ManitobaThe federal government says it’s spending more than $1.5 million on multiple projects it says will help to protect and restore Lake Winnipeg.Ducks Unlimited among recipients getting funding to help improve health of lakeDave Baxter · CBC News · Posted: Oct 18, 2025 6:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoLake Winnipeg is the largest freshwater lake in Manitoba. (Bartley Kives/CBC)The federal government says it’s spending more than $1.5 million on multiple projects it says will help to protect and restore Lake Winnipeg.Terry Duguid, the Liberal member of Parliament for Winnipeg South, said Saturday $1.6 million will flow through the Canada Water Agency into 10 new freshwater projects, all aimed at protecting the health of the lake, which is the largest freshwater lake in Manitoba.Duguid said the federal government understands the importance of Lake Winnipeg to the province of Manitoba.”Lake Winnipeg sustains our economy, our communities, our way of life,” he said during a news conference in Winnipeg, adding the lake is important for Manitoba’s fisheries, as well as for tourism and hydroelectric power.”Its fishery alone is 25 per cent of the nation’s catch. That’s a surprising statistic to many — $23 million to our local economy each and every year.”Winnipeg South MP Terry Duguid announced Saturday the feds will invest a total of $1.6 million through the Canada Water Agency into 10 new freshwater projects, all aimed at protecting the health of Lake Winnipeg. (Graham Sceviour-Fraehlich/Radio-Canada)Tourism and recreation connected with the lake account for more than $100 million annually to the Manitoba economy, he said.”For so many Manitobans, it’s a place to fish, swim, build a family — it provides so, so many benefits.”The health of the lake is also important for helping to sustain Indigenous communities and families, Duguid said.”For First Nations and Métis peoples, it has been a sacred and vital source of sustenance for thousands of years,” he said. But the lake faces several threats, Duguid said, including nutrient loading and algal blooms, invasive species, changes in land use, and impacts of a changing climate. “Nutrient pollution in particular from agriculture, waste water and urban runoff is one of its biggest challenges,” he said. Funding to boost wetlands conservationRecipients of the combined $1.6 million in funding include Ducks Unlimited Canada, which will get $150,600 to help reduce phosphorus entering Lake Winnipeg by working to protect and restore wetlands. Funding to the organization will also support educational outreach to farmers to promote adoption of farming practices that reduce nutrient runoff and protect water quality. “It allows us to put more wetlands on the land, which again is going to help us to remove those toxins from the lake, or keep them from getting in the lake in the first place,” said Nicole Chammartin, the chief development and sustainability officer for Ducks Unlimited Canada. “Wetlands are nature’s kidneys — they naturally filter the water as it’s going out to the lake. Restoring wetlands to the lake is a huge win for everyone.”The University of Winnipeg will receive $218,000 to improve understanding of the risk of phosphorus runoff during snowmelt, including through the development of a snowmelt runoff risk map for the Red River Basin, the federal government said.The Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium will get $708,900 to support in-lake science efforts, which includes the operation of their vessels the MV Namao and the MV Fylgia.Gordon Goldsborough, a board member with the consortium, said the vessels are vital for governments, academics and other partners to conduct research and monitor the lake. Don’t know if agency will see funding cut: DuguidConcerns were sparked in August that the Canada Water Agency could lose funding in the federal government’s next budget, after a National Post story reported that a group chat accidentally sent to a reporter showed that the federal government was considering cuts to the agency.Duguid said he currently does not know if there will be cuts to the agency, but he’s hoping there won’t be.”Nothing is more important than fresh water,” he said. “Our very health and economy is dependent upon fresh water, but we will see come Nov. 4,” when the federal government’s budget is tabled, said Duguid.�“There was a broad directive to all departments to come back with various options for reducing expenditures,” he said.”I don’t think that any of us know what those options are … and I suppose we will find out when the budget is tabled Nov. 4.”ABOUT THE AUTHORDave Baxter is an award-winning reporter and editor currently working for CBC Manitoba. Born and raised in Winnipeg, he has also previously reported for the Winnipeg Sun and the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as several rural Manitoba publications.With files from Graham Sceviour-Fraehlich
$1.6M financial boost from federal government will help protect, restore Lake Winnipeg: MP
