April 7, 2021


Manitoba 2021-2022 budget boosts health-care spending to all-time high

$2.1 billion investment in strategic infrastructure to help in economic recovery from pandemic


To combat the pandemic and protect the health and well-being of its residents, Manitoba will invest a record amount in health care this year — $6.98 billion, Finance Minister Scott Fielding announced today as he released Budget 2021: Protecting Manitobans, Advancing Manitoba.

The budget estimates revenues of $17.8 billion, $19.4 billion in expenditures and a deficit of $1.6 billion in 2021-2022. The province’s real GDP is forecast to grow 4.1 per cent in 2021. The government anticipates putting Manitoba "back in balance" within eight years, he said.

For the pandemic, the government has set aside $1.18 billion for vaccine deployment and the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) in 2021-2022.

“Our path to balance will be gradual and balanced,” said Fielding. “We will grow our way out of deficit and back into balance by investing in more jobs, tax relief and economic growth. That is why, despite the ongoing financial and economic challenges posed by the pandemic, this budget continues to make record high investments in the priorities of Manitobans.”

The government is delivering its full $2,020 tax rollback guarantee a year earlier than planned. Tax relief measures include removing the retail sales tax on haircuts and other personal services as of December, cutting vehicle registration fees by 10 per cent and starting the phase out of education property taxes.

A record $2.1-billion investment in strategic infrastructure is expected to help drive construction jobs and stimulate economic recovery. This includes, as part of the three-year Manitoba Restart Capital Program, $254 million in funding this year for water/wastewater projects, including a significant contribution to the City of Winnipeg’s North End Water Pollution Control Centre, and on two major projects to improve highway safety.

Infrastructure Highlights:

Transportation

  • Almost $630 million for road construction and maintenance, including $107 million through the Manitoba Restart Program, which will allow safety improvements at the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and provincial trunk Highway 16 and the south perimeter interchange at St. Mary’s Road.

Health care

  • More than $292 million for health infrastructure including the new St. Boniface Hospital emergency department; and
  • $9.3 million to add more than 120 personal care home beds.

Education

  • $415 million for kindergarten to Grade 12 and post-secondary infrastructure ($260 million on new schools and related capital and $155 million on post-secondary infrastructure).
  • Manitoba is continuing to deliver on its 20 New Schools Guarantee: 6 schools are currently open and in use, 2 are going to tender this spring, and 4 will start design work in 2021-22. The remaining 8 schools are expected to be designed and completed ahead of the original 10-year commitment.

Flood Prevention

  • $101 million for the Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin Outlet Channels flood prevention project.

Communities

  • $103.5 million increase for priority strategic infrastructure projects that match federal funds under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP);
  • Flexible basket funding to municipalities with $172.6 million in operating costs and $137 million in capital costs, with advanced operating grants again this year;
  • $25 million in trust to redevelop the Hudson’s Bay Building in downtown Winnipeg; and
  • $5.6 million more for the Building Sustainable Communities Program to fund more than 10 larger-scale community capital projects.

The full Manitoba 2021-2022 budget documents can be accessed here.