ManitobaNearly a year after the Manitoba government got a report recommending major changes to its municipal board, the province has started researching how to improve the legislation and assigned one staff member to support the appeals body.No progress listed on some of report’s main recommendations, like when board reviews can be triggeredIan Froese · CBC News · Posted: Nov 26, 2025 11:08 PM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 4 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.Municipal Relations Minister Glen Simard said the government is taking a ‘first step’ toward ratcheting back some of the expanded powers the PCs granted to the municipal board. (Bryce Hoye/CBC)Nearly a year after the Manitoba government got a report recommending major changes to its municipal board, the province has started researching how to change its legislation and assigned one staff member to provide support.However, the action plan into Manitoba’s review of Brian Pallister-era changes to the municipal board, released Wednesday, doesn’t list any progress in some of the most significant areas: changing the appeal rules or clarifying how public objections will play into future land-use decisions.In October, the NDP government adopted all recommendations of the report it commissioned into the board, a provincial appeals body granted the power to overturn land-use decisions by cities, towns and rural municipalities.In 2021, Pallister’s Progressive Conservative government expanded the powers of the municipal board to give provincial appointees the ability to flip decisions made by elected municipal councils. Mayors, reeves and councillors across the province have complained to the government ever since.’Detailed research’ underwayThe action plan reveals the province assigned a staff member this spring to help guide the board through its modernization work, such as publishing decisions electronically and permitting digital submissions and electronic correspondence.The province also states it’s made progress on updating legislation. It has undertaken “detailed research on how to structure planning appeals and referral hearings,” the action plan says.And the government says it’s helping the board assess its staffing and resource needs.Municipal Relations Minister Glen Simard said adopting all of the report’s recommendations will be a gradual process.”This isn’t kids’ stuff. When you’re untangling a mess of that degree, it’s going to take some time in the beginning.”Simard promised new legislation to improve the municipal board will be presented next spring.The review found the appeals body made inconsistent decisions, took too long to make them and sometimes didn’t even inform people where its hearings were taking place.In fact, every one of the more than 250 municipal officials interviewed for the review felt “the municipal board has become a more litigious and costly forum instead of functioning as an independent tribunal intended to resolve disputes between parties in an expeditious manner,” the review stated.It recommends scrapping a provision that automatically triggers a municipal board hearing on the basis of the number of people who object to a decision by a municipal council. Instead, the review recommends the board only hold hearings into decisions if someone applies for a provincial appeal, much the same way people do for appeals at the municipal level. The review also suggests constraining board decisions to options based on information that came before municipal councils.The review suggests the board become more picky about the hearings it chooses to hold and prioritize appeals that involve the public interest, good planning principles and provincewide interest. However, the review stopped short of rescinding the municipal board’s power to reconsider decisions made by elected officials. Due to a recent ruling from the Manitoba Municipal Board, the fate of a proposed 111-unit apartment building in Winnipeg, as shown in an artist’s rendering, now rests with whether the city and curling club can agree on an adequate’ parking plan. (UWCRC 2.0)Simard called the action plan “the first step” toward addressing municipal concerns that the board is encroaching on their authority to make decisions.The appeals body recently gave the Granite Curling Club, a tenant on Winnipeg-owned land, the final say on whether a city-approved housing project can be built. The board ordered the city to develop an “adequate” parking plan that satisfies not only itself, but the curling club as well.Simard disputed that the province is moving too slowly on improving the municipal board, arguing “the extent of the mess” created by the Tories is dictating the timeline.Municipal officials, attending the Association of Manitoba Municipalities gala in downtown Winnipeg Wednesday night, voiced confidence in the province’s progress.”At this point, I think municipalities are very hopeful that this will be something that will give them their voice back, their power back, if there are appeals,” Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk said.Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson said he has no issues with the timeline.He said the NDP government’s 2024 decision to allow municipalities to opt out of a regional planning framework generated goodwill in Johannson’s eyes.”I know they’re going to do the right thing,” he said of the government.ABOUT THE AUTHORIan Froese covers the Manitoba Legislature and provincial politics for CBC News in Winnipeg. He also serves as president of the legislature’s press gallery. You can reach him at ian.froese@cbc.ca. Twitter: @ianfroeseWith files from Bartley Kives
1 year after review of municipal board, Manitoba considering legislation, enlisting help from staff
