The President of AMBM and Reeve of the Rural Municipality of La Broquerie, Mr. Ivan Normandeau, the Mayor of the Village of Saint-Pierre-Jolys, Mr. Raymond Maynard, the Mayor of the Rural Municipality of Ritchot, Mr. Chris Ewen, and the Reeve of the Rural Municipality of Lorne, Mr. Aurel Pantel, issued the following joint statement regarding the federal government’s allocation of $4 million, enabling three bilingual rural municipalities in Manitoba to invest in sustainable growth by increasing the housing supply—to build strong and resilient communities:
On February 26th, 2025, the Honourable Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, along with the Honourable Terry Duguid, Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada and Minister of Sport, announced an investment of over $4 million for three bilingual rural municipalities through the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). The HAF provides incentive funding to municipal governments to remove barriers and promote community development through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).
Already engaged and proactive, Manitoba’s bilingual rural municipalities are poised to collaborate and innovate in removing barriers to housing supply, accelerating construction efforts, and building sustainable and inclusive communities.
The AMBM, along with the Village of Saint-Pierre-Jolys, the Rural Municipality of Ritchot, and the Rural Municipality of Lorne, are heartened by this investment, which will enable the construction of 108 housing units over the next three years with direct support from the HAF. This strategic funding will allow these bilingual rural municipalities to implement measures to construct up to 409 targeted housing units according to their growth projections.
These housing projects perfectly align with the Notice on the 16 Strategic Priorities of Manitoba’s Bilingual Municipal Leadership. Housing construction remains a top priority for the AMBM and its members. In 2024, Manitoba experienced historically low vacancy rates, with figures below 2%, as reported by the CMHC.
Recently, in alignment with long-term strategic planning, the Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (Conseil de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba, or CDEM), a subsidiary of the AMBM, has conducted a series of comprehensive housing needs assessments across bilingual rural municipalities in Manitoba. These assessments are critical in identifying housing requirements and ensuring that development projects are equipped with the necessary resources.
Current studies indicate an immediate requirement for 350 available housing units to achieve a 3% vacancy rate, an essential metric for ensuring sustainable economic and demographic growth in Manitoba’s bilingual rural municipalities. The construction of these 108 housing units is a significant initial step, addressing nearly half of the urgent needs. Additionally, studies have shown that some municipalities lack properties for sale across their entire territory, while only a few have land available for purchase.
This strategic funding will enable our Francophone and bilingual rural communities to address the critical housing needs resulting from the substantial population increase.
This housing crisis arises within a specific context where Manitoba’s bilingual municipalities have experienced unprecedented growth, with an increase of over 8%, significantly surpassing the provincial average of 5%, primarily due to economic immigration.
As a result, this demographic increase significantly accentuates the housing needs in these communities. Housing studies estimate that an additional 1,279 housing units will be required in Manitoba’s bilingual rural municipalities by 2026 to accommodate this new population. This historic growth highlights the attractiveness of our communities and underscores our commitment to ensuring the necessary infrastructure is in place to support the sustainable prosperity of our Francophone and bilingual communities.
Our Francophone and bilingual rural communities continue to face urgent needs for the maintenance and development of essential infrastructure, particularly in critical areas such as drinking water and wastewater treatment. It is imperative to emphasize that an integrated approach, combining investments in municipal infrastructure and housing, is necessary to address current challenges and support the growth of our bilingual municipalities. To achieve sustainable growth, these investments must be considered interdependent and strategically aligned.
We are diligently observing the implementation of the Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund (CHIF), which serves as a vital complementary tool for supporting Manitoba’s bilingual municipalities. Moreover, it is crucial that our municipalities are provided with a suitable municipal growth framework. This framework will empower them to address pressing issues effectively and achieve their full potential through diversified, predictable, and more equitable revenue sources.
We extend our gratitude to the Government of Canada for its dedication to incorporating a rural perspective in the formulation of its policies and programs. This approach is crucial for effectively addressing the distinct realities and challenges faced by rural communities, which often differ significantly from those of urban areas.
We recognize the implementation of the modernized Official Languages Act (OLA) as a critical opportunity to address the acute housing shortages in our communities. The AMBM anticipates that the OLA implementation plan will rigorously apply a lens that prioritizes Official Language Minority Communities (OLMC) within the framework of federal infrastructure funding programs.
The AMBM is pleased with its fruitful collaboration with the federal government and reaffirms its commitment to maintaining its efforts to identify solutions and develop constructive measures, promoting the development of our Francophone and bilingual communities, particularly in rural areas.
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 citizens. 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 of 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 (OLMCs) and the province as a whole.
Information: Office of the Chief Executive Officer (O-CEO), 204-289-4077, [email protected].
