Winnipeg councillors proposing plan that could see water and sewer rates frozen next year

A pair of Winnipeg city councillors, with the support of Mayor Scott Gillingham, plan on bringing a new motion to the Executive Policy Committee (EPC) next week that proposes freezing water and sewer rates next year.

Couns. Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) and Ross Eadie (Mynarski) say the city received “higher-than-expected” revenues from water and sewer usage in 2025, which would allow for this freeze to happen.

The motion contains three proposals; freezing rates in 2027 as long as there is funding from the provincial and federal governments for the North End Treatment Plant; redesigning and expanding the Help to Others (H2O) program, which helps homeowners who are struggling to pay their bills; and reducing the city’s debt taken on by the North End plant.

In total, freezing rates would cost $15 million, improving H2O would cost $1.1 million and reducing the debt would be a total of $48.6 million.

Browaty said 2025 was a surprising year when it came to consumption in the city.

“We had an 8.1 per cent spike in build water and sewer usage. And as a result, I mean, a lot of costs for water and sewer are fixed, so there’s a lot of extra, additional operating cost. It ended up producing a $67 million windfall of sorts on the sewer side of things,” said Browaty.

If the plan goes through, the city won’t need to go ahead with the 4.2 per cent increase for sewer rates, which was originally forecast for next year, Browaty said.

When asked why water and sewer consumption was up, Browaty pointed to the 80,000-person population spike in Winnipeg over the last three years, which leads to more consumption. Additionally, 2025 was a dry year, meaning lawns and gardens were being watered more than normal.

Gillingham said when there is an opportunity to help Winnipeggers save money, it should be taken.

“This plan does that in a responsible way. It helps keep rates stable, supports people who need it most, and continues progress on one of the most important infrastructure projects in our city,” said Gillingham.

“We all feel it in our pocketbooks when we see those bills; city council is just the same. So again, we saw that there’s perhaps an opportunity to give people a little bit of relief; we’re suggesting we do that,” said Browaty.

The next EPC meeting is scheduled for April 21. If it passes, city council would have to approve the motion before it could take effect.