Manitoba Rent Assist in the Context of Canada’s National Housing Strategy

PDF - Report

With CMHC’s support, Manitoba non-profit associations and academics came together to study Manitoba’s Rent Assist program. Rent Assist is a portable rental supplement program.

They studied:

  • what is working
  • what is not working
  • what can be better

This Research Insight explores whether Manitoba’s Rent Assist program can help design a national rent subsidy program. The study included interviews with tenants, non-profit housing providers and private landlords throughout the province.

They found:

  • Rent Assist has led to a significant increase in resources going to qualifying households.
  • Rent Assist significantly helps people who are at risk of homelessness and lifts many families above the poverty line.
  • Rent Assist enables people to enjoy better physical and mental health.
  • CMHC data does not suggest Rent Assist is driving up rents in Manitoba, although some sources suggest that there may be impacts on the lowest -cost housing.
  • Both private and non-profit landlords find Rent Assist to be an important tool in the provision of low-cost housing.
  • The thresholds for people to qualify for Rent Assist are too low.
  • Rent Assist is a tool to cover some, but not all, of the costs of providing affordable housing.
  • There is a lack of awareness regarding non-social assistance Rent Assist, particularly outside of Winnipeg. This results in many potentially eligible households failing to benefit from Rent Assist.
Author:
CMHC
Document Type:
PDF
Date Published:
May 5, 2021
Download
research-insight-assisting-renters-enpdf

This research project was funded through the National Housing Strategy’s Research and Planning Fund.

Related links

About CMHC Research Insights

Research Insights are summaries of our research reports. These insights:

  • identify a housing research issue, gap or need
  • provide an overview of the research project undertaken to address it
  • present major findings of the research

The research presented in this series explores the areas of Housing Need and Conditions, Housing Finance Systems, Accelerating Housing Supply and Housing Outcomes of the National Housing Strategy.