Steinbach City Council · Jan 2022 – Sept 2026 · Chamber forum topic: Steinbach in 10–20 years
Steinbach in 10 to 20 years: what has council planned?
Where is council steering Steinbach over the next 10 to 20 years, what long-term decisions has it already made, and what's still missing? How do other fast-growing municipalities plan for that horizon?
Bottom line
- Steinbach is on track to roughly double in 20 years. The new Official Community Plan projects 34,085 residents by 2041, up from 17,806 in 2021, and the mayor cites 36,936 by 2045.
- Council has put several long-range pieces in place. They include a new community plan with a 25–30-year horizon (2025), land annexed from the RM of Hanover in 2018, a 7–10-year internal capital look-ahead, an asset management policy (2023), development fees set to 2027, and a climate adaptation plan presented in August 2026.
- The decision that will shape the next 20 years is wastewater. The lagoon reaches capacity at about 22,000 residents, and the city says a new system is needed by 2032. Its estimated cost grew from $132.5M in the 2025 funding application to $215M by September 2026, with a city share of about $72M. No federal funding has been announced.
- What's missing is a published plan with targets. Council's 2022–26 priorities are four headings with no measures or public progress reports. There is no published servicing master plan and no joint plan with neighbouring municipalities; council deals with its neighbours mainly through formal objections.
- Peers show other models. Brandon reviews its strategic plan every quarter with “On Track” and “At Risk” ratings. Winkler built a $73M wastewater plant jointly with the RM of Stanley.
Part 1 · The council record
Vision and planning horizon
“I think we need to be looking 20, 30 years into the future and we need to start looking and setting up the councils that are going to come before us with capital plans, with, with, and, and projects and, and infrastructure repair.”
Mayor Earl Funk, at the first meeting of this council's term · Nov 1, 2022 · 0:03:24
“The OCP provides the long-term vision and goals as to how we want to see the city develop over the next 25 to 30 years.”
Lacey Gaudet, City Planner · Apr 1, 2025 · 0:06:58
“When you look at a city like ours that has unprecedented growth year over year, I think we need to follow a plan like that. We need to have something that guides us through this and a tool for our staff to continue to work with developers and grow our community.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Apr 1, 2025 · 0:53:42
“This is the kind of stuff that really matters, is where we are setting direction for how our city is going to continue to grow in the year— in the years and decades ahead.…This is our, our long-range document. This is the document where we're envisioning, you know, 25, 50 years from now.”
Michael Zwaagstra, Deputy Mayor (chairing) · Dec 3, 2024 · 0:27:40
“This is a generational decision for this council, and what I mean by generational is that these opportunities don't come with every term of council.”
Councillor Jac Siemens, on the Southeast Event Centre · Nov 1, 2022 · 1:36:55
The Official Community Plan (By-law 2244, adopted September 2025) has a vision statement and seven principles: economic development, housing, downtown, growth, active transportation and recreation, environment, and community. It projects population and the residential land needed to 2041, and commits the city to a climate risk assessment and action plan. It contains no measurable targets or monitoring indicators, and no population or land figures were discussed at the public hearing (OCP).
How big will Steinbach get?
| Population | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 Census | 16,022 | Statistics Canada |
| 2021 Census | 17,806 | Statistics Canada |
| 2025 | ~20,000–21,700 | City estimate 20,011–20,100; Statistics Canada estimate 21,671 |
| 2041 (projection) | 34,085 | Official Community Plan, medium growth (3.3% a year) |
| 2045 (projection) | 36,936 | Mayor, Apr 21, 2026 |
| Lagoon capacity | 22,000 | Province, via SteinbachOnline |
“In 2006, the population of Steinbach was just over 11,000 people. Today, 22,000. Now think about that. In 20 years from now, in 2046, we could have, using those same numbers, 44,000 people living in Steinbach.”
Councillor Jac Siemens, opening remarks · Mar 17, 2026 · 0:00:31
“in 2025, our population was 20,011 people, and we're projected to reach by 2045, 36,936 people.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Apr 21, 2026 · 0:03:26
Council members cited different current figures (20,011 and 22,000) and different projections (36,936 to 44,000). The city's growth planning depends on which is right, and no single published forecast is used across departments.
Wastewater: the binding constraint
“to provide at least a basis of additional servicing capacity for approximately 2 square miles of additional land that the city has available and yet unserviced.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager, on the $132.5M federal funding application · Apr 15, 2025 · 0:19:57
“we as a council are looking forward now, even though we've got, you know, another, you know, 5 years of growth left, that we're looking at this now.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Apr 15, 2025 · 0:24:38
“But I know that we're going to have a facility in place before our present lagoon has to tap out, and that's what's exciting.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Apr 15, 2025 · 0:26:02
“The new water treatment facility Steinbach is planning will be the most significant investment the city has ever made. It's exactly the kind of project where costs can escalate quickly based on regulatory requirements. Projected costs of this project have skyrocketed to over $200 million.”
Councillor Susan Penner, opening remarks; she means the wastewater facility · May 5, 2026 · 0:01:32
In September 2026 the mayor called the $215M system, which includes the plant, pipes and lift stations, his top priority for the new term. He said it would let Steinbach grow to about 45,000 people. He expects a three-way split with the federal and provincial governments, leaving the city about $72M, and is open to “creative” longer-term financing, including redirecting the Event Centre's final payment in 2030 (SteinbachOnline). That would be a departure from the city's rule of repaying all debt within five years; see Taxes, spending and priorities. In 2025 council chose its own plant over joining the regional Red-Seine-Rat co-op, which staff estimated would cost 25–30% more and require giving up land.
Land and neighbours
“the friendly annexation of 2,800 acres from the Arm of Hanover in 2018, but it did secure land development for Steinbach for the next 40 to 50 years.”
Councillor Jac Siemens · Mar 17, 2026 · 0:02:16
“we have to think in the long term. We have to think about what is in the best interests of our city, and especially as the city is eventually going to continue to grow. Eventually our borders will change and will expand.”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, objecting to an RM of Hanover rezoning at the city's edge · Dec 17, 2024 · 0:39:33
“we are going through a time of unprecedented growth, and we don't know when it's going to end or if it's ever going to end. And so we need to make sure that we are saving land for future development. And if one— 'cause once land is developed, it's gone. It can't be developed twice.”
Mayor Earl Funk, objecting to the RM of La Broquerie's new development plan · Sept 15, 2026 · 0:50:41
Council objected to an RM of Hanover rezoning in December 2024 and to the RM of La Broquerie's plan in September 2026, in both cases to protect land it may want to annex later. The 2018 annexation was itself cut back by the Municipal Board from the 7,300 acres Steinbach sought to a 30-year supply. Steinbach has no joint fringe-area plan with either RM, and in January 2026 it also ended talks on a regional library.
Long-range capital and climate
“So my question is, what are the means and measures that the city uses to ensure that we're not falling behind and that our infrastructure remains strong and functional for the long term?”
G.S., resident at the 2025 budget hearing · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:23:52
“While the provincial requirement is that it include a 5-year look ahead, the City of Steinbach has tried to maintain anywhere between a 7 and a 10-year look ahead as far as an official document.”
Troy Warkentin, City Manager · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:24:58
“Beyond that, programs of $17.8 million, $58.3 million, and $45.6 million are currently estimated for the following 3 years.”
Brian Hrehirchuk, Senior Manager of Finance, presenting the 2026 budget · Mar 17, 2026 · 0:29:19
“The climate adaptation and mitigation plan that we'll have, and it'll be done by the spring of 2026, that will give us a roadmap of projects that can be done to alleviate some of our drainage.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Sept 16, 2025 · 0:49:13
Only yearly totals of the capital plan are presented in public; the $58.3M and $45.6M years include the lagoon upgrade but aren't itemized. The asset management policy, strategy and plan were adopted in October 2023, largely as a condition of a federal grant, and haven't been reported on since. The climate plan arrived in August 2026, months late. It sets out phases for 2026–28, 2029–32 and 2033–36, is described as “not a commitment”, and had not been adopted (SteinbachOnline).
Where the long view stops
1Priorities are headings, not a plan
“we have strategic priorities. And for those for 2022 to 2026, for this term, in no apparent order is city relations, enhanced safety, infrastructure renewal and expansion.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Mar 4, 2025 · 0:29:21
The 2022–26 strategic priorities were four headings, set in unrecorded committee sessions. No document with goals, owners, timelines or measures was tabled at a recorded meeting, and the mayor's 2022 call for a 20–30-year plan did not produce one.
2Water supply was assumed to be settled
“…a city like Steinbach, that we have adequate water supply, we have our water treatment plant, it's doing very well, and it's, it's good for the long term…”
Councillor Michael Zwaagstra, on a regional water co-op proposal · Jan 4, 2022 · 0:38:10
Council asked staff in January 2022 for an engineering report on long-term water supply. It never came back to a recorded meeting. Since then, water discussion has been about protecting the aquifer from mining, not about supply for a city of 40,000.
3Growth is hard to predict
“It's going to take I think it's going to take a really unique council, a really strong council to lead a city that's growing this fast in the future.”
Mayor Earl Funk · Sept 15, 2026 · 0:54:08
Part 2 · How Steinbach compares
Scorecard
How Steinbach's long-range planning compares with other growing municipalities.
Strong ahead of or matching good practice On par typical practice Partial started, with gaps Gap common elsewhere, not done here
| Measure | Steinbach | What others do | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land-use plan | New Official Community Plan (2025) with a 25–30-year horizon and a projection to 2041. | All Manitoba municipalities must have one; review every 5 years. | On par |
| Land supply | 2,800 acres annexed in 2018 (a 30-year supply per the Municipal Board). | The Municipal Board asked Niverville to resubmit its annexation on a 25-year, not 50-year, land need. | On par |
| Strategic plan with targets and public reporting | Four headline priorities; no published plan or progress reports. | Brandon's 2022–26 plan is reviewed quarterly with “On Track” and “At Risk” ratings. | Gap |
| Wastewater capacity | Planning years ahead of the 2032 limit, but cost rose to $215M and funding is unresolved; no published servicing master plan. | Winkler and the RM of Stanley built a $73M regional plant; Morden ran out and froze permits. | Partial |
| Long-term water supply | Treatment capacity in place; the 2022 request for a supply report never came back. | Okotoks, Alberta, capped its population at 30,000 from 1998 to 2012 over water, and approves subdivisions only with water-licence capacity. | Partial |
| Regional cooperation | Objections to neighbours' plans; standalone wastewater; regional library talks ended. | Winkler–Stanley share a plant; Niverville, Hanover and La Broquerie are in the Red-Seine-Rat co-op. | Gap |
| Climate adaptation | Plan presented August 2026; not yet adopted. | A plan takes effect once council adopts it and funds first-phase actions. | Partial |
| Long-range capital and asset management | 7–10-year internal look-ahead; only yearly totals published; asset policy adopted 2023. | Brandon publishes a growth strategy with 5-year phases to 2051. | Partial |
Key findings
1One project will define the next 20 years
Every growth path runs through wastewater: housing (see the housing report), business land (see the business report) and taxes (see the finance report). The cost has risen from $132.5M to $215M in about 18 months, the federal application's outcome hasn't been reported, and paying for it will likely mean breaking the five-year debt rule. Morden, which ran out of capacity, stopped accepting building-permit applications in 2023.
2Steinbach plans projects well but publishes little
Staff keep a 7–10-year capital look-ahead and plan wastewater years ahead, and council has repeatedly bought time: annexed land, a twinned force main and a doubled lift station. But residents see little of the long view: no itemized long-range capital plan, no servicing master plan, no strategic plan with measures, and a climate plan not yet adopted. A resident asked at the 2025 budget hearing how the city knows it isn't falling behind, and got only a general answer.
3Neighbours are handled by objection, not agreement
Steinbach's interests at its edges are real: once rural land is fragmented by acreages, it can't be annexed for city growth. But objections are decided one by one by the province. Winkler and the RM of Stanley, and the Red-Seine-Rat partners, show that shared plants and joint plans are possible in southern Manitoba.
Peer municipalities on long-range planning
| Municipality | Long-range planning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Brandon, MB | 2022–26 council strategic plan reviewed quarterly with status ratings; growth strategy projecting 62,328 by 2051 in 5-year phases | Strategic plan Q1 2026 |
| Winkler / RM of Stanley, MB | $73M regional wastewater plant: federal $25.2M, provincial $21M, local $27.2M | Government of Canada (2021) |
| Morden, MB | Lagoon at winter capacity; no new building-permit applications since 2023 | CBC |
| Niverville, Hanover, La Broquerie, MB | Red-Seine-Rat regional wastewater co-op: $39M federal and provincial funding (2022) and a Canada Infrastructure Bank loan; cost rose from $110M to over $200M | SteinbachOnline; CIB |
| Steinbach, MB | Community plan to 2041; internal 7–10-year capital look-ahead; climate plan presented 2026 | Standalone $215M wastewater project, funding unresolved |
Decisions that would set up the next 20 years
- Publish a wastewater funding and servicing plan: the true capacity date, the city's share, the financing approach (including any exception to the five-year rule), and a fallback if federal money doesn't come.
- Adopt a council strategic plan with measurable targets and public quarterly or annual progress reports, as Brandon does.
- Adopt one official population forecast and use it across council, the school division and the health authority.
- Publish an itemized 10-year capital plan and an annual state-of-infrastructure report under the 2023 asset management policy.
- Adopt the climate plan with funded actions for its first phase (2026–28), starting with drainage.
- Commission the long-term water supply study requested in 2022, sized for 40,000–45,000 people.
- Negotiate fringe-area agreements with Hanover and La Broquerie instead of objecting case by case.
About this page
- Transcripts. Meeting quotes come from automatic transcripts of the official videos. The transcription often misspells the city's name; quotes show it correctly as Steinbach. Other words are left as transcribed (“Arm of Hanover” means the RM of Hanover). Each quote links to its moment in the video.
- Speakers. Every quote is from a speaker identified with high confidence. Council members, city staff and officials are named; residents are identified by initials.
- Unrecorded meetings. Strategic priorities and much long-range planning are discussed at unrecorded committee sessions; the August 18, 2026 climate plan presentation is known from news coverage.
- Figures. Population figures and projections differ by source, as shown. Wastewater costs are from council documents (2025) and the mayor (2026).
- Coverage. All 103 regular council meetings from January 2022 to September 15, 2026 were searched.
Sources
Council meetings (official YouTube recordings): Jan 4, 2022 · Nov 1, 2022 · Dec 3, 2024 · Dec 17, 2024 · Mar 4, 2025 · Apr 1, 2025 · Apr 15, 2025 · Sept 16, 2025 · Mar 17, 2026 · Apr 21, 2026 · May 5, 2026 · Sept 15, 2026
- Official Community Plan, By-law 2244; 2026 Financial Plan presentation; City plans and studies
- SteinbachOnline: $215M wastewater project (Sept 2026); Capacity to about 2032 (Feb 2026); Federal funding application (Apr 2025); Climate plan presented (Aug 2026); Municipal Board on the annexation (2017); La Broquerie objection
- Peers: Brandon strategic plan Q1 2026; Brandon growth strategy; Winkler–Stanley wastewater; Morden wastewater; Red-Seine-Rat costs; Okotoks water and growth; Niverville annexation