Canada’s Manitoba province has unveiled a “Housing First” approach to homelessness that renovates existing buildings to provide housing right away, sparking discussion on Lemmy’s Canada community (c/canada). Some commenters voiced support, citing Finland’s example of achieving results with a similar approach, while others worried about securing long-term funding, maintaining continuity through changes in government, and the supply limits once renovatable buildings run out, forcing a costly shift to new construction. Still others pointed to design challenges in the system itself — how to handle people who don’t want to live communally, or those who struggle to hold down a job — leaving opinion divided.
Manitoba Has an Ambitious Plan to End Homelessness
It's great that the 'Housing First' approach is making news. I think Manitoba's government has the right approach here. Now let's just hope the city doesn't get in the way any more than it already has.
5Anonymous2026-09-02 00:42
So what did you make of the part of the article that actually addressed that exact challenge?
6Anonymous2026-09-02 13:58
Go look into what Finland did. Homelessness is a problem that can absolutely be solved with the right policy.
13Anonymous2026-09-02 00:31
Okay, so what do you think they should do instead?
14Anonymous2026-09-02 14:06
The 'people who don't want to live near others' problem probably just gets solved by only housing the people who actually want to be housed. The rest can go enjoy their freedom out in the Canadian wilderness.
16Anonymous2026-09-02 20:00
Not only can I think of something, I literally just did it in the very comment you're replying to (lol). A lot of people downvoted it thinking it was a 'this will never work' complaint, but I'm pretty happy with how many people appreciated that I actually laid out 'why this will work.' The only problem with this article is the headline — the plan itself is right on the money.
18Anonymous2026-09-02 20:22
That's a fair take. Honestly, you were already heading toward that conclusion back in your first comment when you called it 'good as a first step.'
19Anonymous2026-09-02 22:29
Long-term sustainability is definitely a concern, especially if there's a change in government. And eventually they'll hit a supply problem too — once they run out of buildings to renovate, they'll have no choice but to rely on new construction.
20Anonymous2026-09-02 13:28
Sorry, but there are plenty of people who simply can't hold down a job, or who have no interest in integrating into the community. Some of them can't even follow the rules needed to receive basic income.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Housing First is an approach that provides housing unconditionally first, then follows up with employment and medical support — Finland is the best-known example of a country that adopted it nationally and saw real results. In the thread, commenters noted the advantage of being able to start by renovating existing buildings, as well as a sustainability concern: once those renovatable buildings run out, the costs shift to new construction. At the same time, posts raised design challenges around how to handle people who don’t want to live communally or who struggle to hold down work, suggesting the issue is more complicated than the simple notion that ‘just providing housing solves everything.’
*This article is a condensed, loosely translated adaptation by our editorial team of the Lemmy c/canada thread “Manitoba Has an Ambitious Plan to End Homelessness.” Responsibility for the translation rests with this site.
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