‘Time is money’: city a step closer to slashing developer wait times

A new city proposal aims to help developers build homes faster amid a nationwide housing shortage.

More municipal staff could be hired to help slash lengthy wait times for reviews that determine if there’s enough sewage, water and drainage capacity to support each new building project.

“One of the biggest frustrations that we have heard from developers over the last several years is how long it can take to get information on water and sewer capacity, so we’re fixing that … It’s going to make a real difference in helping to move projects along more quickly. It’s a practical step that’s going to support infill housing and other projects while still protecting essential services,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

The plan would hire 13 new staff by 2029 to speed up capacity reviews by the water and waste department. A water and waste report predicts doing so would greatly reduce the current target timeline of 30 calendar days to complete a review to seven days for standard requests and 14 for complex ones.

The mayor said the changes are key to achieving the city’s goal to ramp up housing construction and alleviate shortages.

“Time is money for developers and we need more housing units built as fast as we can get them built,” said Gillingham.

The executive policy committee approved the proposal on Tuesday, though it still requires a final council vote.

To implement the changes, the report calls for council to fund eight new full-time equivalent staff in July 2025, followed by three more in 2027 and two in 2029.

The changes are expected to increase operating costs for the city by roughly $435,000 in 2025, $917,000 in 2026, $1,319,000 in 2027, $1,387,000 in 2028, and $1,685,000 in 2029.

In an email, the mayor said those investments should pay off for the city.

“Getting developers faster, more accurate answers about sewer and water capacity means construction can start sooner and we can draw more investment into Winnipeg,” wrote Gillingham.

A new “engineering servicing capacity search” fee of $220 would take effect July 1, which would raise $44,000 during the remainder of 2025 and about $90,000 each year after.

An industry member welcomed the proposed changes.

“(This) is providing information that helps developers … understand better and faster what the water and wastewater capacities for that specific property are. That helps allow for better decision making,” said Lanny McInnes, executive director of the Urban Development Institute of Manitoba.

McInnes said it does appear the city needs more staff to make the changes. Under the current system, he said some development applications need to be assessed by one specific staff member in each unit of the water and waste department, which can slow down the process when someone is sick or on vacation.

“(The changes would result in) a pretty significant reduction in time. That will make a big difference in terms of getting projects up and running and construction happening,” he said.

McInnes expects the cost to the city can be covered through development and permitting revenues.

He doesn’t believe industry members will oppose the new fee.

“I think the fee is to ensure that (each) request is not frivolous,” he said.

McInnes said the changes reflect Gillingham’s 2024 challenge to all city departments to serve as “housing departments” to help boost the supply of residential units.

Sewage and water capacity is a “critical component” in determining the size of each development project and where it can be placed, he said.

More staff are required to meet the target, according to a water and waste report, especially as the city ramps up its efforts to attract more home construction.

The report states Winnipeg has considerably less staff reviewing development applications than many other Canadian cities, with about 10 employees doing that work compared to an average of 106.

“(The department) has limited resources for these reviews. More infill development and densification increases this pressure on resources. Timelines for this process often do not align with the expectations of the development community,” Cynthia Wiebe, Winnipeg water and waste’s manager of engineering services, wrote in the report.

The report estimates it would take about one year to meet the new response timelines, if the plan is approved.

City council is expected to cast the final vote on the proposal April 30.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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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.

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