In Canada, the federal government devolved responsibility for social housing to the provinces in the 1990s, and provinces have since taken different approaches to addressing low-income housing need. This study examines how neoliberalism is reflected in the approaches to social housing that evolved in Manitoba between 1993 and 2024, and what, if any, conditions may have helped to resist it.
The following actions should be taken to reengage in the expansion of social housing and realize housing rights for all Manitobans:
1. The provincial and federal governments should commit sufficient public resources to expand social housing supply, in both the public and nonprofit sectors, to meet all low-income housing need.
2. The provincial and federal governments should establish long-term, stable, and appropriate funding and programs to support nonprofit housing provider capacities.
3. Neoliberalization processes should be recognized and rejected; housing need is a public issue resulting from neoliberal political, economic, and social policy decisions.
*This report summarizes portions of a Master’s thesis entitled Neoliberalism and Social Housing: Comparing Approaches to Social Housing in Manitoba and British Columbia from 1993 to 2019.
