Winnipeggers think both the Manitoba government and the City of Winnipeg are doing a poor job dealing with homelessness, a new Probe Research survey finds. One-half rate the performance of both governments as poor on this issue, and three-quarters agree that efforts to reduce homelessness aren't really working.
Social service and street outreach agencies are seen as doing somewhat better, but even here a plurality (36%) feel these agencies are doing only a fair job tackling homelessness. Only about one-third say social service and outreach agencies are doing at least a good job tackling Winnipeg’s homelessness crisis.
A sense of impatience with progress dealing with the root causes of homelessness is also evident. More than one-half agree that tackling the causes of homelessness seems to be taking too much time. As well, three-quarters say we need to be more aggressive in finding homes for people on the street.
When it comes to encampments, more than two-thirds of Winnipeggers agree progress can’t really be made eliminating encampments until there’s much more affordable housing for people to move into.
On the other hand, most Winnipeggers stop short of saying people have a right to remain in encampments undisturbed. About one-half of Winnipeggers, particularly men and older people, disagree that those experiencing homelessness have a right to stay in encampments for as long as they wish.
The Story
When we ask Winnipeggers about their biggest community concerns, homelessness routinely tops the list. However, it’s not clear whether residents see any evidence the problem is getting better or that solutions proposed by governments and social service agencies are working.
Meanwhile, politicians and community leaders continue to visit the city of Houston to understand that community’s model for addressing homelessness, and frontline outreach agencies occasionally disagree on how best to deal with people living in encampments.
The results of our survey suggest Winnipeggers are becoming increasingly impatient with progress tackling homelessness and are generally unimpressed with how governments are approaching the issue. And, while Winnipeggers agree it’s difficult to reduce encampments without additional housing, they’re also not convinced people have a right to remain in encampments over the long term.
Methodology
Probe Research surveyed 480 adults residing in Winnipeg from August 1st to 9th, 2024.
Those who responded to the online survey are members of Probe Research’s proprietary panel, as well as members of another national online panel.
Because an online panel is a non-probability sample, no margin of error can be ascribed. For the purposes of comparison, a probabilistic sample of N=480 Winnipeg adults would have a margin of error of ± 4.47 percentage points, 19 times out 20. The margin of error will be higher within each of the survey’s population sub-groups.
Minor statistical weighting has been applied to this sample to ensure that age, gender and regional characteristics properly reflect known attributes of Manitoba’s population. As well, the data has been weighted to reflect voting patterns in the last provincial election. All data analysis was performed using SPSS statistical analysis software.
Disclosure Statement
Probe Research is a member of the Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC) and confirms that this research fully complies with all CRIC Standards including the CRIC Public Opinion Research Standards and Disclosure Requirements. Learn more at: https://www.canadianresearchinsightscouncil.ca/standards/por/
