The state of public housing in Manitoba is crumbling, tenants and advocates say

Ted Chartrand says he thinks his building, which is owned by Manitoba Housing, should be shut down.‘It’s not a place to be living,’ he says.

As Canada faces an affordable housing crisis, a CBC investigation found Manitoba’s public housing system in a state of neglect, with thousands of Manitoba Housing units sitting vacant and thousands more people waiting in line for a home.

Not enough new units are being built, even as waitlists for affordable low-income homes hovered from 5,000 to nearly 10,000 over the last five years. For those fortunate enough to get a suite, more security is needed, apartments are in disrepair and pests are a constant concern.

There is no more significant example than 444 Kennedy St. in Winnipeg’s Central Park neighbourhood.

The 142-unit building owned by Manitoba Housing was once a thriving space built for low-income seniors, but in the last decade it fell into a state of decay, and tenants say they’re afraid to leave their suites after 9 p.m.

Security issues are so rampant that Manitoba Housing no longer places new tenants in the building and units are left empty. But that doesn’t help residents like Ted Chartrand, who has lived through this for 10 years.

“This place should be shut down,” Chartrand said. “It’s not a place to be living. I can’t even believe they are renting [this] place.”