Over 120 attendees enjoyed an evening of networking at UDI Manitoba’s annual Mix & Mingle event on November 7^th. Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham was one of a host of elected municipal officials from the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region who attended the Mix & Mingle. Our annual event is a great chance for UDI members to connect with our elected officials and members of the public service that are key to development decision making.  

On November 13th, Premier Wab Kinew made changes to his Executive Council, adding three members to his cabinet and refreshing a number of portfolios. Joining Cabinet is Mike Moraz (MLA for River Heights) as minister of the newly created Department of Innovation and New Technology, Mintu Sandhu (MLA for The Maples) as the minister for public service delivery and Nellie Kennedy (MLA for Assiniboia) as the minister of sport, culture, heritage and tourism.

Glen Simard (MLA for Brandon East) was named the new minister of municipal and northern relations and will be responsible for the legislative amendments to Manitoba’s planning legislation expected in the 2nd session of the legislature will begin today with the Speech from the Throne this afternoon.

Read the full news release HERE.

Deputy Ministers were also assigned to new departments following the cabinet shuffle. Read the new release HERE

The City of Brandon, in collaboration with AECOM Canada Ltd., is conducting a comprehensive Water Distribution Capacity Analysis and Feasibility Study to support growth and evaluate the City’s water distribution system.

The primary objective of the project is to assess the system’s capacity to meet the current and future needs of neighbourhoods, with a particular focus on the southwest and southeast areas (South Growth Area).

The project scope includes:

• Reviewing and upgrading the city-wide water distribution system (WDS) hydraulic model, with a focus on calibration using field data.
• Conducting a Fire Flow Analysis to identify potential system vulnerabilities and propose mitigative measures to enhance reliability and fire safety.
• Performing a Capacity and Growth Analysis to determine necessary infrastructure and operational improvements to support ongoing and future development in the South Growth Area.

The study emphasizes sustainable infrastructure planning to address urban growth while ensuring service reliability. The project is scheduled for completion by Summer 2025.

Enquiries regarding the project can be sent to LandDevelopment@brandon.ca

Development Charges (DC) have been in place since 2019. As part of the original By-law, a regular review of the rates is required. Over the last two years, the City of Brandon engaged Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. to support the City of Brandon in this process. This assignment resulted in updated DC rates and policy recommendations which will be reflected in amendments to By-law No. 7175.

Currently, water and wastewater DCs are approved under the Public Utilities Board of Manitoba (PUB). It is estimated that the PUB approval process will take several months from the application submission date. Given this timeline, and to align capital infrastructure needs with updated DC rates, amendments to the original By-law No. 7175 will be carried out through two sequential by-laws: 

• The first amendment, By-law No. 7397, includes updated rates for transportation and land drainage network infrastructure; 
• The second amendment, By-law No. 7406, will address the remaining rates for water and wastewater treatment and network infrastructure, including wastewater sewers and watermains.



Public hearings for By-Laws 7175 and 7406 will be held on Monday, Dec. 16, 2024, at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers. Members of the public will be invited to present their views on either or both By-Laws. 

For more information, please visit brandon.ca/permits-applications/development-charges.

To better track the park design process for everyone, the City has created a new dedicated email for developers to submit Park Design Reviews: parkdesignreview@winnipeg.ca

Please use this new email address when submitting park design reviews.

Over the past few months, UDI’s Technical Committee has been working with the City’s administration to provide feedback on and recommend improvements to Winnipeg’s Park Design Review Process. Further meetings are scheduled with the aim to help improve and streamline the Park Design Review process for both the administration and for industry.

The Registrar-General of Manitoba issued a Directive outlining changes to registry service fees for 2025. Please note that effective Sunday, January 5, 2025, service fees for the Land Titles Registry and the Personal Property Registry will increase by 3.7%.

At Teranet Manitoba, we’re dedicated to efficiently connecting government, business, and consumers through the delivery and transformation of registry services. By reinvesting these fees into our services, we continuously enhance the registry experience you count on.

You can view the Directive and the 2025 fee schedule HERE.

The Province of Manitoba has announced The Manitoba Affordable Energy Plan, the province’s new plan to build the next generation of affordable energy. The MHBA attended a stakeholder briefing on September 17th where Finance Minister Adrian Sala and Environment Minister Tracy Schmidt provided a briefing on the key components of the province’s energy plan. 

Actions in the plan include:

• Creating an Indigenous loan guarantee program to provide First Nations and Métis the capital support and capacity to participate in the energy transition and finance new partnerships in wind generation. 
• Refurbishing Hydro generating stations to unlock up to 200MW.  
• Ending the first-come-first-served approach for large grid connection to better align with our economic development goals.  
• Strengthening energy codes for homes and buildings to generate long-term energy savings for Manitoba families. 
• Stronger oversight of the oil and gas sector with regular provincial inspections to ensure environmental safety and reliability. 
• Installing new Manitoba Hydro owned and operated public electric vehicle (EV) chargers.  
• A renewed focus on energy security with stronger protections in place for procurement and data management to keep our energy supply safe and secure.  



In addition to a commitment to work with the MHBA on developing a timeframe and path forward on moving Manitoba up the energy codes for homes and buildings, the plan also includes a commitment that Manitoba Hydro will energize construction sites earlier and faster. The MHBA has been advocating for these changes and is pleased that the Manitoba Government has made these commitments important parts of its new affordable energy plan. The provincial government has committed to working with the MHBA and our members to help inform and shape the implementation of the key components of the plan that impact our sector. We look forward to working with the Government of Manitoba on this.

To view The Manitoba Affordable Energy Plan, click here.

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

Manitoba Municipal Board public hearing notices can be found here.