Province of Manitoba - Budget 2007

Manitoba's Action Strategy for Economic Growth

Building Communities

Text Image Manitoba communities – urban, rural and northern – are distinguished by unique customs and traditions, natural advantages and opportunities for growth. Manitoba’s greatest economic advantage is Manitobans themselves. The vision, skill, determination and commitment found in communities across the province drives development and speaks to the confidence and excitement Manitobans feel about where they live.

Text Image Manitoba is working collaboratively with community organizations and other levels of government to strengthen communities and promote economic development.

Urban Communities

Manitoba’s urban centres continue to grow and prosper. Through a variety of provincial programs and partnerships, Manitoba is supporting grassroots community revitalization, building vibrant and dynamic urban communities.

Winnipeg’s downtown is being revitalized. New downtown destinations such as the upgraded Millennium Library, the MTS Centre, and Red River College’s Princess Street Campus are bringing more people downtown. More people are living in the Exchange District and along Waterfront Drive. Construction of the new Manitoba Hydro office tower is under way and will bring an additional 2,000 workers downtown.

Manitoba continues to work with the Friends of the Museum and other partners to realize the great vision of a Canadian Museum for Human Rights at The Forks. This state-of-the-art museum will advance the understanding of human rights on an international scale.

In Brandon, the relocation of Assiniboine Community College to the North Hill site is an exciting element in the revitalization of this historically significant property. With the September 2007 opening of the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Administration programs, there is an opportunity to attract further investments on the site for the benefit of Brandon and surrounding area.

Provincial support to Brandon’s Keystone Centre is assisting the centre in reaching and maintaining its status as an agricultural centre of excellence in Manitoba and in Canada.

Manitoba’s approach to urban revitalization is built on a commitment to inner city renewal and community economic development, which reflects a belief in more equitable, sustainable and diversified development for the benefit of all Manitobans. This is exemplified by:

establishing the Building Manitoba Fund in 2005 to expand Manitoba’s personal income and corporation income tax revenue sharing arrangements with municipalities by including fuel tax revenue, which provides municipalities with three major sources of growth revenue;
expanding Neighbourhoods Alive! (NA!) to include the communities of Dauphin, Flin Flon, The Pas, Portage la Prairie and Selkirk. Since 2000, Manitoba has invested $39 million through NA! to support community revitalization efforts in Winnipeg, Thompson and Brandon;
supporting non-profit community organizations like SEED Winnipeg to assist low-income entrepreneurs start and expand businesses, social enterprises and co-operatives;
expanding the Urban Arts program to include the West End Cultural Centre and the Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre, which join Art City, Graffiti Gallery and the Circus and Magic Camp Partnership in providing communities with access to valuable creative programming for youth; and
introducing a new model of housing development to be built on provincial and privately owned land in Waverley West. This addresses growing demand for housing with a green, walkable community accessible to a range of incomes and families while also supporting development and rehabilitation of the inner city by directing provincial profits from development to that purpose.

Rural Manitoba

Text Image The Manitoba government is working in partnership with rural communities to add value to the natural, cultural and physical resources the province possesses and to provide the infrastructure to help rural communities grow and prosper.

The Creating Opportunities Action Plan identifies rural economic development initiatives in six areas: alternative energy, tourism, agriculture, natural resources, industry services and manufacturing, and Aboriginal and northern initiatives. Other initiatives include:

the Manitoba Community Enterprise Development Tax Credit, which provides community-based enterprises with access to needed equity capital and encourages Manitobans to invest in their communities;
the Rural Entrepreneur Assistance Program, which has provided 437 loan guarantees totaling $23.2 million. In 2006/07, 33 loan guarantees were approved totaling $2.0 million;
grants to rural development corporations to promote business development and support regional initiatives;
a focus on trade issues to simplify and strengthen the interprovincial trade process for Manitoba's agri-food companies and a focus on external trade to identify opportunities and build sustainable business relationships;
continued assistance to Brandon University’s Rural Development Institute to support rural research and development projects; and
the Enhanced Diversification Loan Guarantee Program, which helped 268 applicants access $285.0 million in private financing to undertake diversification and innovation or value-added activities in their operations.

Text Image Development requires infrastructure, and Manitoba continues to make strategic investments in rural community infrastructure, including:

investing more than $130 million in water and sewer projects throughout the province;
committing $4 billion over the next 10 years in new highway investment to improve safety and to expand access to international trade routes;
building on $157 million in major capital health care projects by increasing the use of rural surgical and diagnostic facilities across the province; and
providing over $16 million annually through the Rural Economic Development Initiative to support rural and northern community economic development activities, including the Hometown Manitoba program which has funded more than 160 community-improvement projects.

Text Image Agriculture is a key industry in rural Manitoba. After a few difficult years, agriculture has rebounded significantly; Manitoba’s agriculture sector grew by 16% in 2006. Manitoba remains committed to safety net programming such as crop insurance and CAIS to provide protection producers can rely on.

The province supports continuing growth in both primary and secondary production in a number of important ways.

The Farmland School Tax Rebate Program will provide savings of $29 million to farmland owners in 2007. Along with increased school tax credits, Manitoba farmers have seen a significant reduction in their taxes.
A proactive approach to food health and safety includes enhanced tracking and tracing, changes to The Animal Diseases Act to support planning for animal diseases, and a new dedicated animal health and welfare section under the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer.
The Bridging Generations Initiative helps farm families transfer the farm from one generation to the next. Manitoba has approved 485 loans totaling $61.4 million since 2002/03.
The expansion of the Provincial Nominee Program to include farmers as eligible immigrants resulted in 93 new farmers coming to Manitoba.
Increased provincial investment in the Food Development Centre supports its work on new product development and commercialization. The Centre assisted in the development of 64 new food products and the creation or expansion of 12 food processing companies in the 2005/06 fiscal year.

Northern Manitoba

Map Image Through the Northern Development Strategy, Manitoba continues to build on its successes, making new investments in the priority areas of housing, health, transportation, education and economic development.

Improving school success rates and access to post-secondary and training opportunities in the North are strengthening communities and local economies. Key initiatives include:

committing $45 million in capital funding for the University College of the North to support expansion of services at the two main campuses in The Pas and Thompson, as well as the 10 current and two planned regional centres in Northern Manitoba;
expanding programming at the University College of the North including doubling the spaces for training nurses in Northern Manitoba;
supporting the Aboriginal Midwifery Education Program to provide culturally appropriate birthing services, primarily to remote and northern Aboriginal communities in Manitoba, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories;
offering a northern community economic development diploma through Red River College in partnership with the University College of the North; and
partnering with the federal government and Manitoba Hydro to provide $60 million in pre-project training for northern Manitobans to participate in the opportunities which hydro development projects will bring to the region.

Text Image PEAC’s Aboriginal Summit highlighted the many ways in which Manitoba’s growing Aboriginal population represents an important resource for our growing economy. Manitoba’s integrated strategy for Aboriginal economic development is based on government partnerships with Aboriginal communities and businesses. Key initiatives include:

the Manitoba International Gateway Council Initiative will pursue opportunities to use Manitoba’s unique northern rail route and deep sea port in the Port of Churchill to develop trade links with northern Europe and Asia;
Manitoba continues to work closely with Aboriginal communities and the federal government to accelerate settlement of treaty land entitlement (TLE) claims. Manitoba and Canada have reached agreement on a new plan to transfer 150,000 acres every year under the TLE Framework;
the Communities Economic Development Fund delivers the TEAM program to provide technical assistance to micro enterprises at the community level throughout Northern Manitoba to assist in maximizing opportunities for revenue and business growth; and
Broadband Communications North increases the potential for economic development, health and education services. Out of 67 northern communities, 52 are now connected to a broadband network.