Key Takeaways
- Budget 2026 backs a path to end homelessness in Canada within 10 years with nearly $30 billion, starting with over $1 billion in new federal funding for Winnipeg.
- Up to $800 million will fund more than 2,000 supportive and transitional homes in Winnipeg, and over $200 million will build a Winnipeg Centre for Mental Health and Addictions.
- About 65,000 people experienced homelessness in Canada in 2025, nearly double since 2018; in Winnipeg, 2,469 people were homeless on a given night.
65,000 Canadians Are Homeless. Carney Wants to Change That in 10 Years.
Imagine trying to end homelessness across an entire country.
Not reduce it. Not manage it. End it.
That is the ambition Prime Minister Mark Carney brought to Winnipeg on November 6, launching a 10-year national plan backed by nearly $30 billion in proposed federal funding.
And Winnipeg is where the government wants to prove it can work.
Why Winnipeg Comes First
On a given night, 2,469 people in Winnipeg were experiencing homelessness.
About 68% were chronically homeless. Roughly 80% were Indigenous.
Carney announced the first major partnership alongside Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Mayor Scott Gillingham.
The commitment: over $1 billion in new federal funding to combine housing with mental-health and addictions care.
$800 Million for Homes. $200 Million for Care.
The largest investment is up to $800 million to build more than 2,000 supportive and transitional homes.
The city and province will provide land. Manitoba will operate the homes.
Another investment of over $200 million, the first from the Integrated Supports Fund, will help build the Winnipeg Centre for Mental Health and Addictions.
The province will cover half the construction cost.
The centre could open in as soon as three years.
Together with earlier Build Canada Homes projects, Winnipeg could see up to 2,500 new homes.
But these are planned homes, not completed ones.
The Nearly $30 Billion National Promise
Winnipeg is just the beginning.
Budget 2026 lays out a national approach that includes:
- $6.5 billion to renew Reaching Home.
- $5.5 billion to renew the Canada Housing Benefit.
- $10 billion through Build Canada Homes for roughly 25,000 supportive and transitional homes.
- $5 billion for the Integrated Supports Fund.
- $2 billion for the Health Infrastructure Fund.
The strategy combines housing construction, rental assistance, and health services.
The scale of the challenge is enormous.
About 65,000 people experienced homelessness in Canada in 2025, nearly double the number since 2018.
Can Canada Really End Homelessness in a Decade?
That is the question behind the announcement.
Building homes is one challenge. Making sure people can access the support they need to remain housed is another.
The federal government is putting funding on the table. Provinces and municipalities have critical responsibilities for land, operations and services.
The promise now needs to become buildings, treatment facilities and lasting housing.
The Twikup Take
Carney has put a 10-year deadline on one of Canada's toughest social problems.
Winnipeg will be an early test of whether governments can turn that ambition into homes and care.
A billion-dollar announcement makes headlines. Getting people permanently housed is what will make history.
Image: AI-generated illustration.