By Marianne Cerilli
This October, civic elections might see the homelessness and addiction crisis become a vote-determining issue, even in suburbs, as they are now more affected by the presence of people panhandling, sleeping in parks and discarding needles.
In 1998, when I held the housing portfolio for the NDP Official Opposition, I wrote a paper called We All Need a Home: Housing Ideas for High Need Manitobans. It was based on consultation with dozens of community groups representing 12 different populations with different pathways to homelessness, such as family violence and abuse, exiting CFS, Indigenous populations on and off reserve, people leaving prison and other institutions, for example.
Now in 2026, the terminology has evolved, but the situation has deteriorated further. End Homelessness Winnipeg reports that over 8,400 people are houseless in our city, plus more hidden homeless. The waitlist for social housing is about 10,000.
We have learned a lot since the 90s about trauma and what leads to mental health problems, addiction and chronic homelessness. We know that systems like CFS, EIA and even mental health services are now part of the problem. We know unresolved trauma from childhood abuse and neglect, intergenerational trauma from residential schools and other forms of colonization, as well as wars and displacement, are at the root of poverty, addictions and mental illness.
Essentially, we know we must stop seeing homelessness, addictions and mental health as entirely the personal failure of individuals and start seeing these as systemic deficiencies. Reweaving Support Project, a project I led recently, did this; it applied a trauma-informed, gender lens to our social safety net to outline systems-level strategies in 5 areas.
1) Housing: how to build a 1,000 rent-geared-to-income units in Manitoba per year, and how to re-regulate rents to stop housing inflation and renovations.
2) Stop the pathway to homelessness from cutting people off EIA and instead transform Employment Income Assistance to a basic income program with staff supports for education, retraining and recovery of people rather than policing them.
3) Ensure CFS is not a pathway from multiple foster homes and poverty. Instead support people to be healthy parents, breaking the cycle of family abuse.
4) Similar supports to address gender-based violence, and
5) Create those 23,000 child care spaces the governments have promised for Manitoba.
Like harm reduction programs that offer a pathway to treatment, basic income, CFS reform, and other trauma-informed approaches for therapy and universal child care do not create dependence; they prevent the long-term reliance on the inadequate system we now have. During the last provincial election, the NDP promised a bold goal to end homelessness in two terms, or eight years.
The province recently announced it had successfully housed about 250 people from encampments, but there is no net number as new people are evicted, cut off welfare and left to fend for themselves every day. The approach they are taking looks at supporting individuals, not closing system gaps. Nor, for example, closing other pathways like releasing people with no fixed address from hospitals to the streets.
In the last city election, the current mayor promised to prioritize homelessness. We all know the situation has worsened. The recent pre-election sweep of homeless encampments emphasizes policing as the solution, which allocates about $1,000 to $1,200 per shift to off-duty police officers for overtime at the grocery store.
Meanwhile, the people being policed if on EIA are expected to live on that same amount for a month. Along with disincentives to work, with EIA clawing back of 70 cents on the dollar, after earnings of $200 per month. Who else is taxed at 70% rate?
The most effective city solutions are in land assembly to build affordable housing and zoning. There has been progress on ensuring land is targeted for infill housing, but there has not been an inclusionary housing by-law to require 10 to 20 percent of all housing builds to include affordable or rent-geared-to-income units.
This is what other jurisdictions have done. And it could prioritize urban design that links transit to new housing development, more than subdivisions near the Perimeter Hwy. The City of Winnipeg has a small public housing portfolio, WRHA, but it can play a larger role in converting buildings to housing.
The city could also use the assets it has, like recreation facilities, to make life better for people who need a place to shower, library literacy programs, exercise and recreation programs, and nutrition support. This can be in partnership with community groups, the way the city does for people with disabilities.
Each level of government and community agency has a role to play. Agencies like West Central Women’s Resource Centre, where I worked for eight years leading the HOMES program, to mentor women to improve their housing and economic security, prevent eviction and get their benefits.
Marianne Cerilli is an educator, and former MLA working in community development and social innovation. Listen to Marion on CKUW radio, or check out her website at Mariannecerilli.ca.