Winnipeg housing complex for 2SLGBTQ+ seniors gets big donation as it looks to expand
CBC
A Winnipeg housing complex for people in the 2SLGBTQ+ community is getting more money to help it expand.
The Rainbow Resource Centre is getting a $750,000 donation from Canada Life and the Power Corporation of Canada — a group of companies that Canada Life is part of — to continue developing Place of Pride. The $20-million project at 545 Broadway provides affordable housing for 2SLGBTQ+ people over 55 years old.
The next phase of the project would build spaces for programming and community gatherings, counselling rooms, a library, a café and permaculture gardens.
Canada Life CEO Paul Mahon said once completed, the 12,000-square-foot campus will be a place where members of the 2SLGBTQ+ can thrive.
"By creating a dedicated space where older adults can live with dignity, security and a sense of belonging, they're not only providing housing but also building community and connection," Mahon said.
Matt Cutler, Rainbow Resource Centre board chair, said the expansion will allow thousands more to access the centre's programming, but that it is more about what the community can do with it.
"The campus means that we can come together as a community to celebrate and to mourn, to just be together," he said.
"When you know that there's a place that's for you. When you know that there's a place when you go there, people will know you, or at least they will know about you and your life, and that you're welcomed there, it's so critical."
Construction of a four-story building with 21 housing units wrapped up in August.
Mary Agnes Welch, past chair of the Westminster Housing Society, a partner on the housing side of the project, said it's already almost fully-tenanted.
Welch said centre saw the need for affordable housing in a community which had been under-served.
"Oftentimes when folks are a little bit older and they're moving into … older communities, they have to go back into the closet," she said.
"They don't always have spaces that are uniquely for them and where they can be themselves and feel comfortable.… That's sort of what this really unique model provides."
Phase 2 is set to start construction early next year.
Two newly published maps show the Bathurst caribou's changing migration patterns as their population rapidly decreases.
Provincial police are warning drivers to stay off the roadways on Boxing Day as southwestern Ontario falls under a freezing rain warning from Environment Canada.
Significant snowfall is expected in Toronto Friday, according to an alert from Environment Canada.
In terms of fighting hunger, the charity food hamper has been a staple for decades.
Christmas is often called the season of peace, but in 1883 a Boxing Day confrontation between Protestants and Catholics in Harbour Grace led to a riot, five deaths and a public outcry that reshaped politics in the colony.
The Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation had a 24 per cent increase in thefts across all retail stores in the province during the first quarter of 2025, according to numbers provided by the Crown corporation.
Nine years old might seem too early to retire but for Marielle the poodle — New Brunswick's first court service dog — that's 63 in human years.
Toronto police are investigating after Jewish prayer scrolls were removed from three condos in North York on Thursday.
Scott Gillingham is entering an election year. Wab Kinew has another full year to prove he can govern effectively before he faces voters as well.
A 23-year-old single mother from Prince Albert says she has been living in pain from her wisdom teeth for more than three years.
Doreen Freeland used to be what's known as a “land girl” in Britain during the Second World War. She was one of thousands of women recruited to work in orchards and on farms to help keep food production going while men went off to fight.
According to McMaster researchers on aging, walking speed could be considered a vital sign of sorts for seniors.
The Windsor Public Library’s most-borrowed books of 2025 reflect the growing popularity of celebrity book clubs and a growing interest in “romantacy,” according to one public service librarian there.