‘Failure on all counts’: CTF calls for cancellation of City of Winnipeg podcast

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling for the cancellation of a City of Winnipeg podcast due to its high production cost and low engagement.

The City of Winnipeg launched “Our City, Our Podcast” in April of 2024, featuring two hosts interviewing a city employee about the work they do. According to The CTF, the cost is just under $35,000 and the city said that includes employee salaries for time spent working on the podcast.

“I mean, even the recordings of the City Council meetings themselves, which aren’t exactly popular affairs, are getting more views than the city’s podcast,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director.

CTF provided documents from a recent Freedom of Information request that show the city estimates the podcast has 81 subscribers. According to YouTube, the most popular episode has 148 views.

In a statement to CTV News, a city spokesperson defended the value of the podcast.

“It is important that we adapt our communication methods to ensure we reach residents using methods they are already interacting with,” said David Driedger, the City of Winnipeg’s Interim Director, Customer Service & Communications. “The podcast is a valuable way for us to engage and share important information with residents about the city they live in, services they use, and initiatives that may impact them.”

Driedger says as of November 7, 2025, the podcast has over 7,500 listens and the incremental costs to produce the “Our City, Our Podcast” from January 2024 to September 2025 were $2,753.57.

This includes $1,511.87 for podcasting platform hosting fees, split with Winnipeg Public Library’s Time to Read podcast and another $1,175.70 for equipment.

The Taxpayers Federation calls it a failure on all counts.

“When you talk about how much money they’re spending on this to get an average of less than 100 views per episode for what obviously isn’t riveting content, it kind of spurs the question for city bureaucrats to ask, ‘Why were we making this podcast when no one was listening to it?’” questioned Haubrich.

Driedger did not comment on the future of the podcast.