In a year when Winnipeggers have paid huge increases in taxes and fees for city services, Mayor Scott Gillingham says he's glad city council had the political “courage” to raise property taxes.
In January, the City Council approved a 5.95 percent property tax increase, the largest one-year increase since the 1990s and costing the owner of a typical single-family home an additional $121.
On April 1, two more major tariff increases took effect. The annual waste collection fee per home rose to $254 (prorated to $190.50) from $93 the previous year, and sewer costs for a typical home increased by $168.03 through the end of 2025.
MIKE DIEHL / FREE PRESS Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham during a year-end interview at his City Hall office.
The sudden increases in three key city fees have sparked complaints, including fears that some low-income residents won't be able to afford them.
During a wide-ranging year-end interview Friday, the mayor said he remains convinced of the need to increase revenue.
“As a council, we made the difficult decision to increase property taxes because we know we cannot give up on the need for infrastructure that needs to be invested in.”
“We as a council made the difficult decision to raise property taxes because we know we can't give up on the need for infrastructure that needs to be invested in, the need to increase the delivery of services to residents. To do all of this requires that we pay for those services and those infrastructure investments, and the council has the courage to start collecting some of the revenue that is needed,” Gillingham said.
The mayor emphasized that the city remains affordable and overall municipal property taxes are lower than many other Canadian cities.
On Wednesday, the City Council approved the 2026 budget with a notably smaller property tax increase of 3.5%.
On Friday, Gillingham declined to give any hints about the taxes and levies he would implement ahead of the Oct. 28, 2026, municipal election, deeming it “too early” to determine.
The mayor also supported the city's core transportation network, which was met with a flood of complaints from many drivers, some of whom said they were buying cars to avoid additional transfers and longer travel times. On June 29, the transition to the spine-and-feeder concept resulted in a major overhaul of nearly all transit routes.
“I think we made the right decision to move to a new transit network. But we knew from the beginning that once we made the switch, we would have to make adjustments and deal with any issues that came up,” Gillingham said.
“I am also working diligently with the province and federal government to secure their funding… When this funding announcement occurs, it will be the largest funding announcement in Winnipeg's history.”
The city's 2026 budget added a new transit planner position tasked with expediting key changes to the system. The new network includes direct connections along major corridors, supported by feeder routes.
Winnipeg Transit recently noted that its fare revenue this year fell $8.5 million less than projected in its 2025 budget, citing network changes as one likely reason for the decline in ridership.
“You know, the new system ultimately didn't roll out the way I had hoped. We're making more adjustments sooner than I hoped, but we're going to make adjustments. My commitment is that we're going to fix, tweak the system to make it better,” Gillingham said.
Looking forward to the coming year, the mayor said his top priority will be to secure provincial and federal funding for the city to complete a major upgrade to the North End wastewater treatment plant on Main Street.
“Getting funding for the third (and final) phase is my priority right now… I'm also working diligently with the province and federal government to secure their funding. I believe there will be an announcement at some point. It's my goal to get us to that point. When that funding announcement happens, it will be the largest funding announcement in Winnipeg's history,” Gillingham said.
The city has warned that water and sewer rates could rise sharply unless it receives $994 million in combined funding from the two senior governments to complete the final $1.5 billion third phase of work.
MIKE DIEHL / FREE PRESS Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham emphasized that the city remains affordable and overall municipal property taxes are lower than many other Canadian cities.
The city will take on $547 million in long-term debt to finance its share of the work, while the overall upgrade is expected to cost $3.092 billion.
The upgrades are expected to significantly reduce the amount of pollution flowing from the wastewater treatment plant and ensure the city does not run out of wastewater treatment capacity, which would prevent new development.
“(Completing the upgrades) opens up … our economy in the future, opens up access to housing in the future. It's critical to the future of the city,” Gillingham said.
The mayor said creating a fourth 911 service to handle mental health calls is his second-highest priority for the next year. These efforts are aimed at reducing the pressure of welfare calls on police, fire and EMS personnel.
X: @joyanne_pursaga
Joyanne is a City Hall reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. A reporter since 2004, she began covering politics exclusively in 2012, writing about City Hall and the Manitoba Legislative Assembly for Winnipeg Sun before joining Free press at the beginning of 2020. More about Joanna.
Each Joyann report is reviewed by a team of editors before it is published online or in print – this is part Free pressRussia's tradition since 1872 of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free presshistory and mandateAnd find out how our editorial office works.
Our newsroom depends on a growing readership to fuel our journalism. If you are not a paying reader, please consider become a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on readership to fuel our journalism. Thanks for your support.
