The City of Selkirk has officially been formally removed from the Capital Planning Region (which operates under the name Winnipeg Metropolitan Region) after the Province notified the city of its adoption of Manitoba Regulation 84/2025 on October 23.
Selkirk Council unanimously voted on June 9 to request that Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard remove Selkirk from the Capital Planning Region (CPR), which was established by the previous government through Bill 37 — The Planning Amendment Act and the City of Winnipeg Charter Amendment Act. Bill 37 arbitrarily forced Selkirk and other municipalities into the CPR without consultation or consent.
Bill 42 allows municipalities to opt out of Capital Planning Region
Following significant public opposition to the CPR’s Plan 20-50 Region Plan, the Kinew Government introduced Bill 42, The Planning Amendment Act, on November 4, 2024. This act granted municipalities the ability to opt in or out of the CPR, directly addressing long-standing concerns voiced by Selkirk and other communities regarding their involuntary inclusion in the CPR and being subjected to Plan 20-50.
By withdrawing from the CPR, Selkirk restores its autonomy to make land-use and other municipal decisions and ensures the city will retain control of utility and transportation infrastructure as well as economic development activities.
In addition to the new regulation, the Province of Manitoba announced late last week that it would accept all nineteen recommendations from an independent review of Bill 37.
“We are grateful to Premier Kinew and Minister Simard for removing Selkirk from the Capital Planning Region. And we are hopeful that the outcome of the Bill 37 review is the restoration of some of the other authorities and responsibilities that Bill 37 stripped from all Manitoba municipalities. These are very positive steps in the right direction,” said Johannson.
Selkirk never belonged in the Capital Planning Region
From the bill’s introduction, the City of Selkirk joined with the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) in their strong opposition to this coercive, misguided, and red-tape laden piece of developer-driven legislation.
“We agree with Minister Simard when he says that Bill 37 was ‘intended to squash local community voices and centralize top-down control over municipal decisions.’ Selkirk, AMM, and many other municipalities have raised concerns about Bill 37 and its clear effort to remove the ability of local councils to make land use decisions that are in the community interest,” said Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson.
Municipalities should be able to plan their own growth and shape their own futures
The City of Selkirk has long advocated for municipalities to have the ability and supports to plan their own growth and shape their own futures based on local needs and priorities.
“The city will review the recommendations and will continue to work with AMM to advocate for planning rules that ensure decisions about Selkirk’s development are made in Selkirk, by people elected by the citizens of Selkirk.”
The City of Selkirk is also seeking additional clarifications to ensure the legislation accurately reflects the current status of municipalities and Selkirk’s role in the CPR.
“On October 15, Selkirk Council wrote to the Minister with another suggestion to address a concern created by Bill 37. Specifically, we asked that the government remove the names of the municipalities included in the Capital Planning Region from the Planning Act. We don’t believe it makes any sense to have us named in legislation as a member and then have a subordinate regulation that says we’re not actually a member. Since they are going to be making amendments to the Planning Act anyway – we are hoping that they correct this confusing error.”
