DistantNews
Support us
🇨🇦 Canada /Culture & Society

Fewer people live in Winnipeg encampments, but governments struggle to find places for them

From Global News · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Winnipeg recorded 72 encampments housing 245 people at the end of July, down from more than 700 people in 100 encampments a year earlier.
  • The city’s encampment-distance protocol has cleared 141 encampments since June, while businesses say some displaced residents have moved to storefronts.
  • Manitoba says 267 people have entered transitional housing under its Your Way Home strategy, with 85% still housed.

Winnipeg had 72 encampments housing 245 people at the end of July, roughly half the number recorded at the same time last year. Mayor Scott Gillingham called the reduction progress, but acknowledged that the city does not yet have enough housing for everyone leaving the sites.

Point Douglas had 19 encampments, the highest number among the city’s areas, followed by Fort Rouge and East Fort Garry with 17. Since June, Winnipeg’s new encampment-distance protocol has led to 141 encampments being cleared, according to a report prepared for the city’s Standing Policy Committee.

The number of people living in encampments this time this year compared to this time last year has been cut in half.

· Scott GillinghamThe Winnipeg mayor described the decline in the encampment population.

The city says it offers support and housing options to people required to leave. Susan Lockhart, president of Just Like New to You Thrift Store on Portage Avenue, said the bylaw is instead pushing some people toward local businesses. She said people end up outside storefronts because there are not enough places for them to go.

You shut down an encampment, where are they supposed to go? There’s not places for them to be so they just end up in our storefronts.

· Susan LockhartThe local shop owner criticized the effect of encampment clearances on nearby businesses.

Lockhart described repeated property damage and serious violence near the store. She said five people attacked another person in broad daylight, while a handyman who assists the business had his car set on fire in a back lane.

“The biggest chokepoint is that there’s just not enough housing at this moment so the city continues to work hard to get more housing built,” Gillingham said. Manitoba said it had moved 267 people into transitional housing since launching its Your Way Home strategy early last year, and that 85% remained housed. One downtown facility, N’Dinawemak, provides 118 transitional units and round-the-clock support through an Indigenous-led organization.

The biggest chokepoint is that there’s just not enough housing at this moment so the city continues to work hard to get more housing built.

· Scott GillinghamThe mayor acknowledged the shortage of housing for people leaving encampments.
About this summary

Originally published by Global News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog