Brokenhead Ojibway Nation housing development breaks ground in Winnipeg

A new Indigenous-led housing development has officially broken ground in Osborne Village.

Brokenhead Ojibway Nation celebrated the groundbreaking of a mixed-income housing development in Osborne Village on Friday afternoon.

The development project aims to erect the Elswood, a seven-storey apartment complex at 269 River Avenue with 147 mixed-income units, according to Brokenhead Chief Gordon Bluesky. Of those units, 60 will be “deeply affordable.”

“This is our first step in bringing safe, affordable homes to the Brokenhead members living in the city and to families across Winnipeg,” Bluesky said. “For far too long, Indigenous nations have been underrepresented in the economic life of the city.”

Bluesky said the build should be completed in 18 months to two years, coming at a cost of approximately $50 million. He said funds for the project come from the City of Winnipeg and the Housing Accelerator Fund—a federal program for municipalities to create more housing.

“This is reconciliation that you can live in,” Bluesky said at the groundbreaking ceremony, attended by officials from the city, provincial, and federal governments. The project is also in partnership with real estate development company Freedhome Developments Ltd.

The apartment complex, owned entirely by Brokenhead Ojibway Nation and located next to the Assiniboine River, will feature an outdoor riverside patio, a fitness facility, and a heated parkade.

Bluesky said units will be available to all residents of Winnipeg and not exclusively Brokenhead Ojibway Nation members.

“We’re just doing our part to accommodate the housing needs and the housing crisis we have here in Winnipeg.”