WINNIPEG – The Manitoba government’s senior adviser on homelessness is leaving her position after roughly 10 months on the job.
The government says Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud will soon be moving on to a role outside government in which she will help build more housing, but did not provide details.
Blaikie Whitecloud did not immediately respond to an interview request.
She was hired in January, at a salary of $177,000, to lead the government’s effort to end chronic homelessness within seven years.
Part of the effort involved promises to clear encampments and ensure more housing is made available.
Bernadette Smith, the minister for housing, addictions and homelessness, said Blaikie Whitecloud has helped get 100 homes for people who had been living in encampments, and the work will continue.
“Tessa’s leadership is instrumental in bringing partners together and setting our strategy on the right path,” Smith said in a statement Thursday.
“We are grateful for Tessa’s dedication to ending chronic homelessness and look forward to continuing to work alongside her as she takes on this new role focused on expanding Manitoba’s housing supply.”
The NDP government has faced some criticism over the number of homeless people in Winnipeg.
Encampments continue to be visible in many parts of the city, and a recent report from End Homelessness Winnipeg, a non-profit housing advocacy group, said it counted a record 2,469 people experiencing homelessness in its latest data-gathering effort last November.
Before being hired by the government, Blaikie Whitecloud was the chief executive officer at Siloam Mission, a charity that serves the unhoused.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2025
