Capital Investments

Investment in capital projects and infrastructure provides an important stimulus to the provincial economy in the short term, generating jobs and increasing both household and business income. Infrastructure and infrastructure renewal projects also boost productivity and grow the economy over the long term.

Manitoba’s net tangible capital assets in 2020/21 had a net book value of $14.3 billion and replacement value of over $90 billion. The tangible capital assets are forecasted to be $14.7 billion at the end of 2021/22 and is budgeted to grow to $15.4 billion at the end of 2022/23. The province’s capital program is driven by the cost of maintaining these physical assets in a state of good repair to support the delivery of government services while investing in new infrastructure to support future needs.

Given the importance of these investments and the scope of these needs, the Manitoba government needs to be strategic in how capital investments are made to achieve the levels of service that Manitobans need in a fiscally sustainable manner.

Budget 2022 integrates Manitoba Hydro capital investments along with other Crown corporations in the presentation of strategic infrastructure. This provides a complete picture of public-sector capital investments. Manitoba Hydro is a ratepayer-supported Crown corporation but, like some other Crown corporations, a portion of its capital projects are financed through the province’s borrowing capacity which ensures lower lending rates.

Reporting on all strategic infrastructure provides transparency on all capital investments at the summary government level. This includes capital investments in transportation and water-related infrastructure and maintenance, new construction and expansions of health and educational facilities, enhancements to Crown facilities and public utilities, other reporting entities outside of core government and support to municipal partners in addressing their infrastructure needs.

Three Year Capital Plan, 2022/23 – 2024/25

Aligned with all provincial and large municipal governments in Canada that disclose public facing capital plans for the next three to 10 years, Budget 2022 introduces a new three-year capital plan. This is a first in Manitoba and increases transparency to the public. The three-year capital plan provides a strategic outlook of future year commitments and helps the construction industry and other stakeholders better plan their resources to respond to ongoing capital needs in the public sector.

The 2022/23 fiscal year capital budget includes new and continuing projects and the following two fiscal years are planned capital investments at this time. The three-year plan anticipates steady growth as the Manitoba government continues to review new projects that will require further approval over the next year and are not reflected in the report below. These future year plans are anticipated to be further refined in preparation for the next budget year.

Typical of multi-year capital plans in other provinces, the values reported only include projects that are known of at this time. Therefore, the planned investments in 2023/24 and 2024/25 show slight declines in total strategic infrastructure investments. This should not be interpreted as a downward commitment from the government. As future years are budgeted, new projects will be added to the three-year capital plan.

* The investments in K-12 education decrease over time as the 20 new schools are completed.

Descriptions of the various capital investments under the three-year plan:

Transportation Infrastructure

• Roads, bridges and waterways are foundational to economic growth and the quality of life of Manitobans.
• The three-year plan invests over $1.5 billion and annual minimum commitment of $500 million in highway capital.
• Manitoba’s roads and highways serve as important trade links going in all directions: north, east, south and west. Long-term strategic goals have been initiated to build the foundation for Manitoba’s economic growth: the Winnipeg One Million Perimeter Freeway Initiative and the Trade and Commerce Strategy.
• To ensure the movement of goods along key international trade corridors (PTH 75 and the Trans-Canada Highway), the Manitoba government is investing in an access-controlled Perimeter Highway freeway system, focused on immediate safety improvements as well as major enhancements like the St. Mary’s Road (PR 200) and McGillivray Boulevard (PTH 3) Interchanges.
• At the same time, investments are being made in key trade and commerce routes to move goods within and across borders. Projects include the rehabilitation of PTH 23 and PTH 5.
• With the impacts of climate change, it is important to invest in resiliency. Public floodways infrastructure also helps to mitigate the losses incurred from more frequent flooding and other weather-related events. It is more important than ever that Manitoba constructs the Manitoba Outlet Channels. Indigenous consultation and engagement is continuing as the federal environmental process proceeds toward its final stages.

Health

• Hospitals, clinics, personal care homes and Emergency Response Services (health care facilities) enable the provision of quality health care services to Manitobans.
• Manitoba’s health care facilities require ongoing maintenance, renovations, expansion and new construction to support the ongoing advancements in care including better access, bringing care closer to home.
• The capital plan invests over $2.3 billion targeted at infrastructure, information and communications technology (ICT) and medical equipment including CT scanners and MRIs. This includes a $812 million capital commitment for rural and northern facilities to support the Clinical and Preventive Services Plan.
• Highlighted individual projects include acute stroke program, epilepsy program, CancerCare services, dialysis program, electronic patient record upgrade, fire safety upgrades, personal care homes (Carman and Steinbach), St. Boniface emergency department expansion, Provincial Pharmacy Information Management system expansion and multiple digital health projects to enable the transformation of Manitoba’s health care system.

Education and Early Childhood Learning

• Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning provides leadership and oversight to ensure a consistent standard of high-quality education is available to all students across the province. The department sets the overall strategic policy direction and allocates funding to the kindergarten to grade 12 education system, ensuring accountability for student outcomes.
• In 2022/23, 12 new schools that are part of the 20 new schools guarantee will be completed, in construction or in design. The next four schools going forward for design in 2022/23 are Sage Creek kindergarten to grade 8, Precinct F kindergarten to grade 8, West St. Paul kindergarten to grade 8, Prairie Pointe kindergarten to grade 8 and start construction in 2023/24.

Labour, Consumer Protection and Government Services

• Labour, Consumer Protection and Government Services capital responsibilities include information technology and asset management for government-owned buildings. The department provides property services for these owned capital assets, provides real estate services to government, and oversees real estate and property asset disposal.
• Flagship assets within the owned building portfolio include the Legislative Building, the Manitoba Museum and Centennial Concert Hall, correctional institutes, courts and government office space.
• The 2022/23 capital plan is $56.2 million for capital projects to improve, repair and construct capital assets for government operations and programming.
• The Legislative Building Centennial Restoration and Preservation Act continues to commit $10 million annually for upkeep and restoration.

Housing

• The Manitoba Housing and Renewal Corporation, within the Department of Families supports the development of safe and affordable housing, particularly for those of low and moderate income or those with specialized needs.
• The 2022/23 capital plan commits $67 million for building and asset renovations including exterior retrofits, mechanical and structural upgrades.

Municipal Infrastructure

• Manitoba continues to invest a total of $137 million of annual capital funding to municipalities through the Strategic Municipal Investment Fund, Manitoba’s basket funding model. This funding will be maintained over the course of the government’s current mandate. This multi-year base budget commitment of almost $550 million (from 2020/21 to 2023/24) has provided future predictability for municipalities as they renew and invest in their priority assets. Funding is distributed on a per capita basis with 55 per cent provided to the City of Winnipeg ($75.3 million) and 45 per cent to other municipalities ($61.7 million). Overall funding includes a 26.6 per cent increase in the annual Manitoba Water Services Board budget to $20 million from $15.8 million to support municipal water and sewer projects, and continued funding support for federal-provincial programs, notably the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. Provincial investments in core municipal infrastructure leverages funding from other sources (e.g. federal, municipal and others) to further advance economic growth and quality of life in communities.
• Federal-provincial cost-shared programs such as the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) will see $1.17 billion in federal funding available to support Manitoba’s infrastructure needs. Manitoba has advanced 103 projects to Canada under ICIP, worth $3.1 billion in total project costs. Sixty-three of these projects have been approved and jointly announced to date, with more federal approvals pending. These projects will benefit Manitoba’s post-pandemic economic recovery by supporting job creation and economic growth while promoting sustainability, improving public spaces, modernizing water and waste-water treatment systems, mitigating climate-related events and enhancing public transit.
• The Manitoba government also provided infrastructure grant funding of $230 million to support ICIP projects over and above the multi-year basket allocation through Manitoba Restart to advance economic recovery through the COVID-19 pandemic. This included funding of $126.4 million for the North End Water Pollution Control Centre – Headworks and Biosolids Facilities Upgrades, and $103.6 million for projects outside of Winnipeg such as the Water Treatment Facility Upgrade and Expansion in the City of Brandon, Airport Rehabilitation in the Municipality of Clanwilliam-Erickson, and Road Renewal in the City of Thompson. An additional $43 million was also provided through Manitoba Restart for municipal water and sewer projects administered through Manitoba Water Services Board. A significant portion of these projects were funded by Manitoba and municipalities with no incremental infrastructure funding from the federal government.
• Manitoba continues to explore, support and facilitate innovative infrastructure funding solutions by working with provincial departments, external bodies such as municipalities or the broader private sector to make large, strategic and complex projects possible for Manitobans and to support environmental, economic and social needs in the communities and province. These efforts include strategic partnerships with the Canada Infrastructure Bank, exploring the merits of alternative delivery models or working with clients to leverage national, merit-based grants in support of both federal and provincial infrastructure initiatives. In particular, these strategic approaches will allow significant waste-water upgrades to support municipalities in achieving environmental compliance and result in significant improvements in the health of lakes and waterways.

Crowns

• Manitoba will invest approximately $2.7 billion in Manitoba Hydro over the next three years to provide safe, reliable energy through additions, improvements and replacement of existing infrastructure. Of the $907 million committed to its capital program in 2022/23, $592 million will sustain and support expansion of generation, transmission and distribution. The remaining amount funds Keeyask hydroelectric generating station that is being developed in a partnership between Manitoba Hydro and four Manitoba First Nations: Tataskweyak Cree Nation, War Lake First Nation, York Factory First Nation and Fox Lake Cree Nation.
• Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries capital investment focuses on safety, regulatory compliance, necessary maintenance, asset preservation and liquor modernization. Budget 2022/23 allocation of $70.8 million will focus on liquor retail modernization and supply chain transformation, technology modernization and replacements of gaming equipment.
• Manitoba Public Insurance continues to invest in Project Nova to modernize and transform its in-house legacy application and technology footprint. As well, ongoing effort is being made to ‘right size’ the corporate head office physical space requirements to support both business needs and align with industry space standards.

Manitoba Restart Capital

The Manitoba Restart program was announced in 2020/21 with a multi-year capital investment of $500 million to provide economic stimulus to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and improve provincial infrastructure. Capital project investments under the Restart Capital Program are integrated into the three-year capital plan in this budget. Budget 2022 includes $111 million investment in roads and highways.

Long-Term Capital Strategy

Over the next year, the Manitoba government will develop a longer-term, forward-looking capital strategy. This new strategy will present a plan and approach to best meet infrastructure needs in a manner that is sustainable for the province’s finances, environment and society, and one that will achieve value for the investment of public money.

Providing a three-year plan is the first step to set aside what is needed for the next capital budgets. The Manitoba government’s long-term capital strategy will include developing and maintaining an updated government-wide inventory of the state of the infrastructure. This will identify what infrastructure is in a state of good repair, and what investments are needed for repairs so that future investments go where they are needed and are better prioritized.

The development and execution of a solid, capital plan will enable the government to maximize the value of assets, reduce risk and cost implications, and most importantly, deliver Manitobans a better quality of life.