UDI Manitoba Chair Michael Carruthers and MHBA CEO Lanny McInnes met with Hon. Andrew Smith, Minister of Municipal Relations on February 27^th to discuss key industry priorities and provide updates on initiatives we are working closely with the Department of Municipal Relations on. Topics included recent municipal funding announcements, municipal infrastructure planning, establishing the Capital Planning Region Board of Directors, Municipal Board appeals, and budget priorities and market conditions in advance of the 2023 provincial budget.

Thank you to Minister Smith for meeting with us to discuss issues important to residential construction and land development in Manitoba.

Manitoba Hydro has invited UDI Manitoba developers to attend a presentation and discussion on Hydro’s Customer Journey experience. 

Date: March 15, 2023

Time: 7:45 am – 10:00 am

Location: 360 Portage Ave. - Manitoba Hydro Place (3rd Floor)

Agenda:

7:45 – 8:30 am: Coffee, pastries & networking

8:30 – 10:00 am: Presentation & discussion           

UDI members who wish to attend are asked to please RSVP directly to Samantha Kaserbauer at skaserbauer@hydro.mb.ca by 12 noon on March 14. 

You are required to register in advance so that Hydro staff can pre-scan you for access into the facility and get you to their 3^rd floor meeting room quickly. 

The Government of Canada and the Province of Manitoba have announced the launch of a new grant program using federal funding to help Manitoba municipalities with local and regional long-term infrastructure planning. The Municipal Capacity Building Fund is a new, application-based grant program that will help Manitoba municipalities undertake local and regional long-term infrastructure planning, such as the development of asset management plans. Funding is provided through Manitoba’s portion of the Canada Community-Building Fund, formerly called the federal Gas Tax Fund. Any grants provided under the Municipal Capacity Building Fund would be in addition to municipalities’ allocations under the Canada Community-Building Fund. UDI Manitoba and the MHBA have been strong advocates in calling for the need for regional long-term infrastructure planning for Manitoba municipalities.

Eligible recipients for the Municipal Capacity Building Fund can be a single municipality undertaking its own project, municipalities collaborating on a joint project or a municipality sponsoring a non-municipal entity to launch a capacity-building initiative for the benefit of one or more municipalities. Municipalities can access more information about the program and the application form through Manitoba Municipalities Online at https://www.gov.mb.ca/mao/subscriber/login.aspx.

The government media release can be found here.

The Province of Manitoba's proposed Permit Dispute Resolution Regulation and the proposed Performance Standards Regulation, have been posted for public consultation on the Manitoba Regulatory Consultation Portal.

You can find the proposed Regulations via the following link: Manitoba Regulatory Consultation Portal (gov.mb.ca)

This project will be available for public comment until 11:59 pm on April 3, 2023.

The Building and Electrical Permitting Improvement Act received Royal Assent on May 20, 2021. In order to implement the changes in Schedules A and B of the Act, the Department of Labour and Immigration is proposing the creation of two new regulations:

• The Permit Dispute Resolution Regulation, under The Permit Dispute Resolution Act.
• The Performance Standards Regulation, under The Buildings and Mobile Homes Act.

The Permit Dispute Resolution Regulation

The proposed Permit Dispute Resolution Regulation will allow expert adjudicators to make binding orders respecting decisions made by a permitting authority about the technical requirements of building standards and complaints that inspections and decisions on permit applications were not conducted or made in a timely manner. The proposed Regulation lays out the processes to apply for a permit dispute resolution hearing, the timeframes for which a hearing must be held by an adjudicator-depending on the nature of the dispute-and the costs associated with the adjudication process (the adjudicator will bill parties directly for their services).

The Performance Standard Regulation

The proposed Performance Standard Regulation lays out the timeframes for which a permitting authority must notify the applicant if their application for a building or occupancy permit is complete, notify the applicant if their application for a building or occupancy permit is approved and, at the request of the applicant, conduct an inspection. This Regulation outlines a phased implementation to assist permitting authorities in meeting these new requirements and to allow them to make the operational changes required to meet more aggressive performance standards, to be phased in after one year.

Please submit your comments and feedback through the Portal and feel free share to this information with anyone else you think may like to provide feedback.  

Manitoba Housing has released a Negotiated Request for Proposals (NRFP) for the Development of Affordable Rental or Cooperative Housing in The Pas, Manitoba is now open. Manitoba Housing has issued this NRFP seeking proposals from community partners who want to develop new, affordable rental and cooperative housing for low-to-moderate income households in The Pas. The purpose of this NRFP is to solicit proposals from qualified proponents for the development of new affordable housing. Financial Assistance from Manitoba Housing is available to help offset the capital costs of the development of new affordable housing.

Information about the NRFP, the proposal submission requirements and the application form is available on the Manitoba Housing website.

The submission deadline for the NRFP is:

Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. Central Standard Time, in Winnipeg, MB

Please note that submitting a proposal does not guarantee financial assistance. All proposals will be reviewed for funding eligibility.

Contact the NRFP Administrator for more information on this NRFP:

Housing Delivery Branch

Manitoba Housing

200-352 Donald Street

Winnipeg MB R3B 2H8

E-mail: housingprograms@gov.mb.ca

ATTN: Sandra Oberdorfer, NRFP Administrator

On January 26, UDI Manitoba hosted a general members meeting at the Caboto Centre. Donovan Toews from Landmark Planning provided an overview of the Development Agreement Parameter review process.  Marc Pittet, Acting Director of Winnipeg’s Planning & Development department provided members with updates on department activities and took questions from members. Tim Loeb from Manitoba Hydro also provided members with an update on its Customer Journey review. Thank you to those members who attended. We encourage all UDI MB members to attend our upcoming meetings.

Upcoming meetings:

UDI MB’s annual general meeting will be held on April 27, 2023 at 8:30 am at the Caboto Centre.

UDI MB’s next general members meeting is scheduled for September 21, 2023 at 9:00 am at the Caboto Centre.

Details for these upcoming meetings will be circulated to members in advance of each meeting.

Three courses delivered as part of Engineers and Geoscientists Manitoba’s Manitoba Climate Resilience Training (MCRT) Project are now available for registration.

Online 90-minute courses will take place on 'Infrastructure Climate Risk Assessment: Featuring the PIEVC Process', 'Natural Infrastructure Solutions to Enhance Climate Resilience' and 'Introduction to Climate Change Through Codes, Standards, and Regulations' on dates in February and March, with two dates offered to choose from for each.

Newly developed 3-hour in-person workshops will offer "deeper dives" into the topics through presentations, discussions and/or small group exercises.

Click on the course titles for further information and to register for these MCRT courses. To see other upcoming climate change training that has been identified by the project team, see Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba's events calendar. 

The Manitoba government is launching the Work in Manitoba job portal, a one-stop website that will connect job seekers and employers based on qualifications and labour market needs.

The user-friendly platform is free for both job seekers and employers. Job seekers can create profiles that capture their skills, experience, education and career preferences. When employers upload job postings, the portal will send notifications to job seekers with relevant qualifications and goals.

For more information and to register on the site, visit www.workinmanitoba.ca.

To view the province’s news release, click here.