Two more municipalities pull out of capital planning region, leaving eight of original 18

More than half of Manitoba communities slated to join a capital planning region have opted out ahead of this year’s municipal election — prompting some to question how the area’s long-term plan will unfold.

Meantime, new legislation proposed Thursday could tweak the incoming strategy’s rollout.

“What we are in right now is a rebuilding stage,” Municipal Relations Minister Glen Simard said Friday, after being asked about the exodus of municipalities.

“We’re looking for members who want to go there voluntarily rather than being mandated.”

Ten of 18 municipalities originally placed in the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region’s long-term plan have withdrawn from the group.

The plan will cover everything from land use to recreation. Involvement was mandatory under the former Progressive Conservative government, which oversaw the project’s launch. The New Democrats announced in 2024 that participation would become optional.

The Winnipeg Metropolitan Region must submit a regional plan to the province by Jan. 1, 2027.

East St. Paul and St. Clements are the latest municipalities to pull the plug. Both sent requests to withdraw on Feb. 24.

St. Clements’ chief administrative officer Deepak Joshi pointed to poor timing: communities have until the Oct. 28 municipal election to withdraw, well before the deadline to submit a plan.

“If council had decided to stay, they would be tying the hands of the future council,” Joshi said. “Council felt that… (the) long-term commitment just before an election was imprudent.”

Councillors had questions about the plan’s financial, land use, servicing and governance terms, Joshi said. Municipalities can join the WMR later after going through a public hearing process, he noted.

Jurisdictions that don’t opt out by Oct. 28 must be on the WMR’s board for eight years.

Macdonald, Springfield, Taché and Rockwood asked for withdrawals in December and January. The provincial government granted withdrawals to Selkirk, the rural municipalities of West St. Paul and St. Andrews, and the Village of Dunnottar earlier last year.

Stonewall joins Winnipeg, Cartier, Headingley, Ritchot, Rosser, St. François Xavier and Niverville by staying in the planning region, at least for the time being.

Stonewall Mayor Sandra Smith said her council was waiting for details in provincial legislation expected in the spring. She echoed Joshi, expressing hesitation about an eight-year commitment without knowing the full plan.

“If we’re not at the table, we know that the regional plan is going to happen,” Smith said.

“The question is, do you want to have a seat at the table and have a say in what the regional plan looks like? Or do you walk away and then find out through legislation that there’s something that has a negative impact on your municipality?”

Bill 33 (The Planning Amendment and City of Winnipeg Charter Amendment Act), which Simard introduced Thursday, would allow for a three-year gap between the plan’s bylaw implementation and municipalities’ alignment to the plan.

Property acquisition through expropriation won’t be allowed in the planning region if the bill passes.

“You build the capital region through consensus, not through different groups doing different things,” Simard said. “It’s… also providing autonomy to municipalities to be able to go forward.

“You can’t live around the city of Winnipeg and not be a part of the conversation when it comes to planning on the periphery or in the centre of the city.”

Several municipalities — including Stonewall and St. Clements — have ongoing regional partnerships. Stonewall, for example, shares a fire department with the RM of Rockwood and is working with several communities to create a new personal-care home.

Aaron Moore, a University of Winnipeg political science professor, said he believes the planning region will lose “a lot of its effectiveness” with dwindled membership.

New developments outside city limits could be poorly planned without a regional plan, he said.

“It starts off OK, but as more people move into a community, the limits of… infrastructure… become apparent,” he said.

The now-cancelled WMR Plan 20-50 had sections protecting agricultural land and ensuring development happened on or near major routes, which would make it easier to service them, Moore said.

Plan 20-50 was axed in December 2024 following some municipalities’ concerns that it would undermine their decision-making powers.

Doug Ramsey, a Brandon University rural development professor, said he believes an “all or most-in endeavour” is needed for the planning region to work.

He predicts a lack of co-ordination will lead to further fragmentation of agricultural land, affecting farmers’ jobs.

“It’s not saying you can only take this parcel of land… and only have farming or only have housing. It’s creating a plan that allows everything to co-exist — farming, living, recreation, tourism,” Ramsey said.

He expects the number of people seeking homes just outside Winnipeg — for larger lots and a perceived higher quality of life — will continue to grow as the city’s population rises.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com