think HAF and similar programs are a positive step toward addressing long term housing affordability and the broader housing crisis. However, these initiatives fall way short when it comes to the most vulnerable population, the homeless individuals struggling with severe drug addiction. At a minimum, it would be prudent for both provincial and federal governments to invest in and operate dedicated drug treatment centres to provide targeted support for this group, along with stricter enforcements, zero encampment policies and tougher laws.

Yup, After the wild fires last year, a lot of the people that were displaced didn't leave. They came from dry reserves and like you said, were exposed to a huge culture shock with little to no support other than "here, stay at this community centre / hotel", and then were exposed to drugs. Once a community finds out you're exposed and/or bringing drugs into the reserve, they ban you and send you down to Winnipeg or anywhere. You said it perfectly that it's no longer a municipal issue. The Province and Federal government need to step in

[neutroniks]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

It is a sad reflection on our local state of government that they cannot even find a solution to maintain one of the city’s most prominent areas free of garbage and drug paraphernalia.

There was recently a motion to install garbage bins along the Main Street strip, but it was rejected over concerns that the bins would be repeatedly set on fire, ultimately costing the city more in fire services than in garbage collection.

Surely there are practical solutions to this basic problem. Why not deploy nightly sidewalk and street sweepers to collect litter? Starting with the lowest hanging fruit makes sense, ignoring the garbage issue and allowing it to fester only makes matters worse.

Cleaning up all the garbage and drug paraphernalia should be the bare minimum

[neutroniks]

Originally Posted by pspeid

To me this is the key point of the article that I think people are missing:

“It is amazing how many people just don’t seem to get it. I’m always shocked when I see people tossing stuff out their car window or tossing it out when they’re walking instead of taking it home. There are many areas of the city that can use some help to rid the streets of months of unwanted litter.”

Yes we need to examine how city resources are used, but falling back on what is essentially "why doesn't someone else clean this up", whether that "someone else" is a city employee or a volunteer group, misses the point.

It probably sounds corny, but the element of "civic pride" seems to have been largely ignored or derided by too many people. Winnipeg's Nimby-ism isn't just about stopping a mutli-family housing development on one's block, it's about only being concerned with one's own convenience and to hell with everyone else.

Some areas of the city have much worse garbage dumping problems than others. How much of this is a result of generations of poverty, substance abuse or lack of education, and how much is caused by the hostility of people who deliberately dump their trash in inner-city alleys as a joke or out of contempt for people living in poverty?

It's sad that "civic pride" efforts are so often greeted with ridicule, but I think they're important, even if it's aspirational.

"Life and death are in the power of the tongue".

I'm glad the people I live with in my building in the Exchange all make a collective effort to clean up when we can. A good portion of us all join the Exchange's Spring clean up every year and try to recruit more of the residents in the area. We often get turned down sometime because obviously some people are only short term renters (2-3 months), but we seem to be recruiting more and more every year, and we do a pretty good job of keeping Stephen Juba Park clean for the most part. I've called out a couple of the unhoused people in our area dumpster diving and asked them if the could at least put what they take out back into the bins. Most of them do, some of them don't, and one of the unhoused people that I spoke to recently joked "Oh, I always throw it back in. the ones that don't are new and don't know the rules yet."

[pegster]

Re: garbage and litter, someone on r/winnipeg the other day posted a link to this site: https://litterlegendswpg.ca/. Seems like an interesting idea, people claim a spot, pick up litter, and post about it. I hope it gets some traction. The volunteer litter cleanup in Osborne Village (supported by the BIZ, but started independently by a local resident) has made a huge difference in the last couple of years.

A lot of the local residents' groups and BIZs will be having their neighbourhood cleanups soon. In the West End, it's on April 25, 10am-12pm, with four starting locations in the neighbourhood (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1E2EtwYWgU/). I saw an announcement for one in South Osborne coming up, and I'm sure the Osborne Village BIZ and Downtown BIZ will be announcing their's soon. It's just too bad we have to rely on volunteers and can't expect our city to clean up this mess.

[bon_vivant]

Originally Posted by pegster

It's just too bad we have to rely on volunteers and can't expect our city to clean up this mess.

Why is that?

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by bon_vivant

Why is that?

Everything with the city is contracted out, they have no funds or resources to do it.

[bon_vivant]

Originally Posted by Wpg_Guy

Everything with the city is contracted out, they have no funds or resources to do it.

It's sad that beautification is such a low priority for city hall.

[Wpg_Guy]

Originally Posted by bon_vivant

It's sad that beautification is such a low priority for city hall.

Yep, impressions go a long to way in attracting investment and other economic activity, beautification should always be a priority, as citizens we should feel proud of our city not embarrassed by it unkept and unsightly garbage and infrastructure.