The preliminary 2021 Balanced Budget Update from Winnipeg’s City Council provides significant funding investments into combined sewer overflows, water and sewer main renewals, and a water meter renewal program as part of the $2.3 billion capital investment plan that will help protect the environment and help the city grow.
“We continue the work to reduce sewage spills into our rivers through our combined sewer overflow mitigation program – a $180 million commitment over the next six years,” said Brian Mayes, chairperson of the Standing Policy Committee on Water and Waste, Riverbank Management and the Environment.
The capital investment plan would also invest approximately $117 million in water main renewals, and $117 million in sewer main renewals over the next six years. It would also invest $39 million towards a residential water meter renewal plan to provide much needed upgrades to aging water meter infrastructure.
These investments build on the city’s pans to protect Lake Winnipeg through upgrades to the North End Sewage Treatment Plant (NEWPCC).
In 2018, the city made a $408 million investment for Phase 1 of the total $1.8 billion in required upgrades.
On September 30, 2020, council unanimously endorsed a request from the Province of Manitoba to transfer $321.24 million of federal funds from the Transit Stream to the Green Infrastructure Stream under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) in support of the NEWPCC upgrades.
Council’s decision was conditional on the provincial government:
- Providing its share of $267.7 million towards the NEWPCC upgrade
- Committing to no further reduction of the $203.6 million of Winnipeg’s remaining federal transit allocation under the ICIP, as well as committing to cost match the federal transit funding under the terms of the Manitoba Canada ICIP bilateral agreement
The decision by council marks a historic milestone in accessing a total of $589 million from the provincial and federal governments. This totals $909 million when combined with the city’s investments of $320 million in support of council’s number one infrastructure priority in the NEWPCC.
