Winnipeg’s commuter rate highest of 15 largest cities in Canada

Winnipeg has the highest percentage of workers who regularly commute to their jobs in a ranking of the largest cities in Canada, a new survey finds.

Across the city, 89.5 per cent of local employees commuted to a workplace outside their home to complete at least half of their working hours in May, marking the highest proportion among 15 large Canadian cities, Statistics Canada reported.

Coun. Janice Lukes said that trend should have positive side-effects.

“I think the majority of companies downtown have requested their employees back three to four to five days a week… This is another tool to help our downtown businesses… with safety, to help downtown with vitality,” said Lukes (Waverley West).

When remote work became common during the COVID-19 pandemic, downtown was virtually deserted owing to a massive decline in commuters and visitors.

More people travelling to work now should result in more customers for downtown stores and more eyes on the street, said Lukes.

“We need to have people downtown… whether that’s going for lunch, whether that’s just being (there), having a presence, I think that’s really important,” she said.

The proportion of Winnipeggers who commute to work at least half the time was 81.2 per cent in 2021, 82.7 per cent in 2022, 85.1 per cent in 2023 and 84.9 per cent in 2024, the federal agency confirmed.

It also found the portion of workplace commuters who used transit as their main mode of transportation to get to work increased in recent years, rising from 8.5 per cent in 2021 to 11.4 per cent in 2025.

“The more vehicles we get off the street, it’s better for the environment and it’s better for reducing congestion,” said Lukes.

The survey found 83.9 per cent of commuters mainly relied on their own vehicles to commute in 2021, which fell to 82 per cent in 2025, while the remaining commuters relied primarily on active transportation.

Earlier this year, the City of Winnipeg imposed a minimum requirement that its own staff work in the office at least three days per week.

At the time, the city said some exceptions would be considered for select staff in information technology and call centres.

As of Aug. 18, the city had 11,197 employees, including 1,607 in its “flexible workplace” program. The program still allows remote work for up to two days per week, “depending on operational needs,” wrote spokeswoman Pam McKenzie, in an email.

Lukes said many city staff provide key services at set locations or interact with residents in person, which prevents them from being eligible for remote work.

She believes it makes sense to require city staff to generally be in the office, with some flexibility.

“The citizens of Winnipeg… want to see us back at work. The majority of (the local government) is service-based, so we need to be able to access people in a timely manner,” said Lukes.

However, the head of the city’s largest union said the municipal government should carefully assess the impact of its return-to-work policy.

Gord Delbridge, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500, said he believes some city staff quit after being required to return to the office, though it’s difficult to estimate how many.

“Just because you personally feel this (is the best option) as a politician or someone providing direction, your personal feelings are often not the (best to determine) what’s producing the best results,” said Delbridge.

While the “vast majority” of city jobs require in-person work, remote work can be seen as a major benefit that helps retain staff who can work from home, he said.

“If you are doing things like data entry all day long and you’re just at a computer, by offering flexibility in the workplace, (the city could) recruit some of the best staff because now (we would be) competing with other employers that are offering this as well,” said Delbridge.

The city should also consider whether in-office work provides the best value for taxpayers, who must cover the cost for those facilities, he said.

The impact of commuting on the environment should also be considered, said Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital).

“It’s certainly helpful to have more people commuting into downtown. But, on the other hand, we celebrated the Kenaston (Boulevard) widening by saying it’s going to make commuting so much more efficient, therefore there will be carbon savings… What would really make commuting efficient and have carbon savings would be people working from home some of the time,” said Mayes.

The councillor said any attempt to entirely stop remote work among city staff could prove challenging.

“People have experienced that now, so it’s hard to put the genie back in the bottle,” said Mayes.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga