The City of Winnipeg is conducting a comprehensive review of its development review processes. The City has retained KPMG to carry out the work.

The objectives of the review are to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Winnipeg’s development review processes. This includes:

• Identifying opportunities to streamline processes and procedures within development review.
• Increasing City service levels in development review.
• Reducing the time spent by staff processing applications and increasing processing capacity.
• Improving the applicant experience through the development review processes.
• Maintaining the City’s commitment to excellence in the built environment.
• Industry Survey – Please participate!

Click here to take the City of Winnipeg - End-to-End Review of the Development Processes - Industry Survey.

The purpose of this survey is to gather feedback from industry related to Winnipeg's development application review process, including: 

• Building on what's working well.
• Highlighting challenges and pain points.
• Identifying potential opportunities for improvement.

Results from this survey will inform recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Winnipeg's development review processes.

Industry engagement is critical to the success of the review. We ask that even if you have participated in engagement sessions already that you please take a moment to complete this short survey. Responses to this survey are anonymous and will be treated as confidential.

This survey should take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete. The survey will close on May 30th

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.

Starting Wednesday, May 14, 2025, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) will be 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.  

A public hearing for further amendment of the Development Charges (DC) By-Law will be held on Monday, June 9, 2025, at 7 p.m. at City Hall Council Chambers. Members of the public will be invited to present their views on the proposed amendment. 

The public hearing only pertains to policy surrounding the proposal to phase in new water and wastewater DC rates for high density developments. The phasing schedule being proposed applies only to the rate increase (difference between the current rates and proposed rates) and will be carried out over a three-year period as follows: 25% in Year 1, 50% in Year 2, and 100% in Year 3.

Following the public hearing, the City will submit its application to the Public Utilities Board of Manitoba, as it currently oversees the approval of water and wastewater DC rates.

For important information, please visit brandon.ca/permits-applications/development-charges. Enquiries regarding Development Charges can be sent to LandDevelopment@brandon.ca.   

Two pieces of planning legislation introduced by the Provincial Government during this legislative session have now passed the Committee stage and await 3rd reading and passage by the Manitoba Legislature.

Bill 3 – The City of Winnipeg Charter Amendment Act and Planning Amendment Act, (formerly Bill 40) will 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.

Bills 3 & 4 are both expected to be passed by the Legislature and come into force before the spring session concludes on June 2.

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. 

The City of Winnipeg has released 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 has been scheduled for June 2, 2025.  

The public hearing agenda and documents can be found here.

Those wanting to participate in the public hearing can register here.

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

UDI and MHBA participated in 3 infill housing stakeholder meetings that were held between March 10 and March 13. Further public information sessions were scheduled for March 17 to 18. The recordings and presentation materials from the March 17-18 information sessions are available via the link above. 5 additional open houses were held between April 29 to May 6. 

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.