Massive, multi-year sewer rate hike ‘would crush people’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/03/2025 (213 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mayor Scott Gillingham will call on council to reject massive sewer rate hikes proposed to add $1,000 to the typical household’s annual bill by 2027.

Instead, Gillingham will propose a hike of $18.67 per month, starting April 1, which would add up to $168.03 for the rest of 2025.

“What’s being proposed for utility rates is too high. It would crush people. We cannot let that happen. I will not let that happen,” he told reporters Tuesday, just after the proposal was released.

“I think what people know by now is that water and sewer rates are going to increase in future years. They have to.”–Mayor Scott Gillingham

The “typical” home, with a family of four using 50 cubic metres of water per quarter paid $1,308 for the fee in 2024. That would rise to $1,532 in 2025, $1,968 in 2026 and $2,308 in 2027, if the rates proposed by city staff are approved.

For comparison, Winnipeggers are on track to pay $1,392 in 2025, $1,464 in 2026 and $1,540 in 2027.

The newly proposed rates assume the city will receive no additional funding from senior governments to support the massive upgrade to the north end sewage treatment plant on Main Street. That mega project is officially expected to cost $3.043 billion, as per the latest cost estimate, which was released Tuesday.

The mayor hopes to instead raise rates for this year alone, then defer larger hikes while pursuing other financing to get the work done.

Gillingham said completing the project is essential to ensure the city has enough sewage capacity to keep growing.

“We need this project completed to grow our city, to add jobs and to add residences… I think what people know by now is that water and sewer rates are going to increase in future years. They have to. We have a $3-billion project that has to be completed,” he said.

The mayor confirmed the rate report is outdated to some extent, since it doesn’t include $166 million of federal funding and $120 million of provincial funding announced to support the sewage plant upgrade on Monday.

During the announcement, Terry Duguid, the federal minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, said talks are underway to determine whther the Canada Infrastructure Bank can help fund the third and final phase of the project. That could involve a low-interest loan that stretches payments over an extended period to ease the pressure on water and sewer rates, he said.

Gillingham said that type of financing could spread out payments over 30 or 40 years. Securing more funds from senior governments and transferring debt are other options, the mayor’s office later said.

“Asking Winnipeggers to pay cash for a multibillion-dollar intergenerational capital project is simply not reasonable.”–Mayor Scott Gillingham

“Asking Winnipeggers to pay cash for a multibillion-dollar intergenerational capital project is simply not reasonable. It’s like buying a house and paying cash for the house up front… This is an inter-generational project that will serve Winnipeggers for the next century. So, we need a better approach. One that gets the project done while protecting affordability,” he said.

A city staff report says the city has also reached its debt capacity, which restricts its financing options.

Coun. Ross Eadie (Mynarski), chairman of the water and waste committee, will raise the rate proposal changes in a motion next week.

Gillingham blamed substantial cost increases for the sewage plant upgrade on past government delays, noting the project was first discussed in 2003.

“It’s like they pulled a pin on a grenade and, finally, this year now, it lands on our laps,” said Gillingham, noting the provincial government imposed a 2030 deadline for the entire project to be completed.

Coun. Brian Mayes, a former water and waste chairman, questioned the decision to debate proposed sewer increases that don’t account for all of the funding promised by senior governments.

“Why are we putting out this report today, claiming there’s no money coming when the money was just announced yesterday? I find this disingenuous. The money is coming so you know these rates are artificially high,” said Mayes (St. Vital).

The councillor noted the city is set to transfer a $42.5-million dividend from the water and waste department into general city coffers this year to help balance its books.

“(Not taking that dividend) would help keep down water and sewer rates,” said Mayes.

“Why are we putting out this report today, claiming there’s no money coming when the money was just announced yesterday? I find this disingenuous.”–Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital).

An anti-poverty advocate said she’s glad the mayor is calling for a more limited rate hike than the initial proposal, though she’s still reviewing the potential effect on low-income Winnipeggers.

“I appreciate the mayor holding off in going (with) a $1,000 rate increase… Water is so essential that we absolutely have to do everything we can to keep that cost low,” said Kate Kehler, executive director of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg.

Any change to utility rates would require full city council approval.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

X: @joyanne_pursaga

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Joyanne Pursaga
Reporter

Joyanne is city hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing on city hall and the Manitoba Legislature for the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in early 2020. Read more about Joyanne.

Every piece of reporting Joyanne produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.