Fifteen budget tidbits to think about

A mental health zone at Manitoba’s busiest hospital and free child care for about 3,500 families are among the highlights of the NDP government’s third budget since being elected in 2023.

The Kinew government said its financial blueprint for 2026-27 will help to make life more affordable, improve access to health care and create jobs.

Here are 15 things to know about the budget.

HSC mental health zone

The budget includes $13.6 million for a new mental-health zone next to the Health Sciences Centre emergency room in a bid to help lower ER wait times at the inner-city hospital.

Coverage by social workers will be expanded to 24-7 in ERs and urgent care departments.

More people with mental health, addictions and housing needs are showing up in ERs, the province said.

Manitoba will introduce 32 care beds at Siloam Mission, at a cost of $2.3 million, for patients who still need health care but are well enough to leave hospital.

PST-free groceries

The provincial sales tax will be cut for all food sold in grocery stores, starting July 1 — a move that will cost the government more than $30 million per year.

Basic groceries, such as fruit and vegetables, are already exempt.

Finance Minister Adrien Sala listed ready-to-eat rotisserie chicken, prepared platters, potato chips and soft drinks as examples of items that will be PST-free.

Free child care

Free child care will be offered to about 3,500 low-income families, or about 5,000 children, who currently pay $2 a day. The measure will cost the government more than $3 million annually.

“This is about ensuring those families that need the most help can get that help, get access to child care and, hopefully, get into the economy,” Sala said.

The government said it will open 21 child-care centres and 2,315 new spaces this year.

Changes to homeowners tax credit

The annual credit will rise by $100 to $1,700 for a majority of homeowners in 2027, except those who have higher-valued homes, as part of a “more progressive” measure, the budget said.

The credit will be reduced on a sliding scale for homes with assessed values of more than $1 million. Homes valued at more than $1.5 million will no longer receive the credit.

It’s being unveiled at a time when some school divisions propose education property tax hikes of about 10 per cent to balance their books.

Cardiac care centre

Heart Care Manitoba, a new cardiac centre of excellence, will open at St. Boniface Hospital with $22.1 million in funding.

The cash will add 18 beds, create a cardiac zone next to the ER and place a cardiac specialist in the ER to provide “rapid” consultations for patients with symptoms such as chest pain.

Other highlights include $1.7 million to perform 200 more hip and knee surgeries at the hospital in Selkirk, and 3,250 additional elective MRIs at a cost of $1.2 million.

Wildfire response

The ongoing review of last year’s wildfire season – the worst in 30 years – led to interim measures, including $1.2 million for 19 additional wildland firefighters and $1.2 million to improve weather information and fire mapping systems.

The latter is intended to provide more lead time for evacuations.

A new fire attack base will be built in the Thompson area. Separate funding will restore campgrounds in Nopiming Provincial Park, which was damaged by fire last summer.

Rent credit increase

Manitoba is increasing the renters affordability tax credit to $675 in 2027 from $625 this year, as part of a pledge to eventually restore the credit to $700.

The top-up for seniors will rise to $385.71 in 2027 from $357.14.

Sala said the province wants to find a way for renters to obtain the credits sooner, rather than waiting until tax season.

Free transit for kids

Sala said the province, the City of Winnipeg and other municipalities with transit systems are in discussions about a plan to provide free transit for kindergarten to Grade 12 students.

The province has budgeted about $10 million for the initiative.

Sala said the program will create a “new generation of bus riders” and help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Healthy food for seniors

Manitoba is spending $5 million for fresher, healthier food for seniors, as part of what the province said is the first funding increase for food in personal care homes in more than a decade.

The budget also supports a new acute care of the elderly and geriatrics unit at HSC to care for older adults who have complex medical needs.

The goal is to improve patient flow and reduce the length of patients’ hospital stays to ease pressure on acute medical units and ERs.

Aid for farmers

The NDP said Crown land leases will be frozen for the third year in a row, while the 50 per cent school tax rebate for farm properties and the farmland school tax rebate will continue.

The budget increases the loan cap on the young farmers rebate by $25,000 to $425,000, and bumps the lifetime maximum rebate to $42,500 from $40,000.

Manitoba is setting aside $45.6 million in income stabilization for AgriStability to help producers manage the risks of changing weather and markets.

Social housing units

Manitoba will add 215 social and affordable housing units to help move people out of homeless camps and into places with wraparound supports.

The cost of the units, along with repairs or renovations to hundreds of existing units, will approach almost $144 million.

The NDP pledged to end chronic homelessness in two terms.

More police officers

Manitoba will spend $2.4 million to hire 12 more police officers in the province. A breakdown of the police service or services that will benefit was not available, officials said.

The budget also provides $8 million for the RCMP, and $6 million for the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program.

A two per cent increase ($1.2 million) is slated for the urban policing grant/public safety basket for communities.

Highway projects

The budget outlines $3.8 billion in capital investments, including $22.5 million for initial design and other work to eventually twin the Trans-Canada Highway near the Manitoba-Ontario boundary.

The province is spending $4 million for the design and initial work on an overpass at highways 1 and 5 north of Carberry, where 17 people were fatally injured in a collision involving a minibus in 2023.

Other infrastructure highlights include $16.2 million for a road and airport at Wasagamack First Nation.

Sio Silica public inquiry

The budget promises a public inquiry into the former Tory government’s failed bid to push through an environmental licence for a Sio Silica sand mine in the party’s final days in office in 2023.

Terms of reference and a commissioner will be named this year.

Fines were handed to former premier Heather Stefanson and two of her cabinet ministers, Cliff Cullen and Jeff Wharton, after the ethics commissioner found they had breached conflict of interest law for trying to get the mine licensed.

Supervised drug site

This year’s budget provides up to $5.6 million to staff Manitoba’s first supervised drug consumption site.

The site, proposed for 366 Henry Ave. in downtown Winnipeg, will first open as an urgent public health need site. An opening date has not yet been announced.

A permanent site requires Health Canada approval.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca