Friesen Flooring presents' A Night at Assiniboia Downs' - an exclusive Industry Night for MHBA and UDI Manitoba Members!

Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2025

Time: 6:30 pm – end of races (come and go!)

Location: Assiniboia Downs (3975 Portage Ave.)

Cost: $55 (+GST)

Registration includes one drink voucher and appetizers.

Hold your horses and gallop on over for an evening of networking and camaraderie as Friesen Flooring presents: “A Night at Assiniboia Downs”, exclusively for members of the MHBA and UDI Manitoba . It’s the perfect opportunity to unwind with fellow members while enjoying an exciting evening of races. Don’t rein in your excitement — saddle up for an event filled with winning connections and a photo finish of fun!

Please note: Appetizers will be served at 6:30 pm. Races start at 7:30 pm and are expected to end around 10:30 pm. Guests are welcome to come and go as they please!

Deadline to register is Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Re-imagining Graham Avenue

Throughout 2023 and 2024, we asked residents and stakeholders to help us envision the future of Graham Avenue. You told us you want it to focus on pedestrians and become a vibrant Downtown destination.

We’ve developed a plan to make Graham Avenue a signature street—a place to meet on a patio, attend a market, gather for events, read a book in the shade, or walk your dog.

Council has funded a placemaking pilot as the first step toward this long-term vision. The pilot launches this month.

Bringing Graham Avenue to life this summer:

We’re introducing a pedestrian-focused pilot area on Graham between Carlton Street and Garry Street. This four-block section is currently restricted to buses and bikes. When the new bus network launches on June 29, transit service will no longer run along much of Graham Avenue.

Starting in July, you’ll notice some exciting changes at street level:

• Street murals (supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Initiative)
• Artistic lighting and places to sit
• Art installations
• Planters, picnic tables, and ping pong tables
• Custom-built street furniture
• A festival space for events like the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL)’s 2025 Championship Weekend (CW25), August 22-24

More art and activities will pop up along the street through Summer 2025.

This pilot project is being delivered in partnership with several local organizations and shaped by feedback from stakeholders like you. It’s an opportunity to test ideas before any permanent reconstruction—so your input remains important and welcome. In the meantime, come explore Graham Avenue this summer and help spread the word!

Learn more: winnipeg.ca/reimagininggraham

Downtown bike routes

As part of CentrePlan 2050, we’re also designing three key bike routes Downtown to improve connectivity to, from, and within the Downtown. In Phase 3, we shared our recommendations for two specific bike routes:

• St. Mary Avenue and York Avenue
• Notre Dame Avenue and Cumberland Avenue

These routes were shaped by technical analysis and what we heard during earlier engagement phases.

In July 2024, we held two pop-up events and a virtual session to share how public feedback influenced the route designs. Read the Phase 3 Public Information Summary for an overview of Phase 3 engagement and participation.

What’s next?

• St. Mary Avenue and York Avenue will be reconstructed as part of planned Downtown street renewals between 2025–2027. Protected bike lanes will be built as part of this work.
• Notre Dame Avenue and Cumberland Avenue do not yet have a construction timeline. Before that can happen, Council would need to allocate funding.
• The intersection at William Stephenson Way and Waterfront Drive requires further study to address traffic concerns identified in this project.

Learn more: engage.winnipeg.ca/downtown-bike-routes

UDI’s Technical Committee and members of the City of Winnipeg’s administration from Public Works, Parks, and Planning and Development took part in a technical tour of parks and boulevards in Southeast Winnipeg on June 23 to visit sites and discuss common sod warranty and maintenance issues. Our Technical Committee members would like to our partners at the City of Winnipeg for their ongoing collaboration and dialogue on these important issues.

Save the date – MHBA, UDI Manitoba and several industry partners are presenting the 2025 Leaders' Forum on Growing the Economy on Thursday, September 25. The event will feature Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and will be moderated by Probe Research's Mary Agnes Welch.

More details are available here at the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association website. Keep an eye on this space for tickets when they are made available 

Winnipeg Construction Association has developed a Manitoba Prompt Payment Contractor Quick Reference Guide to help contractors make sense of the new prompt payment regime. The document outlines payment timelines, rules on disputes and more. You can download it for free here.

After 4 days of presentations and debate, the City of Winnipeg has approved its proposed changes to the Winnipeg Zoning By-law and Local Area Plans to enable the development of:

• Two-unit, three-unit, and four-unit homes in many neighbourhoods; and
• Taller four-unit homes (up to 39 feet) on certain lots within 800 metres (about a half mile) walking distance of a frequent transit route.



Zoning By-law changes will support this work to ensure that rules related to height, building setback, and landscaping, among others, are followed. These changes were requested by the Federal Government as part of the City of Winnipeg’s Housing Accelerator Fund application.

The public hearing on the proposed zoning by-law began on June 2, 2025 and concluded on June 5, 2025. Council ultimately passed the changes but made a number of amendments to the by-law changes proposed by the administration. 

The public hearing agenda and documents can be found here. As can the disposition of the meeting.

Details on the zoning changes and public consultation process can be found at Zoning changes to accommodate infill housing | City of Winnipeg.

MHBA and UDI will be asking the City of Winnipeg’s Planning, Property and Development department for an briefing on the final version of the by-law changes and will share any communication from the City with our members. 

Two pieces of planning legislation introduced by the Provincial Government during this legislative session were passed by the Manitoba Legislature on June 2, were granted royal assent and are now in place.

Bill 3 – The City of Winnipeg Charter Amendment Act and Planning Amendment Act, (formerly Bill 40) will now require 300 eligible persons to object to trigger a public appeal to the Manitoba Municipal Board, up from the current requirement of 25 eligible persons. In Winnipeg, Brandon and other municipalities and planning districts with a population of over 6,000 per census population. In municipalities and planning districts with a population under 6,000, the amendments will increase the number of local objectors required to trigger a referral to the greater of 100 eligible persons or five per cent of the census population. These legislative changes are expected to result in faster, clearer decisions and reduce the cost and length of potential delays.

To view Bill 3, click here.

Bill 4 – The Planning Amendment Act, (formerly Bill 42) gives municipalities the ability to opt out of being part of the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, giving the 18 WMR municipalities the ability to choose to be part of the Capital Planning Region. Bill 4 also extends the date for completing the initial regional plan for the Capital Planning to January 2027.

The obligations concerning drinking water and wastewater management plans for municipalities within the capital region are continued and are no longer dependent on membership in the Capital Planning Region. Related amendments are made in respect to other planning regions that may be established in the future. 

To view Bill 4 – The Planning Amendment Act, click here.

MHBA President & CEO Lanny McInnes provided comments to the Standing Committee on Legislative Affairs at its committee hearing on April 22. To read our comments on Bills 3 & 4, click here.

Further amendments are expected to be introduced in the Fall of 2025 as a result of the recently completed statutory review of Manitoba’s planning legislation. The MHBA and UDI Manitoba participated in the stakeholder consultation as part of this review and provided the government with recommendations on further amendments to Manitoba’s planning legislation. MHBA and UDI representatives sit on the Minister’s Planning and Development Working Group assisting the Province on crafting these further amendments. 

The provincial government has enacted the regulations for the new prompt payment rules (Builders’ Liens Act amendments). The legislation can be viewed here and the regulations, here.

The regulations set out the duties and powers of the adjudication authority including details about payment and adjudication, process in the event of non-payment, requirements for adjudicators and other matters concerning the conduct of an adjudication.

To read the full news release on the regulations, click here.

As of Wednesday, May 14, 2025, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is mandatory to access Manitoba’s Land Titles Registry and Personal Property Registry.

MFA enhances account security by requiring a second verification step in addition to your password. This helps prevent unauthorized access and ensures that only you can log in.

Not sure how to get started?

Visit Teranet Manitoba’s website for detailed instructions on how to set up MFA. 

At its May 22^nd meeting, Winnipeg’s City Council approved amendments to the City’s Municipal By-law Enforcement Act (MBEA). The MBEA lets the City of Winnipeg enforce City By-laws by issuing Penalty Notices. This process is allowed through MBEA Enabling By-law No. 59/2016. Since 2017, the Planning, Property, and Development Department (PPD) has been working to make enforcement more effective. Issuing penalty notices has been viewed by the City as an effective way to gain compliance.

Under the MBEA, each rule violation can result in a fine of up to $1,000. If the issue isn’t fixed, an additional fine can be added every 24 hours. There may also be a chance to pay fines early and get a reduced fee. The Public Service report recommended adding 37 more contraventions to this By-law. The plan also updates the Winnipeg Electrical By-law to explain the penalties better. The report also states that some small mistakes in existing contraventions will also be corrected. The Enforcement Services Unit in the PPD is in charge of issuing the penalty notices when someone breaks these rules.

In a joint submission to the SPC on Property and Development, the Winnipeg Construction Association and the MHBA supported the amendments and thanked the SPC and the City’s administration for allowing both Associations to have additional time to review these 37 new additions to this By-law with our collective members and be briefed by the administration on the changes. Consultation with WCA and MHBA took place on May 1. 

To view the report, click here, and see Report # 5 – Amendments to MBEA Enabling By-law No. 59/2016 under Report of the Standing Policy Committee on Property and Development Dated may 8, 2025

The City of Winnipeg will now allow concurrent review of the Development Permit (DP) and Building Permit (BP). The new process is as follows:

1. Apply for a DP regular process through PO is acceptable

2. Review PO status that DP application is deemed REVIEW at which point, applicant receives the DP number (Zoning is committed to a 2-day response on application REVIEW)

3. With the DP number under review, applicant can now apply for a BP (via email only not via portal)



• When making an email BP application please indicate as follows; CONCURRENT BUILDING PERMIT REVIEW REQUESTED
• Applicant should be aware that additional risks such as re-review of the BP and associated costs may apply.
• BP will not be issued until the related DP is approved and issued.

This sequencing is temporary until the portal is updated with the option to submit a BP while a DP is processed becomes available.

City Council adopted By-Law No. 7397 on April 7, 2025, increasing Development Charges for transportation and land drainage network infrastructure at the time of building permit. Revised rates will take effect on June 6, 2025.

For important information on the updated policies, rates, and transitional rules, please visit brandon.ca/permits-applications/development-charges. Enquiries regarding Development Charges can be sent to LandDevelopment@brandon.ca.  

In 2024 the Federal Government announced that they budgeted $11.6 million to support the development of a Housing Design Catalogue for up to 50 designs to simplify and accelerate housing approvals and builds.

On March 7, 2025 the initial catalogue was released by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). This includes the final renderings, floor plan layouts, and key building details as part of the Housing Design Catalogue. The catalogue features some 50 standardized housing designs for rowhouses, fourplexes, sixplexes, and accessory dwelling units.

The catalogue provides a head start for homeowners, builders, and communities in their planning processes. The designs were developed by regional architecture and engineering teams and focus on creating gentle density and infill development in existing neighbourhoods in all regions of the country including MB. The final architectural design packages will be released this spring.

The link for the SK/MB catalogue can be found HERE.

Homeowners, builders, and communities interested in receiving updates can sign up on the CMHC Housing Design Catalogue webpage HERE.

Manitoba Municipal Board public hearing notices can be found here.