Despite the provincial government taking historically strong steps to address the housing crisis, many people in Manitoba continue to struggle with poverty. Over the past few years, the government has failed to take significant action to eliminate poverty.

Geography at Play

Manitoba has unique characteristics that require special attention when addressing poverty reduction. A majority (55%) of the province’s population lives in its main city of Winnipeg. Those who live outside the city centre face challenges in accessing essential support systems and services. In addition, half the population, the highest proportion in the country, say they have difficulty navigating the tax system. This latter fact may be compounding the challenges that people outside of Winnipeg experience in accessing services and support.

In addition, Manitoba faces significant food insecurity challenges: 1 in 5 households experienced food insecurity in 2021. Northern or remote parts of the province will experience further challenges because of rising inflation and increased costs of gas and transportation.

Success Through Rent Assist

While the cost of living is still causing many issues for families in Manitoba, and across the country, the widespread issue of affordable housing is less severe in Manitoba. Thanks largely to the province’s comprehensive Rent Assist program, Manitoba has the lowest percentage in the country of people paying 30% or more of their income on rent: 29%. This means families struggling with the cost of living can reallocate money toward important things like food and bills.

However, while the Rent Assist program is a promising model for how to deliver flexible support to people in a tight housing market, a lack of subsequent investment since it was introduced in 2015 has resulted in more Manitobans struggling through the recent affordability crisis. The average cost of rent in Manitoba has increased 20%, while eligibility for Rent Assist has risen only 4%.

Mental Health Issues Persist

Having to worry less about rent is one way to help residents cope with mental health issues. However, our survey responses indicate that Manitoba’s mental health and addictions issue is both growing and in need of serious attention.

The percentage of people who say their mental health is impacting their ability to find work, work effectively, and maintain their finances is the worst in Canada: 37%.

The link between mental health and finances is well documented, and 42% of Manitobans feel they are worse off financially than they were a year ago. Additionally, 2 in 3 respondents—the highest number in the country—agreed that addiction is an issue in their community that needs to be addressed.

Indigenous Lens Needed

Indigenous peoples make up 17% of Manitoba’s population. As poverty disproportionately affects Indigenous communities, it is important for the province to recognize the importance of supporting these communities if they are to achieve their provincial poverty reduction targets.

Under the Progressive Conservative Party (PCP), Manitoba has introduced a handful of measures and reports to aid in reducing poverty.

In 2018, the government launched its renewed Poverty Reduction Strategy. As Manitoba has consistently had the worst child poverty rates nationwide, the updated poverty reduction strategy aims to reduce the child poverty rate by 25% by 2025. The strategy relies heavily on federal transfers such as the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) and investments in early learning and childcare to achieve this objective.

In December 2021, Campaign 2000 released a report outlining successive governments’ failure to address the growing problem of child poverty. The report outlined that Manitoba’s 2019 child poverty rate was 28.4%, the second highest of any province or territory and significantly above the national average of 17.7%. Data from the same year shows that three of the top five ridings, in terms of the child poverty rate nationwide, were in Manitoba—two in the north and one in Winnipeg. Notably, the child poverty rate in northern Manitoba (64%) was four times the rate of certain ridings in the Winnipeg area.

The Rent Assist program was increased in 2021, which meant an additional $30 million toward Rent Assist benefits, resulting in an increase in benefits of up to 11% for recipients.

Most recently, in February 2023, the government launched its Homelessness Strategy to work toward the reduction of homelessness and homelessness prevention. However, the prevention aspect needs to be addressed more thoroughly if Manitoba is to see a serious decline in homelessness.

Manitoba’s 2023 budget focuses on tax relief and makes few commitments to address poverty across the province.

In 2022, Manitoba had the highest child poverty rates in Canada, and this year’s budget does little to increase affordability and support families who are struggling.

The budget mentions some commitments to help the most vulnerable members of society, such as funding for a provincial homelessness strategy and investments to actualize $10-per-day childcare this year. There were continued investments into the three-year action plan as part of the National Housing Strategy but no new increases to social assistance rates other than those announced in 2022.

Moving forward, Manitoba will need to prioritize actions that target marginalized demographics, such as Indigenous peoples. Additional action on mental health, improving access to social supports, and expanding Rent Assist will also be crucial to fighting poverty.

Accountability

1. Present a poverty reduction strategy for all Manitobans, with a particular focus on single people and Indigenous peoples

As of 2021, child poverty has declined in Manitoba by more than 50%. It is imperative that the next provincial government update the Poverty Reduction Strategy early in its mandate, and that it include measures to reduce poverty by comparable amounts for other groups who remain disproportionately affected by poverty, including single people and Indigenous peoples. The strategy must include a plan to address the calls to action brought forth by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report. Additionally, the legislature should require the government to update the strategy every three years so that it remains relevant.

2. Develop a youth employment and training strategy, with the goal of reducing the proportion of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEET) by 25% by 2025

The proportion of young people in Manitoba who are not working, looking for work, or in education/training (NEET) is the fourth highest in Canada, and second highest specifically among non-school age adults (age 20+) who have given up entirely on looking for work or pursuing learning. These young people are likely to already be in poverty and are at a high risk of staying there out of a sense of hopelessness for future job prospects. The provincial government must focus on ending this cycle of poverty before it begins. Within 100 days of this fall’s provincial election, the incoming government should convene an expert panel to prepare a youth employment strategy, to be presented within the following six months and legislated alongside goals as part of an updated provincial poverty reduction strategy. The short-term objective of this youth employment and training strategy should be to make the necessary investments to reduce the province’s NEET rate by 25%.

Affordable Housing

3. Strengthen rental assistance

To address the lack of recent investment in the Rent Assist program as rent costs continue to climb, shelter supports should be enhanced and all eligibility thresholds increased by 20% of their current levels. The government should also consider an increase in the value of the benefit to a floor of 80% of median rent.

4. Establish a $100 million annual Manitoba Housing Accelerator Fund

While Budget 2023 made important investments in combatting homelessness and supporting transitional housing, this only addresses the symptoms of a basic lack of affordable housing. To help municipal and non-profit housing providers kick-start major new construction, the province should establish a $100 million annual Housing Accelerator Fund, which would assist with land acquisition costs, development charge offsets, and construction grants for affordable, purpose-built rental housing. Going forward, the fund should be provided a target allocation of 0.5% of the provincial budget.

Childcare

5. Accelerate investments to create new affordable childcare spaces

While Manitoba is investing $94 million this year to create 2,600 additional childcare spaces, this is barely 11% of the 23,000 new spaces the province has committed to achieving by 2025–2026 as part of the Canada-Manitoba ELCC (early learning and childcare) agreement.

Without a plan to accelerate near-term investments, it is questionable whether the target number of new spaces can be created within the proposed time frame, especially considering that the number of certified early childhood educators has declined in the province over the last decade. Broad and affordable access to early learning and childcare is imperative for families to have meaningful and equitable access to decent work.

Income Support

6. Expand the earnings exemption capacity and make the Rewarding Work Allowance more rewarding

The Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) general assistance benefit allows for an exemption on the first $200 a recipient earns plus 30% of anything past this amount. This is an effective 70% claw-back on benefits for every dollar earned, and a clear disincentive for recipients to pursue decent work. The earnings exemption should be increased, at minimum, to the first $500 earned and the claw back rate should be decreased minimally to 50%, meaning every recipient would retain a half or more of every dollar earned.

Further, to help individuals and households living on low incomes gain financial independence, the province should also consider increasing the monthly benefit from the Rewarding Work Allowance by 50%, from $100 to $150 for each adult who works full-time and from $50 to $75 for each adult who works part-time.