Winnipeg Transit revenue shortfall millions more than predicated: city

Buses line Portage Avenue in downtown Winnipeg on June 8, 2026. (Jeff Keele/CTV News Winnipeg)

Fewer people are riding Winnipeg Transit and it’s causing a financial crunch.

The City of Winnipeg’s 2026 budget predicted transit would face a revenue shortfall of $11.1 million due to declining ridership levels.

Now, a new finance report forecasts the service to be in the red to the tune of $18.4 million.

“That’s certainly a concern, a number of factors,” said North Kildonan city councillor Jeff Browaty, who chairs the city’s finance committee.

“Again, we did make the largest change to the transit network in generations.”

That new network was launched a year ago this month.

Browaty says there are growing pains with the new system, but he says the city is making changes to improve service.

Still, Browaty says they need to attract new riders to the bus.

“I think we make the case that transit is convenient, that it’s fast, that it’s safe,” he said.

“The new system will take more people to more places, I do believe in my heart of hearts.”

Bryan Hunt rides the bus, but he’s not hopping on board as much as he once did because the new system is less convenient for him.

“More walking distance between stops. You have to wait a lot longer, and they don’t go where they used to go,” he said.

Phenix Rock says it’s working for her.

“I think it was definitely hard to get used to at first but for me, I think it was more beneficial.”

However, Winnipeg Transit says ridership started to drop in late 2024, well before the network changes, when the federal government capped the number of international students and foreign workers who could live here.

The city says that’s the biggest driver of declining ridership.

“We know these demographics rely heavily on public transit. Transit systems across Canada have since experienced a decline in ridership, so this is not unique to Winnipeg,” a Winnipeg Transit spokesperson told CTV News.

They say boardings for fall of 2024 were 207,224 compared to 178,505 in 2025. In the winter months of 2024/2025, boardings were 185,038 compared to 164,482 over the same period the next year.

Safety has also been an issue on board.

The city has hired safety officers to patrol buses and police officers have been brought on board, too.

Fare evasion is also a problem. From January to April, the community safety team reported more than 20,000 interactions with passengers that involved fare enforcement.