WINNIPEG – New homes are being built in downtown Winnipeg for some of the city’s homeless.

The Village Project will be 22 units of communal living near Thunderbird House for Indigenous people needing a place to live.

End Homelessness Winnipeg says the development is being expedited because of COVID-19, the recent extreme cold and last week’s deadly explosion at a homeless camp.

Ottawa has contributed $2.7 million in funding to convert shipping containers into the housing near Main and Higgins.

The first residents should move in by June and completion is expected before next winter.