Our Program → Eligibility
Am I eligible for New Steps?
New Steps is for young people 16–21 in Winnipeg, Manitoba who are in care, leaving care, or without a stable place to live. Here is exactly what we look at — and what we do not.
The short answer
If you are between 16 and 21, you are in or leaving the care of a Manitoba child and family services agency — or you have nowhere settled to live — and you can be in Winnipeg, you can apply. Four things, and only four things, decide whether we can take a referral.
16 to 21 years old when you move in. If you are 15 and your worker is already planning ahead, start the conversation now — planning early is normal and it helps.
Living in Winnipeg, or able to relocate to Winnipeg, Manitoba. Young people referred from communities across Manitoba are welcome; we will talk through what moving to the city actually involves before anyone commits.
In care, aging out of care, formerly in care, or without stable housing. That covers foster care, a group or treatment home, a kinship or place-of-safety placement, a temporary ward or permanent ward order, a voluntary placement agreement, or a placement that has just ended.
That you are willing to take part — show up for the sessions you sign up for, keep to the house agreements, and work on goals that are yours, not ours. You do not need to arrive with your life sorted out. That is the point of the program.
Who this is open to
Every young person aging out of care in Manitoba. Identity is not an eligibility criterion at New Steps, and it never has been. You will not be asked to prove who you are, produce a status card, or explain your background to get a room.
New Steps has deep, long-standing ties to First Nations and Métis communities, and young people from those communities are genuinely at home here — status or non-status, from Winnipeg or from a community anywhere in Manitoba. Those ties shape how the program is built and who is invited into the building. They are not a filter on who gets in.
Culture is offered, never assigned. Taking part in a gathering is always your own choice, and choosing not to has no effect on your housing, your phase, or anything else.
Where you might fit
Manitoba's child welfare system has a lot of words for the same young person. Any of these situations can lead to a placement with us.
Foster care or a group home
You have a placement now and it is winding down, breaking down, or about to end because of your age.
Temporary ward
You are under a temporary order and no one can yet tell you what happens at 18. We can hold a conversation with your worker while that is still being decided.
Permanent ward
You are a permanent ward of a Manitoba CFS agency and aging out is now a date on a calendar rather than an idea.
Voluntary placement agreement
Your family and an agency arranged your placement without a court order. That still counts here.
AYA — Agreement with Young Adults
Manitoba's extension of care. It is a voluntary agreement between you and your CFS agency, generally between 18 and 21 for young people who were permanent wards.
Already aged out
You left care and it has not gone the way anyone promised. You do not need an open file, and you do not need a worker, to call us.
An AYA and New Steps are not an either/or
An Agreement with Young Adults is an extension of care between you and your CFS agency. Living at New Steps does not replace it, cancel it, or compete with it — a lot of young people have both, and your worker stays your worker. If your agency has turned an AYA down, you can still be referred here. If nobody has explained an AYA to you yet, ask your worker, and ask us to be in the room when you do.
How a placement actually happens
Someone reaches out
Usually your caseworker, but it can be you, a family member, a support worker, or a shelter. A phone call is enough to start.
You come and look at it
We give you a tour of the home, you meet the team, and you ask us anything. Nobody moves into a place they have never seen.
We work it out together
Fit, supports, school or work, what the move actually looks like. It is a conversation, not a gatekeeping interview.
Move-in, when there is a room
Placement depends on vacancy. When a room is open, a referral can come together in about a week.
What we are not
Being clear about the limits is part of being useful. If one of these is what you need today, we would rather point you somewhere that fits than take a referral we cannot honour.
- We are not an emergency or same-day placement. There is a tour and a conversation first, and a room has to be free.
- We are not a crisis line. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 — the crisis and support lines are listed on our Get Help page.
- We are not the agency that grants an AYA or an extension of care. Your CFS agency decides that. We can support you through the conversation, and you do not need one to live here.
- We do not require you to arrive with ID, income, a diagnosis, a clean record, or a plan. Those are things we work on with you.
Not sure if you qualify?
That's okay — most people are not sure, including a fair number of caseworkers. Reach out anyway. We will talk through your situation and help you find the right support, whether it's with us or with another program in Winnipeg. You can also call us at (431) 444-2114.