Cambridge Hotel torn down for new build
Crews work to demolish the Cambridge Hotel in Winnipeg on May 27, 2025.
The last remnants of a Winnipeg watering hole are being torn down.
Demolition work on the former Cambridge Hotel continued Tuesday, with a large portion of the building coming down with the help of heavy equipment.
cambridge hotel
The Cambridge Hotel in Winnipeg is demolished on May 27, 2025. (Jamie Dowsett/CTV News Winnipeg)
cambridge hotel
The Cambridge Hotel in Winnipeg is demolished on May 27, 2025. (Jamie Dowsett/CTV News Winnipeg)
Cambridge hotel
The Cambridge Hotel in Winnipeg is demolished on May 27, 2025. (Jamie Dowsett/CTV News Winnipeg)
The 86-year-old hotel and beer vendor shut down in November 2024 after being sold to a new ownership group. Demolition started two weeks ago.
A mixed-use residential apartment block is being planned for the space.
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Shortly after, the P.E.I. government followed suit by eliminating the provincial portion of the HST for new rental builds in hopes of spurring construction. Fusion Charlottetown wants to see those rebates expanded to include different forms of affordable housing, such as co-operative housing and affordable home ownership initiatives like Habitat for Humanity projects. "Creating a sales tax mechanism to allow for those sorts of units to be built would be favourable when it comes to creating affordable housing options," Pelletier said. Prince Edward Island is managing the housing crisis just about as well as anyone in the country. — Mike Moffatt, Missing Middle Initiative The organization is pushing for municipal policy changes too, like harmonizing building codes, and it's also advocating for Charlottetown to have a fast-track approval system for affordable housing projects. 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That's already 40 per cent of the five-year target. WATCH | P.E.I. government giving millions to let housing non-profits and co-ops buy and rent out 116 units P.E.I. government giving millions to let housing non-profits and co-ops buy and rent out 116 units 17 days ago The provincial government in P.E.I. is partnering with three non-profit groups to let them acquire existing affordable housing units and build new ones. So far, the project has led to 116 units in Charlottetown and Summerside moving out of the hands of private landlords, at a cost of about $7.5 million. CBC's Connor Lamont explains. The province said it made a "historic" capital investment of $63 million in the 2024-25 fiscal year to support new social housing, adding a record 149 units to the system: 37 through construction and 112 through acquisitions. That surpassed the previous record set in 2023-24, when 142 units were added. "Through these investments, the social housing registry was reduced to the smallest waitlist in well over a decade, with a low of 389 as of March 31, 2025," the statement read. A national report card, released by the Missing Middle Initiative at the University of Ottawa, recently evaluated provincial housing policies across Canada. P.E.I. received an A for construction of social housing, the highest grade in the country. "Prince Edward Island… came out with a plan to increase social housing that was particularly detailed — more detailed than we're seeing here in Ontario," said Missing Middle Initiative founding director Mike Moffatt.
