Feds contribute $91.5M for apartment block in southwest Winnipeg urban reserve
Posted March 18, 2026 1:50 pm.
Last Updated March 18, 2026 8:10 pm.
Canada’s largest urban reserve is getting a new First Nations-led affordable housing project.
The Treaty One Nations and the federal government announced Wednesday it was contributing $91 million for the construction of a 260-unit apartment building on Naawi-Oodena, in southwest Winnipeg.
“This became a reality. I remember as a youth growing up and them continuing to advocate to have this land and talking about what this would be and having consultations about what this could be, and then now we’re standing here watching this actually be built,” said Bernadette Smith, Minister of Housing, Addictions and Homelessness of Manitoba.
More than 40 per cent of the units – 109 of 260 – will have affordable rents below the median market rents for the area.
The “Endayaan Omaa” project – Anishinaabemowin for “home is here” – is part of the larger development plan for the former Kapyong Barracks site.
“A challenge we have in Canada is that for several decades, not enough housing has been built, not enough affordable housing. We are changing that, we are focused as your new Government of Canada on building affordable housing at an unprecedented scale,” said Gregor Robertson, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada
Most of the funding from Ottawa is through the affordable housing fund. An additional $7.2 million is being provided by Treaty One Nations in land equity, and $765,000 from Efficiency Manitoba.
“It’s the federal government, the provincial government, the municipal government, and First Nations governments coming together in the spirit of recognizing that we have an opportunity to build for the future,” said Ben Carr, MP for Winnipeg South Centre.
The project is named endayaan omaa, which means “home is here” in the Anishinaabemowin language. The project has an Indigenous workforce of 60 per cent and is planned to be finished in January 2028.
