The President of the Association of Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (AMBM) and Reeve of the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie, Mr. Ivan Normandeau, issued the following statement after the tabling of the Manitoba government’s 2026 Budget:
The Association of Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (AMBM) welcomes the provincial government’s message expressing its intention to rise to the aspirations of a truly bilingual Manitoba. The explicit recognition of the role of partnerships with the province’s Francophone and bilingual communities, including the AMBM, as well as efforts aimed at strengthening bilingual capacity and expanding the availability of French-language services province-wide, are important signals.
For the AMBM, this direction confirms that activating Our Bilingual Advantage represents a concrete lever to build a more inclusive, more attractive, and more economically competitive Manitoba.
Strengthening Bilingual Municipal Capacity to Deliver Results
In this context, Manitoba’s bilingual municipalities continue to play a central role. The ongoing partnership with the Manitoba government is helping to structure a coherent approach, notably through the gradual and systematic implementation of the Municipal Maturity Model (3M). This regulatory framework equips bilingual rural municipalities to strengthen their capacity to deliver quality services in both official languages.
The rollout of our bilingual municipal signage program, along with the expanded presence of a municipal engagement team on the ground, provides tangible support for this approach. For the AMBM, these initiatives reflect a clear intent to act in a structured manner and to anchor bilingualism in the day-to-day reality of residents.
Health and Local Services: A Strategic Lever with Sainte-Anne
The AMBM highlights the importance of the explicit mention of the Sainte-Anne Hospital working group in the budget speech. This recognition marks a significant milestone and confirms the strategic anchoring of this priority file.
With the first meeting of the working group having already taken place earlier this week, the AMBM will continue to work closely with its partners, including the Manitoba Health and Southern Health–Santé Sud. The support expressed by the Premier and the Manitoba government for the pathway toward regional designation of Sainte-Anne Hospital sends a decisive signal for the future of bilingual health services in the southeast of the province.
Municipal Funding and Infrastructure: Continuity to Be Consolidated
The 2026 Budget reflects, in several respects, a continuity-based approach to municipal operating funding. The AMBM notably welcomes the 2% increase granted for a third consecutive year to municipal operating and public safety envelopes, bringing total municipal funding to $473.5 million. This increase contributes to improved financial predictability for municipalities and supports the delivery of core services in a context marked by population growth, rising operating costs, and increased pressure on municipal services.
In this same spirit of supporting local municipal services, the AMBM notes the $700,000 increase in funding for public libraries, bringing total provincial investment to $9.6 million. The AMBM emphasizes that bilingual libraries play a vital role in community vitality, particularly in rural and bilingual settings.
Reflecting the example of the Rural Municipality of Saint-Laurent and other bilingual municipalities that have demonstrated a clear commitment to structuring and strengthening bilingual library services at the regional and provincial levels, the AMBM expresses its intention to work collaboratively with the Manitoba government to examine the establishment of a mechanism recognizing municipal commitments to adequately support bilingual library resources, within the provincial funding framework.
The AMBM also notes the increase in the budget of the Department of Municipal and Northern Relations (MNR), particularly in relation to investments in housing infrastructure. This direction acknowledges the central role municipalities play in responding to the housing crisis.
In this regard, the AMBM highlights that the projected $49 million increase, representing a 6.4% rise in the department’s budget, is primarily linked to investments stemming from the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF). This orientation must be accompanied by rapid, flexible implementation tailored to rural and bilingual realities, to enable municipalities to deliver the essential infrastructure that directly underpins the creation of new housing.
In the same vein of supporting municipal growth, the AMBM takes note of the One Manitoba Growth Fund, which provides $62 million over five years, including $12.6 million in 2026, distributed on a per-capita basis. This fund represents an important tool to support demographic and economic growth in communities and to strengthen municipal financial capacity to respond to emerging needs.
However, key structural components of infrastructure funding remain unchanged. The AMBM notes in particular the maintenance of funding for the Manitoba Growth, Renewal and Opportunities for Municipalities (Manitoba GRO) program at $42 million, as well as the Manitoba Water Services Board (MWSB), maintained at $24 million for a second consecutive year.
In this context, core infrastructure—particularly drinking water and wastewater systems—constitutes a foundational element of community attractiveness and a decisive lever for unlocking the full potential of sustainable economic development, especially in growing bilingual municipalities. For the AMBM, the ability to deliver tangible results will depend on effective, predictable implementation adapted to rural and bilingual realities.
In this same spirit of concrete action on the ground, the AMBM underscores the $400,000 investment allocated to Eco-West Canada (EWC), an AMBM subsidiary, announced by Premier Wab Kinew on March 19th during the AMBM’s leadership meetings. This support will strengthen on-the-ground capacity, particularly in climate adaptation and rural mobility, including structured initiatives such as the Southeast Regional Transportation Initiative (SERTi).
Core Infrastructure: A Structuring Lever for Sustainable Economic Development
The 2026 Budget confirms the importance of sustained infrastructure investments across the province, notably in roads, health facilities, schools, and community infrastructure. These strategic investments play a determining role in community development, particularly in rural regions and within bilingual municipalities.
For the AMBM, core infrastructure represents far more than a support for growth: it is a fundamental lever for unlocking the full potential of sustainable economic development. It strengthens community competitiveness, supports economic activity, and consolidates the conditions necessary for long-term development.
In many cases, bilingual municipalities are located along strategic trade and transportation corridors. Targeted investments in these infrastructures directly enhance connectivity, support supply chains, and position these regions as dynamic development hubs.
In this sense, modern, accessible, and well-planned infrastructure contributes concretely to building a truly bilingual Manitoba, by reinforcing both the attractiveness of communities and their capacity to fully leverage their bilingual advantage.
Economic Development: Fully Seizing Our Bilingual Advantage
The AMBM takes note of the rollout of Manitoba’s new economic development strategy and the recognition of municipalities as key partners.
It is worth recalling that economic and social prosperity go hand in hand. Sustainable regional economic development relies on dynamic, inclusive, and well-serviced living environments, where municipalities play a leading role.
The AMBM also notes government efforts to strengthen trade missions in Western Canada, notably in collaboration with the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce (MCC). While these initiatives are relevant to supporting interprovincial trade, they would benefit from being complemented by a more assertive strategy targeting Francophone and bilingual markets—a distinctive lever for Manitoba. In this regard, the AMBM is actively pursuing the development of an economic corridor with the Beauce region in Quebec, in collaboration with its partners.
Bilingual municipalities also represent a strategic lever for productivity and investment attraction by expanding markets, strengthening interprovincial ties, and supporting structured economic initiatives.
More broadly, the AMBM sees in certain budget initiatives—particularly in regional development—the confirmation of a differentiated regional approach. While applied to other regions of the province, this logic aligns with the principles the AMBM advocates for its member municipalities: interventions tailored to the unique economic, demographic, and linguistic realities of each region.
The AMBM will also closely monitor the establishment of the new provincial economic development agency, anticipated by many stakeholders. While improved coordination of interventions is desirable, it will be essential that this new structure fully integrate Manitoba’s bilingual advantage and build on existing expertise—particularly that of its subsidiary, the Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (CDEM)—to maximize benefits for member municipalities and the province as a whole.
Strong and Resilient Communities
Finally, the AMBM highlights investments aimed at supporting community vitality, notably through structured programs such as the From the Ground Up program, funded at $13.5 million, and the Urban and Hometown Green Team program, supported at $6.9 million—funding levels maintained from last year.
These initiatives concretely support community safety, youth engagement, and local development, while strengthening municipal capacity for action and enhancing regional attractiveness.
While these investments are positive, the AMBM reaffirms—working alongside the Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM)—its intention to continue discussions with the Province to modernize the current municipal funding model, in order to better support growth and the differentiated realities of Manitoba’s regions.
Overall, the 2026 Budget reflects a commitment to continuity while opening up important opportunities for the province’s bilingual communities. The AMBM reiterates that municipalities remain at the heart of the solutions to Manitoba’s challenges and will continue its collaborative work with the government and partners to translate these orientations into concrete and lasting results for Francophone and bilingual communities.
About the AMBM
The AMBM is the voice of bilingual municipal leadership in the province of Manitoba. It represents 16 municipal governments committed to offering services in both official languages to their residents. Together, these municipalities represent the majority of Manitoba’s population. Manitoba’s bilingual municipal leadership also leads the AMBM Group, a consortium of three organizations with complementary mandates: the AMBM, the Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (Conseil de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba, or CDEM) and Eco-West Canada (EWC), which specializes in the green economy. Complementing each other, these three organizations actively contribute to the development, vitality and sustainability of the province’s Official Language Minority Communities (OLMC) and the province as a whole.
Information: Office of the Chief Executive Officer (O-CEO), 204-289-4077, bcdd-oceo@ambm.ca.
