Winnipeg’s Bridgwater area will be the site of Manitoba’s next personal care home build, after several previously announced projects.

The NDP announced $95 million for the 140-bed personal care home in south Winnipeg on Thursday, as the party teased more support for seniors will be in next week’s provincial budget.

Three builds that were already announced — in Lac du Bonnet, Arborg and Winnipeg’s Transcona neighbourhood — will add 237 beds to the system.

The Lac du Bonnet facility is expected to be completed first, sometime around summer 2027. Construction is set to start on the Arborg centre in June, and construction will begin in Transcona next winter, the provincial government said.

Kinew said the Lac du Bonnet and other facilities are being built through a “village” model designed as self-contained communities, with services and opportunity to connect with others.

“The science actually shows that having this village model … improves the outcomes, helps to keep your mind sharp,” Kinew told reporters at the announcement at the Melody retirement community on Chancellor Drive.

“So, this seems like the way to go.”

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the Bridgwater project is something people have been advocating for since about 2014. The idea was unveiled that year by Winnipeg Mennonite Seniors Care Inc.

“It was wrong that it was neglected,” Asagwara said.

The health minister couldn’t say when the work will start in Bridgwater but said consultations with the community on what kind of amenities and services are wanted will begin in June.

Elaine Cowan, a resident at the Melody retirement community, said Thursday’s care home announcement is “so damn exciting”

“So many of us want to stay close to home as we age — close to our kids, our grandkids, our friends and the routines we’ve [developed] over a lifetime,” she said.

“Having more care spaces … just makes that possible,” Asagwara said, criticizing the Tories for falling short of an election promise a decade ago to add more beds to the personal care home system.

The Progressive Conservatives were elected in 2016 on a promise to add 1,200 personal care home beds to the system over eight years.

By fall 2022, the PC government had added about 450 beds in the six years prior, according to a document the NDP obtained at the time through a freedom of information request.

The total number of beds available decreased during that period, however, from 9,698 in 2016 to 9,549 as of September 2022, the document said. That was partly because of Parkview Place closing after being the site of one of Manitoba’s deadliest coronavirus outbreaks.

Tory health critic Kathleen Cook tabled a bill this week that would amend the Municipal Assessment Act by upping the property tax exemption for personal care homes. The PCs said the NDP blocked that legislation Thursday morning.

“Our personal care homes are modern facilities that serve hundreds of Manitobans, yet many are paying significant school taxes because the exemption has not been updated since 1989,” Cook said in a statement.

“This amendment is long overdue.”