Winnipeg CMA in 5 years (2026)

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by blueandgoldguy

I remember Viking writing about the planned high density residential area in Selkirk. I wonder when we see things start to pick up there and see a noticeable build-up of people?

It will be nice to see finally see some growth in that community as it has been stagnant for decades and suffers from the reputation as a dumpy city.

https://danzanteliving.ca/vaughn-avenue-west/

I see they have already built much of this sub-division. I am curious to see if there is a Phase 3.

[Biff]

From the Statistics Thread in the Canada section

Originally Posted by Nite

Maybe there have been another quarterly readjustment again but the current population clock is:

39,730,091
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/...018005-eng.htm

Before i was thinking we would reach 40 million next year but it will happen this year for sure now

Manitoba - 1,434,708

That means Manitoba gained over 34,000 people since last year. I believe we were below 1.4m at Jan 1, 2022. That has to be one of our all time largest jumps. I know the Population clock isn't super accurate, but rather based on estimates. I recall seeing it seem to take forever to get to 1,399,000 and it didn't want to jump over 1.4m. Then very quickly to 1.415m, then 1.425m and now 1.43m. Crazy.



That would really bump up the population here in Winnipeg.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/...018005-eng.htm

[BlackDog204]

Population Of Canadian Provinces - January 1, 2023:

Canada 39,566,200 (+273,800)

1. Ontario 15,386,400 (+123,700)
2. Quebec 8,787,600 (+26,200)
3. British Columbia 5,399,100 (+30,800)
4. Alberta 4,647,200 (+45,900)
5. Manitoba 1,431,800 (+11,600)
6. Saskatchewan 1,214,600 (+9,500)
7. Nova Scotia 1,037,800 (+6,800)
8. New Brunswick 825,500 (+4,700)
9. Newfoundland 532,000 (+3,200)
10. PEI 174,000 (+1,300)

NWT 45,500 (-100)
Yukon 44,200 (+200)
Nunavut 40,700 (+100)

source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1...pid=1710000901

(brackets indicate change from Q4 (October 1, 2022)


Canada gained 1,040,100 people in 2022.

Manitoba gained 33,500 people in 2022.

Considering Winnipeg's CMA accounts for roughly 61.9% of Manitoba's population, I have estimated the Winnipeg CMA to be 886,400 (as of Jan.1).

Winnipeg gained approximately 20,900 people in 2022. If trends continue, Winnipeg should pass 900,000 people sometime during the summer of 2023.

[Biff]

So the CMA could pass 1m before 2030 it these rates keep going.

[Biff]

Originally Posted by Nite

Here is the 2022 provincial growths numbers

Disappointing part is percentage wise we are 8th which I would have expected to be higher.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Biff

Disappointing part is percentage wise we are 8th which I would have expected to be higher.

If it makes you feel any better, we were 4th in the latest quarter, only behind Ontario, Alberta, and BC.

[Hecate]

Originally Posted by Biff

So the CMA could pass 1m before 2030 it these rates keep going.

Does this not scare the shit out of anyone here? Our 1960’s infrastructure cannot handle this. We have no rapid transit system. One of the worst housing shortages in the country. Overcrowded hospitals. This terrifies me.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by Hecate

Does this not scare the shit out of anyone here? Our 1960’s infrastructure cannot handle this. We have no rapid transit system. One of the worst housing shortages in the country. Overcrowded hospitals. This terrifies me.

I see the concern. We'll get lots of new people, but continue building like we do today (pretending that infrastructure somehow magically pays to maintain and renew itself, no investment in real public transit, municipal processes that discourage infill and tacitly promote exurban growth...

But I'm not sure things are better without the new people. Think of what happens if pop growth stayed at zero: An aging/retiring population, flat or declining economic growth, and being stuck with our enormous and aging infrastructure with our existing limited tax base.

I wish our mayor and premier understood how deeply fucked this city and province will be if we don't BOTH grow the population AND change how we develop

[Winnipegger]

Originally Posted by Hecate

Does this not scare the shit out of anyone here? Our 1960’s infrastructure cannot handle this. We have no rapid transit system. One of the worst housing shortages in the country. Overcrowded hospitals. This terrifies me.

Last year the municipalities of London, Kitchener, and Brampton all saw population growth that exceeded the City of Winnipeg's. Taking a look at Google Maps, these suburban cities attracting the "too poor for Toronto but I need to be near Toronto" growth are more of a low-density sprawly mess than Winnipeg, and have the same issues you point out if not more.

Aging and outdated infrastructure is a common theme in Canada, but yes it's a bit more acute in Winnipeg mainly due to a lack of financing mechanisms that enable the City to recoup the cost of growth and instead download it to an already-frugal tax base.

But point me towards a City in Canada that has "adequate" infrastructure. You'll be hard pressed to find more than one, and I'd argue Calgary is really the only Canadian city with adequate transportation infrastructure which is primarily due to their unique position as an energy-based economy and ability to finance growth through elevated levels of private and public revenue. Calgary aside, congestion is everywhere in our medium-to-big sized cities. Everyone feels everything is inadequate in Canada.

Sure there may be pockets of density in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal where rapid transit stations intersect with high-density residential and commercial, and for the people who benefit from these areas the infrastructure feels adequate. But beyond downtown Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, most urban Canadians will feel their city is too congested, transit options are too slow or lacking, yet nobody is willing to pay for substantial changes.

[cheswick]

Originally Posted by Winnipegger

Last year the municipalities of London, Kitchener, and Brampton all saw population growth that exceeded the City of Winnipeg's. Taking a look at Google Maps, these suburban cities attracting the "too poor for Toronto but I need to be near Toronto" growth are more of a low-density sprawly mess than Winnipeg, and have the same issues you point out if not more.

Aging and outdated infrastructure is a common theme in Canada, but yes it's a bit more acute in Winnipeg mainly due to a lack of financing mechanisms that enable the City to recoup the cost of growth and instead download it to an already-frugal tax base.

But point me towards a City in Canada that has "adequate" infrastructure. You'll be hard pressed to find more than one, and I'd argue Calgary is really the only Canadian city with adequate transportation infrastructure which is primarily due to their unique position as an energy-based economy and ability to finance growth through elevated levels of private and public revenue. Calgary aside, congestion is everywhere in our medium-to-big sized cities. Everyone feels everything is inadequate in Canada.

Sure there may be pockets of density in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal where rapid transit stations intersect with high-density residential and commercial, and for the people who benefit from these areas the infrastructure feels adequate. But beyond downtown Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal, most urban Canadians will feel their city is too congested, transit options are too slow or lacking, yet nobody is willing to pay for substantial changes.

I'd argue the issue goes beyond Canada. Everyone thinks their cities infrastructure sucks. I remember seeing some joke meme on facebook about potholes or something. The comment section was littered with people from cities all around the US, Canada and abroad making jokes about their city being much worse. The issues many Winnipeggers feel are Winnipeg specific, really arent.

[wags_in_the_peg]

you mention infrastructure, think about the schools & resources! my wife works in a school that can handle more students physically, but they dont have the teachers or ea or janitors to support them. since the start of Sep '22 they have been getting 1-2 new family a week, which is 1-4 students. crazy how often she gives me updates. this is in "old st. vital" area of the city.

[Winnipegger]

Originally Posted by cheswick

I'd argue the issue goes beyond Canada. Everyone thinks their cities infrastructure sucks. I remember seeing some joke meme on facebook about potholes or something. The comment section was littered with people from cities all around the US, Canada and abroad making jokes about their city being much worse. The issues many Winnipeggers feel are Winnipeg specific, really arent.

I agree. I feel Winnipeg's isolation tends to make a lot of vocal people here think the problems we have are specific to our city only. There doesn't seem to be a lot of people with "experience" in other cities and other parts of the world weighing in on these conversations - I'm guessing Winnipeggers with more grounded views tend to be more silent.

While I do think there are some aspects to Winnipeg that make us unique in the Canadian context and they do bring about challenges (concentration of poverty in the north end, largest number of Indigenous people of any Canadian city with many whom have experienced the negative effects of colonialism which is a national issue, not just a local one), things like potholes, late busses, congestion, sprawl, downtown struggles, poverty, addictions issues, and other problems are common across North American, not just Winnipeg.

The issue is the arguments don't seem to have balance. People act like local challenges are "just Winnipeg being Winnipeg." Stories about drug overdoses in a bus shelter will make local headlines, and people pretend it's an entirely local problem because politican/political party X,Y, or Z but no one talks about the same problems happing in LA, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, or Toronto to give things a little more balanced context.

As a result, local media/forums just become an echo chamber of "Winnipeg bad, everywhere else good" that doesn't do us any favors. It happens here, it happens on reddit, it happens on Facebook, it happens almost everywhere locals can interact online.

[bomberjet]

Police got another $8.5 mil bump in Winnipeg this year though.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by Winnipegger

But point me towards a City in Canada that has "adequate" infrastructure. You'll be hard pressed to find more than one, and I'd argue Calgary is really the only Canadian city with adequate transportation infrastructure which is primarily due to their unique position as an energy-based economy and ability to finance growth through elevated levels of private and public revenue. Calgary aside, congestion is everywhere in our medium-to-big sized cities. Everyone feels everything is inadequate in Canada.

Edmonton has arguably better infrastructure than anywhere else. Anthony Henday, the Whitemud, and the Yellowhead are all pretty much freeways. The LRT is being built up substantially, and will have lines in all 4 directions, meeting downtown.

I still do not understand why the city is not building Kenaston so it will be compatible for a limited access highway. Kenaston Commons, the new IKEA, and Waverley West have too many interchanges with Kenaston.

[pspeid]

Originally Posted by Winnipegger

I agree. I feel Winnipeg's isolation tends to make a lot of vocal people here think the problems we have are specific to our city only. There doesn't seem to be a lot of people with "experience" in other cities and other parts of the world weighing in on these conversations - I'm guessing Winnipeggers with more grounded views tend to be more silent.

While I do think there are some aspects to Winnipeg that make us unique in the Canadian context and they do bring about challenges (concentration of poverty in the north end, largest number of Indigenous people of any Canadian city with many whom have experienced the negative effects of colonialism which is a national issue, not just a local one), things like potholes, late busses, congestion, sprawl, downtown struggles, poverty, addictions issues, and other problems are common across North American, not just Winnipeg.

The issue is the arguments don't seem to have balance. People act like local challenges are "just Winnipeg being Winnipeg." Stories about drug overdoses in a bus shelter will make local headlines, and people pretend it's an entirely local problem because politican/political party X,Y, or Z but no one talks about the same problems happing in LA, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, or Toronto to give things a little more balanced context.

As a result, local media/forums just become an echo chamber of "Winnipeg bad, everywhere else good" that doesn't do us any favors. It happens here, it happens on reddit, it happens on Facebook, it happens almost everywhere locals can interact online.

I couldn't agree more. Each time I read the same old tiresome "only in Winnipeg/we're so pathetic" comments here I do a quick search on the issue some people like to believe is unique to our city. It rarely takes two clicks or more to find multiple examples of similar problems elsewhere, and often as or more severe.

I've honestly tried to understand the joy some folks get out of their self-loathing, but it still leaves me flummoxed. I suppose some commenters don't actually live in Winnipeg, and are working out some kind of personal grievance they may have had, or imagined, with the city. Maybe others are just impatient with the pace of change?

I know it's a public forum and people can type any old think they want to (for the most part), but it's frustrating when you want to read serious discussion on Winnipeg development and have skip over the "dog poop on the sidewalk", as it were.

[BlackDog204]

Originally Posted by cheswick

I'd argue the issue goes beyond Canada. Everyone thinks their cities infrastructure sucks. I remember seeing some joke meme on facebook about potholes or something. The comment section was littered with people from cities all around the US, Canada and abroad making jokes about their city being much worse. The issues many Winnipeggers feel are Winnipeg specific, really arent.

From personal experience, Winnipeg is the worst city in Canada, when it comes to infrastructure. I never noticed how much worse our infrastructure is, until I moved away. The roads in Winnipeg are far worse than anywhere else in Western Canada.

[borkborkbork]

Originally Posted by BlackDog204

Edmonton has arguably better infrastructure than anywhere else. Anthony Henday, the Whitemud, and the Yellowhead are all pretty much freeways. The LRT is being built up substantially, and will have lines in all 4 directions, meeting downtown.

I still do not understand why the city is not building Kenaston so it will be compatible for a limited access highway. Kenaston Commons, the new IKEA, and Waverley West have too many interchanges with Kenaston.

Edmonton population: 1.1M
Edmonton municipal revenues: $3.68B

Winnipeg population: 841k
Winnipeg municipal revenues: $2.17B

Per capita, their municipal revenues are 30% higher than ours. Winnipeggers love to argue that our problems are about how we spend the money, but at some point we have to admit our tax revenues are too low.

[Luisito]

Originally Posted by Winnipegger

Last year the municipalities of London, Kitchener, and Brampton all saw population growth that exceeded the City of Winnipeg's. Taking a look at Google Maps, these suburban cities attracting the "too poor for Toronto but I need to be near Toronto" growth are more of a low-density sprawly mess than Winnipeg, and have the same issues you point out if not more.

.

I wouldn't include Brampton with those other cities as it is a suburb of Toronto, it is part of the GTA. The other cities are not as big as Winnipeg, and Kitchener has an excellent LRT system. Not really comparable IMO.

[Luisito]

Originally Posted by Winnipegger

I agree. I feel Winnipeg's isolation tends to make a lot of vocal people here think the problems we have are specific to our city only. There doesn't seem to be a lot of people with "experience" in other cities and other parts of the world weighing in on these conversations - I'm guessing Winnipeggers with more grounded views tend to be more silent.

While I do think there are some aspects to Winnipeg that make us unique in the Canadian context and they do bring about challenges (concentration of poverty in the north end, largest number of Indigenous people of any Canadian city with many whom have experienced the negative effects of colonialism which is a national issue, not just a local one), things like potholes, late busses, congestion, sprawl, downtown struggles, poverty, addictions issues, and other problems are common across North American, not just Winnipeg.

The issue is the arguments don't seem to have balance. People act like local challenges are "just Winnipeg being Winnipeg." Stories about drug overdoses in a bus shelter will make local headlines, and people pretend it's an entirely local problem because politican/political party X,Y, or Z but no one talks about the same problems happing in LA, Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary, or Toronto to give things a little more balanced context.

As a result, local media/forums just become an echo chamber of "Winnipeg bad, everywhere else good" that doesn't do us any favors. It happens here, it happens on reddit, it happens on Facebook, it happens almost everywhere locals can interact online.

Obviously the problems you mention are not oly here in Winnipeg. They are worse though if we compare Winnipeg to other similar sized cities here in Canada. Looking at cities like Los Angeles is not a good idea. LA county alone has 15 million people. The USA is in a category of its own among developed nations when it comes to crime and drugs. We should not look to them for any type of consolation or comparisons.

Winnipeg overall is a great city. The economy is steady. Unemployment is low. It's easy to find a job and the cost of living is lower than pretty much the rest of the country. If you can't carve out a living here, you can't make it anywhere.

[bomberjet]

For those in the back.

Winnipeg is poor.

We have little money. And the money we do have is squandered with no clear direction. Except funding Police and their pensions. If Winnipeg would focus, we could incrementally build a better City. Just like Calgary and Edmonton have done. Of course they had oil money. But we could do something similar, just not to the extreme they have got it done.

Right now we are in the process of $2 billion in sewer upgrades. Until we get through this, there is zero money for any other major projects. LRT is a pipe dream.

And to top it off. Winnipegers want change. everyone does. But Winnipegers also just voted in nearly the exact same City council. So what do you expect?