Manitoba Finance is the department of finance for the Canadian province of Manitoba. The Minister of Finance (originally Provincial Treasurer) is the cabinet minister responsible for the department, as well as for managing the province's fiscal resources, overseeing taxation policies, and allocating funds to other governmental departments. Every year, the minister submits a budget to the Legislature outlining anticipated expenditures and revenues for the next 12 months. The minister is also required to submit a completed financial report for the annual cycle just completed. The Finance portfolio is the oldest cabinet position in the province of Manitoba, even predating the office of Premier by four years. Similarly, many regard the Finance Minister as the most important member of government, second only to the Premier. Prior to 1977, it was not considered unusual for Manitoba's provincial premiers to reserve the position of Treasurer or Finance Minister for themselves. In the 20th century, John Bracken, Stuart Garson, Douglas L. Campbell, Dufferin Roblin, and Edward Schreyer all assumed this responsibility at one time or another. (Roblin was his own Treasurer for the entire extent of his term in office). No premier has taken this responsibility since 1977, and such a combination of responsibilities would now be considered very unlikely. The current Finance Minister of Manitoba is Adrien Sala of the New Democratic Party.

Branches and divisions

Manitoba Finance includes the following special operating agencies, which present their own respective annual reports: Other branches and divisions of Manitoba Finance include:

Funeral Board of Manitoba

The Funeral Board of Manitoba (FBM) is a not-for-profit regulatory organization concerned with consumer protection within Manitoba's funeral and cemetery services marketplace. Administering The Funeral Directors and Embalmers Act, The Cemeteries Act, and The Prearranged Funeral Services Act, it is responsible for licensing all Manitoba funeral directors and embalmers; funeral homes; particular cemeteries and their sales persons; and prearranged funeral service plan providers. Through the 1967 Embalmers and Funeral Directors Act the Board was established as the Board of Administration to oversee Manitoba's funeral industry. The Act was amended and renamed in 2009 to The Funeral Directors and Embalmers Act, which changed the Board's name to the Funeral Board of Manitoba.

Vital Statistics Agency

The Manitoba Vital Statistics Agency (VSA) is a special operating agency of the provincial government that is the civil registrar of Manitoba's vital records. More specifically, it is responsible for registering vital statistics (birth, death, marriage, stillbirth and change of name) in Manitoba and provides documents as proof of those events. While the Agency began operations on 1 April 1994, the provincial vital event registry dates to 1882. As such, with all records being held in perpetuity for all Manitoba events, the database contains vital records information for the Province of Manitoba from 1882 to present. Nearly 4 million records are held in the database. The VSA reports to the Legislature through the Minister of Finance, and is responsible for administering and enforcing Manitoba's Vital Statistics Act, Marriage Act, Change of Name Act, as well as processing disinterments under The Public Health Act. It is a member of the Vital Statistics Council for Canada (VSCC), which was established in 1945 as partnership of provincial/territorial vital event registrars and federal officials responsible for national statistics.

Manitoba Bureau of Statistics

The Manitoba Bureau of Statistics (MBS), a branch of the Finance Department's Finance Research Division, is the Manitoba government’s central statistics agency, tasked with compiling, managing, analyzing, coordinating, and disseminating of economic, demographic, and social statistics for the province. Operating under the provincial Statistics Act, the Bureau addresses data and statistical requirements by collaborating with government departments and agencies; and, under a federal-provincial agreement, MBS is the designated contact and official liaison between the Government of Manitoba and the federal government's Statistics Canada.

Manitoba Financial Services Agency

The Manitoba Financial Service Agency (MFSA; ) is a special operating agency of the Manitoba government responsible for administering and enforcing legislation for the securities and insurance sectors, real estate and mortgage brokers, credit unions/caisses populaires, cooperatives, and trust and loan companies who operate in Manitoba. It comprises the Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC) and Financial Institutions Regulation Branch (FIRB). It is headed by a chief administrative officer, who is ex officio the Chair and chief executive officer of the MSC. As of at least 2020, the chief is David Cheop. The Agency administers the following provincial legislation:

Financial Institutions Regulation Branch

The Financial Institutions Regulation Branch (FIRB;, DRIF) is the body responsible for regulatory oversight to financial institutions and cooperatives operating in Manitoba, including the insurance sector, credit unions/caisses populaires, and trust and loan companies. It is tasked with administering the provincial Insurance Act, Credit Unions and Caisses Populaires Act, and the Corporations Act (Part XXlV). The FIRB was created in April 2000 through the amalgamation of two branches under the Department of Consumers and Corporate Affairs: the Insurance Branch and the Trust, Cooperatives and Credit Union Regulation Branch. Since then, government restructuring has led to the FIRB being part of various departments; as of October 2012, FIRB was merged into the Manitoba Financial Services Agency (MFSA).

Manitoba Securities Commission

The Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC; ) is the securities regulatory authority of Manitoba. As a division of the Manitoba Financial Services Agency, it is an independent agency of the provincial government and its Chair reports to the legislature through the Minister of Finance. Following The Securities Act, MSC was structured in its present form in 1968, divided into two branches: The Chair presides at the Commission members' meetings and is also the chief executive officer of the administrative arm.

Public Utilities Board

The Manitoba Public Utilities Board is an independent quasi-judicial administrative tribunal that regulates public utilities and designated monopolies. It has oversight and supervisory powers over the rates charged for electrical utility, auto insurance, gas and propane utilities, and all water and sewer utilities outside of Winnipeg. The Board is led by a chair and a vice-chair, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor. The chair has similar authority to that of a justice of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench or as the deputy minister for the Manitoba Justice. Board members, appointed by the chair, are tasked with carrying out the Board's legislative mandate. The PUB Chairperson reports to the Minister of Finance. The Board has regulated services under legislation since 1913, with the current Public Utilities Board Act being passed in 1959. In addition to the Public Utilities Board Act, regulatory administration is provided through:

Treasury Board

The Treasury Board of Manitoba is a Cabinet sub-committee responsible for the overall fiscal management and reporting of the provincial government, as well as the "establishment of policies required for the effective management of public funds to meet government objectives." The Treasury Board Secretariat of Manitoba provides financial and analytical support as well as strategic management advice to the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board. The Secretariat is headed by a Deputy Minister who acts as Secretary to Treasury Board, currently Ann Ulusoy. It has been an independent secretariat since 1987/88. Treasury Board Secretariat consists of the:

History

The Finance portfolio is the oldest cabinet position in the province, predating the office of Premier by four years; and the minister was styled as the Provincial Treasurer until 1969. The first Provincial Secretary in Manitoba was Marc-Amable Girard, who was appointed to the position on 16 September 1870 by Lieutenant-Governor Adams George Archibald soon after his arrival in the province. Until January 1871, Girard and Provincial Secretary Alfred Boyd were the only members of Archibald's ministry. Since the introduction of partisan politics in 1888, all Manitoba Finance Ministers have belonged to the governing party of the day. During the coalition ministry that governed Manitoba from 1940 to 1950, the position was reserved for members of the dominant Liberal-Progressive Party. Prior to 1977, it was typical for Manitoba's provincial premiers to reserve the position of Treasurer or Finance Minister for themselves. In the 20th century, John Bracken, Stuart Garson, Douglas L. Campbell, Dufferin Roblin, and Edward Schreyer all assumed this responsibility at one time or another. (Roblin was his own Treasurer for the entire extent of his term in office). No premier has taken this responsibility since 1977, and such a combination of responsibilities would now be considered very unlikely. In early 2005, then Minister of Finance Greg Selinger indicated that his department would soon move to a system known as generally accepted accounting principles, which had already been adopted in most other provinces. Following the 2019 provincial general election, Manitoba Finance underwent significant reorganization. While Central Services branched off as an independent department, the Finance department gained its Labour and Regulatory Services Division, the Consumer Protection Division, and Communications Services Manitoba, as well as the Vital Statistics Agency, Entrepreneurship Manitoba, and the Public Guardian and Trustee of Manitoba.

List of ministers of finance