The Winnipeg City Council () is the governing body of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Council is seated in the Council Building of Winnipeg City Hall.
The composition of the Council consists of fifteen city councillors and a mayor. Each councillor represents an individual ward throughout the city. The mayor is elected every four years by a vote of the entire city.
Overview
Part 3 of The City of Winnipeg Charter legislates the composition of Winnipeg City Council, which currently consists of 15 councillors and the Mayor. Each councillor represents an individual ward while the mayor is elected by a vote of the city-at-large.
|-
|St. James || 49,118
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|Point Douglas || 47,063
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|St. Norbert - Seine River || 47,765
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|St. Vital || 49,377
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|Charleswood - Tuxedo - Westwood || 45,947
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|North Kildonan || 44,664
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|Waverley West || 44,006
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|St. Boniface || 47,174
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|Mynarski || 49,808
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|Fort Rouge - East Fort Garry || 46,770
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|River Heights - Fort Garry || 50,667
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|Old Kildonan || 47,155
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|Daniel McIntyre || 46,882
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|Elmwood-East Kildonan || 44,268
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|Transcona || 44,581
|}
Past wards
Into its first civic election on 5 January 1874, Winnipeg had a total of 4 city wards—North, South, East, and West.
The city's wards were reorganized in 1881, with the addition of Fort Rouge as Ward One, and existing wards to the north of the Assiniboine River being reorganized into Wards Two through Six. In 1906, Elmwood was added as Ward Seven in 1906, becoming was the city's first extension across the Red River. These seven wards were collapsed into three in 1920: Wards One and Two became Ward One; Wards Three and Four became Ward Two; and Wards Five, Six, and Seven became Ward Three.
History
Early years
Winnipeg officially became incorporated as a city on 8 November 1873, with the passing of An Act to Incorporate the City of Winnipeg by the Manitoba Legislature. Among other things, the Act outlined the essential powers for Winnipeg City Council. The Act also dictated qualifications for candidates who wished to run for mayor or alderman in the city's first election. They had to be male freeholders or householders; natural born or naturalized subjects of the British Crown; 21 years of age or more; and resident in the city for at least 3 months prior to the election.
Metro Winnipeg
In 1955, the Government of Manitoba created the Greater Winnipeg Investigating Commission to look into inter-municipal issues in the Greater Winnipeg area. The Commission took four years and concluded with the recommendation that a strong central government be formed, which resulted in the incorporation of the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg (Metro Winnipeg) in 1960.
From 1960 until 1971, the Metro Winnipeg administrative system included Winnipeg and 12 other municipalities under a single metropolitan government, in a "two-tier" system in which councillors were elected through single transferable vote. In this framework, each municipality managed their own affairs, levied their own taxes, and took responsibility for local roads, water, and parks. In addition to this, however, an additional metropolitan level of government existed as well, which held responsibility for planning major roads, parks, and water and sewer systems.
In the late 1960s, a reform model was proposed for making this system more efficient and coordinated. Under this model, the coordination of policy and administration was to be facilitated by the close cooperation of a Board of Commissioners, who would act as the senior officers of the city's civil service, and the 50-member City Council with its 3 standing committees (Finance, Environment, and Works and Operations). In order to deliver services at the local level, the city was to be divided into 13 community committee areas, with each community committee composed of the City Councillors within the given community's boundaries.
Unicity
On 27 July 1971, the City of Winnipeg Act incorporated the City of Winnipeg (1874–1971); the rural municipalities of Charleswood, Fort Garry, North Kildonan, and Old Kildonan; the Town of Tuxedo; the cities of East Kildonan, West Kildonan, St. Vital, Transcona, St. Boniface, and St. James-Assiniboia; and the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg into one city, commonly referred to as unicity.
The number of councillors were reduced to 29 part-time councilors in 1977.
List of Winnipeg City Councils
2006–2010
{| class="wikitable" width="75%"
! Councillor
! Ward
! Roles
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| Sam Katz || || Mayor ||
|-
| Jeff Browaty || North Kildonan || ||
|-
| Bill Clement† || Charleswood-Tuxedo || || Died May 3, 2010.
|-
| Scott Fielding || St. James-Brooklands || ||
|-
| Jenny Gerbasi || Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry || ||
|-
| Harry Lazarenko || Mynarski || ||
|-
| Brenda Leipsic || River Heights-Fort Garry || Deputy Mayor (2006-2008) || Died December 9, 2008.
|-
| Grant Nordman || St. Charles || ||
|-
| Mike O'Shaughnessy || Old Kildonan || ||
|-
| John Orlikow || River Heights-Fort Garry || || Elected in by-election on March 17, 2009.
|-
| Mike Pagtakhan || Point Douglas || ||
|-
| Harvey Smith || Daniel McIntyre || ||
|-
| Gord Steeves || St. Vital || ||
|-
| Justin Swandel || St. Norbert || Deputy Mayor (2008-2010) ||
|-
| Lillian Thomas || Elmwood-East Kildonan || ||
|-
| Dan Vandal || St. Boniface || || Former Deputy Mayor (2003-2004)
|-
| Russ Wyatt || Transcona || ||
|}
2010–2014
{| class="wikitable" width="75%"
! Councillor
! Ward
! Roles
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| Sam Katz || || Mayor ||
|-
| Jeff Browaty || North Kildonan || ||
|-
| Ross Eadie || Mynarski || ||
|-
| Scott Fielding || St. James-Brooklands || ||
|-
| Jenny Gerbasi || Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry || ||
|-
| Paula Havixbeck || Charleswood-Tuxedo || ||
|-
| Brian Mayes || St. Vital || || Elected in by-election on November 26, 2011, following resignation of Gord Steeves.
|-
| Grant Nordman || St. Charles || Acting Deputy Mayor and Council Speaker ||
|-
| John Orlikow || River Heights-Fort Garry || ||
|-
| Mike Pagtakhan || Point Douglas || Deputy Speaker ||
|-
| Devi Sharma || Old Kildonan || ||
|-
| Harvey Smith || Daniel McIntyre || ||
|-
| Thomas Steen ||Elmwood-East Kildonan || ||
|-
| Gord Steeves || St. Vital || || Resigned in 2011 to run in the provincial election.
|-
| Justin Swandel || St. Norbert || Deputy Mayor (2010-2014) ||
|-
| Dan Vandal || St. Boniface || ||Former Deputy Mayor (2003-2004)
|-
| Russ Wyatt || Transcona || ||
|}
2014–2018
{| class="wikitable" width="75%"
! Councillor
! Ward
!Roles
|-
|Brian Bowman||
|Mayor
|-
|Jenny Gerbasi
|Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry
|Deputy Mayor
|-
|Cindy Gilroy
|Daniel McIntyre
|Acting Deputy Mayor
|-
| Marty Morantz|| Charleswood-Tuxedo
|
|-
| Jason Schreyer || Elmwood-East Kildonan
|
|-
| Ross Eadie || Mynarski
|
|-
| Jeff Browaty || North Kildonan
|
|-
| Devi Sharma || Old Kildonan
|
|-
| Mike Pagtakhan || Point Douglas
|
|-
| John Orlikow || River Heights-Fort Garry
|
|-
| Matt Allard || St. Boniface
|
|-
| Shawn Dobson || St. Charles
|
|-
| Scott Gillingham || St. James-Brooklands
|
|-
| Janice Lukes || St. Norbert
|
|-
| Brian Mayes || St. Vital
|
|-
| Russ Wyatt || Transcona
|
|}
2018–2022
{| class="wikitable sortable" width="75%"
! Councillor
! Ward
! Role(s)
|-
| Brian Bowman || || Mayor
|-
|John Orlikow
|River Heights - Fort Garry
|Deputy Mayor
Council Representative – Partnership of the Capital Region
|-
| Vivian Santos || Point Douglas || Acting Deputy Mayor
Chairperson – Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Heritage, Culture & Art
|-
| Kevin Klein || Charleswood - Tuxedo - Westwood ||Councillor Responsible for Assiniboine Park Conservancy
|-
| Cindy Gilroy || Daniel McIntyre ||Chairperson – Winnipeg Housing Steering Committee
Secretary of the End Homelessness Strategies
UN Women Safe Cities Global Initiative Steering Committee
|-
| Jason Schreyer || Elmwood-East Kildonan ||
|-
| Sherri Rollins || Fort Rouge - East Fort Garry ||Council Representative – Mayor’s Indigenous Advisory Council
|-
| Ross Eadie || Mynarski ||Deputy Speaker
|-
| Jeff Browaty || North Kildonan ||
|-
| Devi Sharma || Old Kildonan ||Speaker
|-
| Matt Allard || St. Boniface ||Council Liaison – Francophone and Francophile Cities Network
Council Liaison – Intermodal Connectivity
Council Liaison – Labour Relations
|-
| Scott Gillingham || St. James ||Council Representative – Partnership of the Capital Region
Council Liaison – Veteran and Military Affairs
North American Strategy for Competitiveness (NASCO)
|-
|Markus Chambers
|St. Norbert - Seine River
|Chairperson – Winnipeg Police Board
|-
| Brian Mayes || St. Vital ||Councillor Responsible for Assiniboine Park Conservancy
Council Liaison – School Board and Youth Opportunities
|-
| Shawn Nason || Transcona ||
|-
| Janice Lukes || Waverley West ||
|}
2022–2026
{| class="wikitable sortable" width="75%"
! Councillor
! Ward
|-
| Scott Gillingham || Mayor
|-
| Evan Duncan || Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood
|-
| Cindy Gilroy || Daniel McIntyre
|-
| Jason Schreyer (until April 30, 2025)<br>Emma Durand-Wood (since October 25, 2025) || Elmwood-East Kildonan
|-
| Sherri Rollins || Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry
|-
| Ross Eadie || Mynarski
|-
| Jeff Browaty || North Kildonan
|-
| Devi Sharma || Old Kildonan
|-
| Vivian Santos || Point Douglas
|-
| John Orlikow || River Heights-Fort Garry
|-
| Matt Allard || St. Boniface
|-
| Shawn Dobson || St. James
|-
| Markus Chambers || St. Norbert-Seine River
|-
| Brian Mayes || St. Vital
|-
| Russ Wyatt || Transcona
|-
| Janice Lukes || Waverley West
|}
Pre-Unicity municipalities
Reeves and mayors of the municipalities within the Greater Winnipeg area prior to their amalgamation into Winnipeg on 27 July 1971.
{| class="wikitable"
!Municipality (Type)
The first Winnipeg City Council established standing committees on finance, printing, board of works, markets, fire & water, and assessment. Council subsequently began to establish itself through the passage of by-laws, with 27 by-laws being passed in the city’s first year of incorporation.
- on Water and Waste, Riverbank Management and the Environment
In addition, the Executive Policy Committee is composed of Mayor Brian Bowman (Chairperson) and Councillors Matt Allard, Jeff Browaty, Scott Gillingham, Cindy Gilroy, Brian Mayes, and Sherri Rollins.