City of Winnipeg utility rates should be approved by regulator, advocates say

Several Winnipeg-area groups are calling on the next city council to increase transparency and accountability by having its water and sewer rates approved by an independent provincial regulator.

This movement, dubbed the “This PUB’s For You Pledge,” is comprised of Manitoba-based associations. Those backing it called for the next batch of elected City of Winnipeg officials to initiate the process needed for the Manitoba Public Utilities Board (PUB) to govern city-managed public utility rates within 180 days of their election.

PUB must approve the rates for all of the municipally owned public utilities in Manitoba, except Winnipeg’s.

“We think that in order to have greater accountability, regarding our water and sewer bills, that it is only fair that the City of Winnipeg’s water utility rates be approved by the PUB,” Lucille Bruce, co-chair of the Manitoba Seniors Equity Action Coalition (MSEAC) told reporters.

The deadline for prospective and incumbent councillors to take the pledge is Oct. 13, she added.

Bruce was among the representatives who spoke in front of Winnipeg City Hall Wednesday. The This PUB’s For You Pledge is backed by the MSEAC, as well as the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, the Consumer Association of Canada’s Manitoba base and Harvest Manitoba.

Winnipeg is exempt from its rates requiring PUB approval, in accordance with The Public Utilities Board Act and city charter. The city also has special rights for what it can do with utility funds, according to the City of Winnipeg Charter. The document says that revenue can be used towards “the general purposes of the city and not solely for the purposes of offsetting any costs related to supplying the commodity or service.”

Municipalities regulated by the PUB must operate their public utilities on a breakeven basis, meaning those councils cannot collect more cash than the amount deemed necessary for well-functioning utilities, the PUB website said.

Marnie Strath, chair of the Manitoba chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, also spoke at Wednesday’s news conference. She said the city’s exemption “does not serve the citizens of Winnipeg well.”

“Seniors, along with all citizens of Winnipeg, need to be assured that decisions about water and sewer rates are evidence-based, taking into consideration issues of affordability, financial and environmental sustainability, and transparency,” Strath continued.

Water and sewer rates have risen in the city in recent years, according to its website.

In 2024, Winnipeggers paid a water rate of $2.04 per cubic metre per quarter. This figure has risen by 13 cents since then, to $2.17 per cubic metre per quarter in 2026. Sewer rates have also increased from costing $3.47 per cubic metre per quarter, prior to Apr. 1, 2025, to $4.53 per cubic metre per quarter this year.

Winnipeg Councillor Ross Eadie, who also serves as chair of the standing policy committee on water, waste and environment, said the city has bodies that review decisions such as public utility rates.

The city’s ability to work without the PUB’s supervision on the North End Waste Management Treatment Plant allowed it to expedite work, while meeting all the relevant regulations, Eadie told Global News in an interview.

“It would take the Public Utilities Board a long time to review that project. And it would slow it down, and we wouldn’t meet the regulators’ date. And then, we get penalized for that,” Eadie said, adding that “there’s constant review happening.”

An owner’s advocate is acting as a regulatory body for the City of Winnipeg and monitoring the city’s use of taxpayer funds at the treatment plant project, he continued.

Eadie is the incumbent councillor seeking re-election for the Mynarski ward.

The councillor would not support the group’s pledge currently, but his opinion on the issue has evolved in his time at city council, Eadie said.