OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a nearly $30-billion plan Friday aimed at ending homelessness in Canada within the next decade, beginning with more than $1 billion in federal funding for housing and addiction treatment facilities in Manitoba.Carney made the announcement in Winnipeg alongside Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham, one day after his Liberal government tabled Budget 2026.The first phase of the plan will see Ottawa provide up to $800 million toward more than 2,000 supportive and transitional homes in Manitoba, with another $200 million going toward a new Winnipeg Centre for Mental Health and Addictions.The province and city will provide public land for the housing projects, while Manitoba will operate the homes and fund support services for residents.The new treatment centre will combine mental health and addiction care with permanent housing. Manitoba will cover half the construction costs and operate the facility, which the federal government says could open within three years.Kinew welcomed the agreement, telling reporters that Canada has the resources to ensure nobody is left living on the streets.."No one in a country as rich as Canada should ever be homeless," Kinew said..The Manitoba premier credited Carney for making housing a central part of his government's agenda."You have made nation building the centerpiece of your administration. There is no greater nation building project than building up the people of Canada," he said."And that starts with ensuring that everybody has a home."The announcement forms part of a broader federal strategy that Carney says will end homelessness within 10 years.Ottawa plans to spend $6.5 billion renewing its Reaching Home program, which funds community efforts to prevent homelessness and connect people with housing.Another $5.5 billion will renew the Canada Housing Benefit, providing rental assistance to low-income Canadians struggling to afford their homes..The largest housing commitment is $10 billion through Build Canada Homes, which the government expects will support construction of approximately 25,000 supportive and transitional homes nationwide.Provinces and territories will be responsible for operating those homes and providing services to residents.The Liberals are also committing $5 billion to a new Integrated Supports Fund, intended to combine housing with health care and addiction treatment facilities.Another $2 billion will go toward community mental health and addiction treatment infrastructure."Homelessness is one of the hardest challenges our country faces, and no government can solve it alone," Carney said in a statement."With Budget 2026, we are bringing help, housing, and health care together, building on what front-line workers have taught us, to end homelessness within 10 years.".The government has not provided annual targets showing how many people it expects to move out of homelessness between now and 2036.Nor has it specified how it intends to measure whether homelessness has been eliminated nationwide.The federal government says the Winnipeg partnership could ultimately deliver up to 2,500 homes when previously committed projects are included.Carney is inviting other provinces and municipalities to pursue similar agreements, with the federal government funding construction and provincial governments taking responsibility for ongoing services.
