A number of recent announcements highlight the importance of the policy development and advocacy work of the Chamber network in Manitoba – specifically for Northern Manitoba.
In last month’s provincial Budget, Manitoba’s Finance Minister Cliff Cullen announced that the province would be restoring the loan capacity of the Community Economic Development Fund (CEDF) to $15 million which had been frozen since 2017.
The northern Chambers comprised of Thompson, The Pas, Swan Valley, Flin Flon, Snow Lake and Churchill had brought this policy forward in 2019, calling on the province to restore the funding which was adopted by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce.
In addition, several Chamber network policy recommendations appeared in a release last week in which the province announced $420 million in critical infrastructure to strengthen the northern economy that included:
- $98.3 million investment in Provincial Road 283 between the Saskatchewan border and Highway 10
- $74 million for the development of a sustainable northern corridor through the Port of Churchill, enabling the potential for the export of key resources
- $250 million to improve five existing roadways to improve safety and improve year-round connectivity between northern communities.
These announcements also align with policy recommendations and advocacy that the Chamber network had championed on behalf of Northern Manitoba.
To read the 2023 Multi-year Infrastructure Investment Strategy, visit https://gov.mb.ca/mit/myhis/index.html
