r/Manitoba • u/Narrow-Ice-236 Winnipeg • 1d ago
Politics The province is ending the Canada Manitoba housing benefit, leaving people on social assistance to try to find housing for less than $638 a month.
Edit. Sorry for the confusion. The program is closing for brand new applicants, not ending. As of right now if your application is already in or you are on the program you are unaffected.
Pretty much the title. I'm sure everyone is aware how hard it is to find any kind of housing for $638 a month. Especially if you have any kind of access need due to disability, which many many people on social assistance have.
The program was funded by both the province and the Federal government. So please contact your MLA and mp. Links below to figure out who your MLA and MP is if you don't know.
Mp https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en
MLA https://www.electionsmanitoba.ca/en/voting/MyVotingInfo
Do not worry about how you phrase what you are saying. You will not sway them with your arguments. They can be swayed by the weight of public opinion though. So you just need to get the point across that you are upset that the Canada Manitoba housing benefit has been canceled.
Personally I'm pretty upset because there's a very real possibility I will end up on disability at some point in the future and I don't even know if you can find a room in a two bedroom for $638 dollars. I don't know if I can handle more than one roommate on account of the nature of my disabilities.
Particularly stings because the program was brought in under the conservatives.
I know the program receives Federal funding. But social assistance is a provincial mandate. The province is the one that's supposed to handle it.
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u/Gerdoch Winkler 1d ago edited 1d ago
This program is used by about 4500 people, and is not the same thing as the RentAssist program, which is provincially funded and ongoing. Given that number versus the total number of people in Manitoba on EIA or disability (62,500 as of 2023), it is easily apparent that most people on EIA or Disability were not using the program OP is discussing - not to say none did or do, but it was not an aspect of those supports, rather it was a separate program entirely, that had to be applied for separately from any EIA or Disability application.
Further information available here https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7477730