City seeks policy ideas to promote affordable housing

Winnipeg Free Press

14-05-2025

The City of Winnipeg will explore more ways to attract affordable housing, such as adding new tax breaks or altering building rules.
A new request for proposal seeks a contractor to suggest policy changes and incentives, with a final proposal tailored to Winnipeg's unique needs and budget.
'We're in an affordable crisis right now and we need more housing to support our growing and changing population, so we're interested in exploring all the tools available to us as a city to address that need,' said Lissie Rappaport, manager of the city's Housing Accelerator Fund office.
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The City of Winnipeg is trying to expand and incentivize affordable housing, as per a new request for proposals.
The RFP calls for the winning bidder to examine best practices for affordable housing. It suggests that could include zoning entitlements, which let property owners deviate from certain zoning requirements when they produce affordable housing, fast-tracking the development process, waiving some development fees and/or creating new grants.
Rappaport said zoning entitlements would be part of a program, not considered on a case-by-case basis.
The contract is meant to help the city develop a housing strategy and action plan, which is part of an ongoing agreement to secure $122 million from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund by the end of 2026.
Any new incentives would add to changes the city has already implemented to attract affordable housing, which include reduced minimum parking requirements, density bonuses and a series of tax-increment financing grants (that waive property taxes for a set period.)
The city now allows a minimum of just 0.15 parking spaces per affordable housing unit built, instead of the standard 1.5 parking stalls per housing unit.
'That … saves developers money and also aligns with affordable housing,' said Rappaport.
A density bonus pilot project that began in 2023 allowed developers to construct projects with more housing units than the standard maximum number, as long as 50 per cent of all extra units had affordable rents for at least 20 years.
The city also devoted $54 million to capital grants for new housing projects in 2024 and 2025 through its share of the federal Housing Accelerator Fund.
Rappaport said the contractor will review the city's current efforts to attract more affordable housing in addition to recommending new options.
'There is a lot the city can do to incentivize affordable housing, some of which doesn't even cost us anything,' she said.
Coun. Sherri Rollins, a former chairwoman of the property and development committee, said the city should continue to seek more ways to attract affordable home construction.
'There is still a great pressure to produce housing units … The city can't afford to wait for other governments … we need to be producing housing units ourselves,' said Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry).
The councillor said the city can struggle to attract development at times because some civic planning positions are 'chronically understaffed.'
She also cautioned against letting 'one size fits all' density rules supersede some of the city's previous zoning rules. For example, Rollins said an Osborne Village secondary plan allows for more units per lot in some areas than the four-per-lot the city must implement to support its federal funding agreement.
'I have a mixed review of some of the tools that we put in the toolbox,' she said.
The city has started holding public consultations the major zoning change that would allow up to four residential units per lot in most residential areas, which council will vote on in June.
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City council previously approved new rules aimed at attracting more affordable home projects near malls and transportation corridors.
The city's definition of affordable housing includes homes that cost no more than 30 per cent of the household before-tax income, or rents of less than 80 per cent of the median market rate, according to the RFP.
The RFP sets a deadline to complete the contract by the end of this year. The city will pay up to $150,000 for the work.
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Joyanne PursagaReporter
Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.
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