End Homelessness Winnipeg on the Manwin Hotel fire and Winnipeg’s housing emergency
End Homelessness Winnipeg extends our deepest concern and solidarity to everyone impacted by the January 14, 2026 fire that destroyed the Manwin Hotel on Main Street. Our thoughts are with those displaced, nearby residents and businesses, and the first responders who acted swiftly under dangerous conditions.
We also recognize the direct impact of this fire on Main Street Project, whose operations were disrupted and whose shelter guests were evacuated as a precaution. In response, houseless-serving sector partners moved quickly to support Main Street Project, ensuring continuity of care and demonstrating the strength of collaboration across Winnipeg’s homelessness response system. The disruption affecting a core emergency response organization like Main Street Project places immediate pressure on the city of Winnipeg’s already overstretched homelessness response system.
The 2024 Winnipeg Street Census identified 2,469 people experiencing homelessness, the highest number recorded since the census began in 2015. This number reflects a system operating beyond capacity, where the loss or disruption of any shelter or housing resource reverberates citywide.
A recurring and preventable pattern
The destruction of the Manwin Hotel must also be understood as a symptom of a broader and deeply concerning pattern. Winnipeg continues to experience a high number of fires in vacant properties. Reporting based on Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service data shows 274 vacant building fires in 2024, following more than 150 vacant building fires in 2023, with 166 additional vacant property fires recorded in 2025 as of October 31.
At the same time, the City of Winnipeg Housing Needs Assessment 2025 – At a Glance reports that, as of September 2025, there were approximately 535 empty residential buildings under active Vacant Building By-law orders. These buildings represented about 980 housing units before they became vacant.
The same Housing Needs Assessment 2025 reports that in 2020, 34,425 households in Winnipeg were in core housing need, representing 11 percent of all households. This underscores the scale of housing instability in the city, indicating a need for better funding and policies to protect and improve our existing housing stock.
Vacant buildings must be part of the housing solution
Winnipeg’s housing crisis cannot be addressed through new construction alone, though new builds remain essential. There is an opportunity to view our city’s vacant and underused buildings as a pivotal part of the solution, through rehabilitation, conversion and if necessary, acquisition to increase our stock of affordable and supportive housing.
The City of Winnipeg Housing Needs Assessment 2025 also reports that the city’s rental vacancy rate fell to 1.7 percent in 2024, down from 5.1 percent in 2021. Low vacancy rates drive rent increases and reduce options for low-income households, increasing the risk of homelessness.
What is required now
End Homelessness Winnipeg is calling on the Government of Canada, the Province of Manitoba, and the City of Winnipeg to move quickly and in a coordinated manner toward solutions that make a measurable dent in homelessness.
This must include:
- A rapid conversion program for vacant and underused buildings, prioritizing deeply affordable and supportive housing that can be brought online quickly.
- Expanded supportive housing supply, with integrated health, mental health, and harm reduction supports, particularly for people experiencing chronic homelessness.
- Stronger homelessness prevention measures, including rent supports and eviction prevention, to reduce inflow into homelessness.
- Targeted supports for homeowners and small property owners, including rehabilitation financing, grants tied to affordability commitments, and technical assistance, to prevent properties from becoming vacant or falling into unsafe conditions.
- Clear shared accountability across all stakeholders, including governments, Indigenous partners, direct service providers, property owners, landowners, and the private sector, supported by transparent targets and public reporting.
Ending chronic homelessness requires collective action. No single order of government or sector can solve this alone.
The Manwin Hotel fire is yet another stark reminder that housing is safety. Winnipeg cannot accept a reality where buildings sit empty, fires repeatedly consume vacant properties, houseless-serving organizations like Main Street Project are forced to respond under crisis conditions, and thousands of people remain without a home.
End Homelessness Winnipeg remains committed to working with all partners to accelerate solutions that restore housing, stability, and dignity.
End Homelessness Winnipeg
January 15, 2026