Winnipeg’s failing grade starting point, not final word: CFIB

Winnipeg is one of nearly 40 municipalities to receive a failing grade from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in the organization’s inaugural “municipal report card.”

The Manitoba capital ranked 33rd amongst the 66 municipalities assessed, earning an F, with an overall score of 4.84 out of 10.

The report, which the CFIB released on Tuesday, evaluated cost burden, regulatory burden and small-business friendliness using 11 indicators and data collected up to Dec. 31, 2025.

Winnipeg’s grade is a starting point and not the final word, said Brianna Solberg, CFIB’s director for the Prairies and northern Canada.

“(Winnipeg) did receive an F grade, but it’s important to note that over half of the cities that we looked at received a failing grade, signalling that there’s lots of room for improvement,” she said.

The CFIB will track progress in future editions of the report. “The point of this report itself isn’t to criticize just for the sake of criticizing,” Solberg said. “It’s to identify where improvements can be made.”

The CFIB rated Winnipeg 6.8 out of 10 in the cost burden category, which looked at indicators such as tax fairness, property tax relief measures and operating spending growth.

The city scored 2.5 out of 10 in the regulatory burden category, where indicators included digital permitting and permitting timeliness, and 5.7 out of 10 for small-business friendliness, which rated construction mitigation, municipal websites and budget transparency.

The categories were weighted according to their relative impact on small- and medium-sized enterprises based on CFIB data, reflecting the direct and indirect costs that municipal policies and practices can have on business operations. Cost burden and regulatory burden each made up 40 per cent of a municipality’s grade, with small-business friendliness making up the remaining 20 per cent.

Mayor Scott Gillingham told reporters on Tuesday he had not yet read the report, but noted in January, the CFIB gave Winnipeg an honourable mention in its 2026 Golden Scissors Awards, which recognizes governments for “meaningful action” to reduce red tape.

“We have made significant progress in reducing red tape,” Gillingham said. “We’re always open to making improvements, but … the CFIB recognizes the really good work that we have done as a council.”

Solberg acknowledged the report uses data from 2025, so any improvements the city has made since then will be reflected in next year’s report. She also recognized the city’s recent improvements to its Permits Online portal.

“But putting a process online is only helpful if the process itself is straightforward (and) a lot of our members are still saying that it’s pretty difficult to navigate,” Solberg said. “Good work is being done to improve, but there’s still a long way to go, and this report highlights that.”

The report underscores there are challenges to how easy it is to do business in the provincial capital, said Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.

He added the city has “made great strides in a number of areas, like digitization and process improvements,” but there’s room for it to do more.

“All of Canada’s cities need to up their game in terms of supporting conditions for economic growth and well-being,” Remillard said.

Red Deer, Alta., ranked highest in the report with a 7.33 score that earned it a C+. Saskatoon and Strathcona County, Alta., were second and third on the list, with C-grade scores of seven and 6.59, respectively.

Brandon was the only Manitoba municipality on the list other than Winnipeg. It ranked 54th, scoring 3.93 and earning an F.

In a news release, the CFIB called on Manitoba municipalities to improve property tax fairness, consider relief for small businesses and keep operating spending growth in line with population growth and inflation.

Among the organization’s other requests were that Manitoba municipalities give business owners a simple way to report municipal red tape, and plan major construction with businesses in mind and provide support when projects cause disruption.

Solberg noted that Winnipeg has a municipal election coming up on Oct. 28.

“This is a really good opportunity for candidates to introduce plans to support small businesses and maybe implement some of the recommendations that we’ve highlighted in this report,” she said.

— with files from Joyanne Pursaga

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca