Upgrading St. Vital Cemetery

St. Vital

One of the more obscure lines of work of the City of Winnipeg is that of the cemeteries branch, which oversees three city cemeteries – Brookside, Transcona and St. Vital.

In recent years, the city and federal governments have combined to make major investments at Brookside relating to military graves, and Transcona has incorporated Muslim burial facilities. I have pushed for some investment at St. Vital, as well, and am pleased to report that in 2024 and 2025 the city invested more than $200,000 in upgrades.

This includes the following improvements:

• Expanding the Garden of Remembrance (adding several new columbaria, pathways, etc.);

• Successfully partnering with Awasisak Meskanow Greenway to apply for the City of Winnipeg’s Home Grown tree grant program. The resultant grant of over $10,000 was used to plant approximately 100 new trees this summer;

• Adding a new gardener position, dedicated to St. Vital and Transcona cemeteries. Previously, one gardener was responsible for all three cemeteries. A high school friend had pointed out issues with the maintenance after visiting her parents’ graves a few years back, and this concern was echoed by many other visitors to the cemetery.

There are also plans to repair and upgrade the fencing at St. Vital Cemetery in 2026-27.

St. Vital Cemetery is a relatively new cemetery – with the first burial taking placed in 1937 (a member of the Tod family, which has played a significant role in the history of St. Vital – but its facilities were ready for improvements. I am pleased to help upgrade the grounds and to better serve the community.