City gets ball rolling to seek relief for wildfire costs: mayor

Mayor Scott Gillingham’s inner circle will consider a proposal for the city to seek provincial aid to cover costs associated with this year’s devastating wildfires.

Winnipeg was the primary host community for thousands of evacuees as several city-run buildings were converted into congregate shelters or reception centres at the height of the emergency.

“There were costs incurred by the City of Winnipeg to provide that emergency assistance, and now as part of the regular process we’ll submit an application to the Province of Manitoba to recover some of those costs,” said Gillingham, who plans to vote in favour of the motion at Tuesday’s executive policy committee meeting.

The city has not yet determined final wildfire-related costs, spokesman Adam Campbell said.

The Leila Avenue indoor soccer complex, and three arenas — Billy Mosienko, Century and Eric Coy — were among the sites that housed evacuees or were made available to the Canadian Red Cross under provincial emergency orders.

Gillingham said the Leila complex had some “wear and tear,” which was to be expected because it housed thousands of evacuees for weeks.

He said he does not know the cost of the repairs that were required.

As part of a leasing agreement with the Winnipeg Soccer Federation, the Manitoba government agreed to cover the cost of minor damages sustained while the complex was used as a shelter, a provincial spokesperson said last month.

The spokesperson said some repairs were related to plumbing concerns, damaged concrete on interior walkways, and exterior sidewalk cleaning.

The motion that will go before EPC says the city also incurred costs for additional staff and resources. It recommends the city request that residents and businesses be allowed to participate in any disaster financial assistance program for which they may be eligible.

The province announced the program Oct. 1 to help municipalities recover from what it described as Manitoba’s most severe wildfire season on record.

The Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization has so far received 11 disaster financial assistance requests from municipalities, a provincial spokesperson said.

As of last month, the Manitoba government’s costs were pegged at $180 million.

Premier Wab Kinew has said Manitoba will seek financial aid from the federal government to help cover costs.

The 2025 wildfire season isn’t finished, even though the weather is turning cold and a huge amount of snow fell in central and northern Manitoba this week.

The Manitoba Wildfire Service reported 73 active fires as of Tuesday, mainly in the northern region. The fires were classified as under control or being monitored.

More than 2.1 million hectares of land has burned this year, which is the most since 1989, per provincial records. At least 432 fires were detected.

Two people — Susan and Richard Nowell — died when a fire rapidly swept through part of the Rural Municipality of Lac du Bonnet in May.

More than 130 structures, including houses and cottages, were confirmed destroyed in Manitoba.

The last mandatory evacuation orders were lifted in September. The Canadian Red Cross said it registered more than 32,700 evacuees in Manitoba throughout the season.

The Mantario Wilderness Area in Whiteshell Provincial Park remains closed.

— With files from Joyanne Pursaga and Scott Billeck

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca