NDP MLA Theresa Oswald said her first budget will increase housing benefits to 75 per cent of median market rent, if she is successful in her bid to win the provincial NDP leadership.
Oswald launched a campaign mid-December for leadership of the Manitoba NDP, challenging Premier Greg Selinger for the party’s top spot. She was one of five cabinet ministers who resigned their cabinet positions on Nov. 3, which launched a leadership campaign in the party.
Oswald said if she becomes leader, her office would implement a new Rent Assist benefit three years ahead of schedule as part of a plan to reduce poverty and improve equality in Manitoba.
“I don’t want to make the most vulnerable families in Manitoba wait three years to receive the full progressive housing benefit that we all agree they deserve today,” said Oswald.
Rent Assist, which is already available for Manitobans, is a new financial benefit for people who receive Employment and Income Assistance (EIA) and have housing costs to cover. Rent Assist replaced and added to EIA shelter
allowances and RentAid programs.
Oswald said boosting housing benefits to 75 per cent of median market rent was widely recommended as a critical poverty-reduction measure by anti-poverty advocates, health and education experts, labour and business leaders and community organizations.
Oswald was jobs and the economy minister before she resigned from cabinet.
“As leader, I would include the full Rent Assist benefit in my first budget, because I’ve heard loud and clear that four years is just too long, ” she said.
“As a teacher, as health minister and as the minister responsible for social assistance and training, I have seen firsthand that safe affordable housing is essential to helping families stay healthy, helping kids succeed in school, and helping parents get training and good jobs,” she said.
Oswald’s plan would see Rent Assist fully implemented by October 2015, an accelerated timeline that is expected to cost
$22 million next year.
Once fully implemented, Rent Assist will bring a single-parent family working full time at minimum wage above the poverty line and will help more people enter the labour force and move more children out of poverty, Oswald said.
“It’s time we set a target and timeline for reducing child poverty. It’s time to get specific. Soon is not soon enough. I know this is a priority for all of our NDP caucus members, so as leader and premier I would bring together community, labour, business, academic and other experts to set an ambitious target with concrete actions to reduce the number of children living in poverty and I would ensure our party is in a position to see that through.”
There are currently about 44,000 children living in poverty in Manitoba. A report released in fall 2014 from the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg found Manitoba’s child poverty rate was at 29 per cent – the highest among Canadian provinces and 10 per cent above the national rate.
Rent Assist today
Rent Assist helps two groups of Manitobans who may need help with their housing costs.
• Manitobans who receive employment and income assistance (EIA) will receive Rent Assist if they have housing costs.
Rent Assist will be included with monthly EIA payments. The amount received will depend on factors including rental costs or mortgage payment and taxes, the number of people in the family, utility costs and whether other subsidies are in place.
• Up to $270 per month may be available to eligible Manitobans who are renting or paying room and board in unsubsidized housing.
The amount paid from Rent Assist will depend on the total household income and cost of monthly rent. Eligible Manitobans must also be spending at least 25 per cent of their income on rent, unless their monthly rent is lower than a specified level.
Manitobans not receiving EIA benefits may apply for Rent Assist if they:
• pay rent or room and board for unsubsidized housing
• have an average monthly household income of less than $2,024 for a single person or $2,276 for two or more persons.
• have dependent children in the home and have an average household income of less than $2,276 per month for two persons or $2,852 for three or more persons.
• spend more than 25 per cent of their income on rent, unless their monthly rent is lower than a specified level
• are a Canadian citizen, a landed immigrant or a refugee claimant
Source: Manitoba government website, Jobs and the economy
