To protect the many, many healthy trees on the Fort Garry campus, City of Winnipeg Urban Forestry crews will be working to remove trees with Dutch elm disease this winter. These necessary removals will help prevent the spread of the devastating fungi, which easily infects non-resistant elm trees, ultimately killing them.

What is Dutch elm disease?

Caused by a type of sac fungi, Dutch elm disease is an affliction affecting primarily elm trees. In order to block the spread of the fungus within its limbs, a diseased tree will plug its own xylem tissue with gum and bladder-like extensions of the xylem cell wall called tylos

Since the xylem is what delivers water and nutrients to the rest of the tree, these plugs prevent them from travelling throughout the plant, starving and killing it.

Where are the diseased trees?

Most of the diseased elms are on the Point Lands, but there are a few on the main Fort Garry campus. If left untreated, Dutch elm disease would jeopardize the entire UM canopy.

The removal work will take place over the winter.

If you have any questions about the tree removals, please reach out to Operations and Maintenance at PPWOD@umanitoba.ca or by phone at 204-474-6281.

On Dec. 20, the majority of offices and services on University of Manitoba campuses will close beginning at 4:30 p.m. until business hours on Jan. 2, 2025.

Exams will take place at the Fort Garry campus until Dec. 20, and buildings will remain open and monitored until completion, but no services will be available if after closure hours.

From IST and computer labs to Dining Services, Libraries and recreation facilities, everything you need to know about the holiday closure can be found on the Operations and Maintenance web page.

Have a safe and happy Winter Break!

What is Dutch elm disease?

Caused by a type of sac fungi, Dutch elm disease is an affliction affecting primarily elm trees. In order to block the spread of the fungus within its limbs, a diseased tree will plug its own xylem tissue with gum and bladder-like extensions of the xylem cell wall called tyloses.

Since the xylem is what delivers water and nutrients to the rest of the tree, these plugs prevent them from travelling throughout the plant, starving and killing it.

Where are the diseased trees?

The diseased elms are spread throughout the Southwood lands, the Point Lands or in Smart Park. If left untreated, Dutch elm disease would jeopardize the entire UM canopy.

The removal work will take place during December.

If you have any questions about the tree removals, please reach out to Operations and Maintenance at PPWOD@umanitoba.ca or by phone at 204-474-6281.

What is Dutch elm disease?

Caused by a type of sac fungi, Dutch elm disease is an affliction affecting primarily elm trees. In order to block the spread of the fungus within its limbs, a diseased tree will plug its own xylem tissue with gum and bladder-like extensions of the xylem cell wall called tyloses.

Since the xylem is what delivers water and nutrients to the rest of the tree, these plugs prevent them from travelling throughout the plant, starving and killing it.

Where are the diseased trees on campus?

The diseased trees are spread throughout Fort Garry campus and into the Southwood area, which makes removal all the more important. If left untreated, Dutch elm disease would jeopardize the entire UM canopy.

Below are several maps showing the locations of diseased trees, highlighted with orange circles.

The removal work will take place during Winter Break and will continue into January.

If you have any questions about the tree removals, please reach out to Operations and Maintenance at PPWOD@umanitoba.ca or by phone at 204-474-6281.

The pilot program is intended to create efficiencies and address customer barriers by reducing unnecessary paperwork and administrative tasks, benefitting units and faculties and O&M. Impacts will be monitored and analyzed throughout the pilot duration in order to determine whether the process can be implemented for a longer term. 

How it works

Units can place work requests by the usual process through the O&M website, and still need to provide a FOAP with each work request. If the eligible accumulated charges on the requested work-order adds up to an amount less than $500, the FOAP will not be charged back.

Please note that the following exceptions are not included:

• equipment rent or sales;
• key card/physical key recovery;
• services rendered by 3rd party contractors;
• services rendered to/for remote sites;
• new or existing requisitions (projects that have a requisition ID);
• fuel; and
• painting.

The pilot will end when the allocated budget is exhausted. Unit representatives and building points-of-contact will receive monthly communication with information on available funds and will be informed when the pilot program ends.

The pilot excludes the college residences, remote research sites and SmartPark tenants. All other UoM faculties and units are eligible to participate.

For more information, please reach out to bhaumik.gandhi@umanitoba

UM teams are working to switch to alternative cooling methods for equipment with this capability. We are also actively working with Hydro on this issue and updates will be provided as they become available.

Please contact the Customer Service desk with any urgent questions or concerns.

Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Email: PPWOD@umanitoba.ca
Phone: 204-474-6281

Why Electric?

In 2021, the UM conducted a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions assessment for the forthcoming Climate Action Plan. Of the data that was collected, the findings showed that campus fleet vehicles account for 2% of the total 57,000 tonnes of GHG emissions produced every year. The transition to electric vehicles starting now, will bring the GHGs emitted from university-owned vehicles down to zero.

This transition also aligns with the announcement that the Government of Canada made in June, establishing a mandatory target for all new light-duty cars and passenger trucks sales to be zero-emission by 2035. This announcement accelerates Canada’s previous goal of 100 percent sales by 2040.

“This is an important step in the right direction, as we continue to work to reduce the volume of greenhouse gas emissions for our institution” says Steve Cumpsty, director, operations and maintenance.

“We are very pleased to announce this shift to low and zero-emission vehicles as we work together to reach our climate action plan goals,” adds Raman Dhaliwal, Associate Vice-President (Administration).

Any buildings impacted by the power outage should be vacated as soon as practical while the power is impacted. If any other buildings are experiencing an outage, please contact O&M Customer Service Desk at 204-474-6281.  

The product being used is called Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki), a common non-chemical, biological pest control agent used to combat a variety of forestry and agricultural insect pests. Btk is a bacterium found naturally in soils, and has been used successfully world-wide for 30 years. 

According to the Government of Canada website, “Bt strains have been used by both organic and non-organic farmers throughout the world for many years. Btk is one of the few pesticides acceptable to organic growers, as it is a naturally occurring biological organism, rather than a synthetic chemical. As Btk does not survive in warm-blooded organisms, any Btk residues on food pass through the digestive system without producing any toxic effect. Btk strains are exempt from residue tolerances in the US, and exempt from maximum residue limit requirements in Canada, due to the minimal risk.”

The website also notes, “Members of the public are unlikely to experience any symptoms if inadvertently exposed to Btk spray, and no special precautions are necessary or required. However, individuals who have concerns should take reasonable precautions to avoid exposure during a spray program in the same way they would avoid pollen or other airborne materials during days when air quality advisories are issued. They can also reduce exposure by staying indoors with windows and doors shut during the spray period if spraying is taking place in their area, although this is not required by health officials.”

Btk only becomes toxic in the alkaline gut of specific lepidopteran insects in the larval (caterpillar) stage of their life cycles. It biodegrades quickly in the environment through exposure to sunlight and microorganisms. This takes between 1 – 4 days on foliage, without groundwater contamination concerns, since Btk does not percolate through the soil beyond 25 cm.

Very low application rates are required for effective control. Btk is applied directly onto the foliage, with little to no impact to the campus community as spraying will be intermittent and taking place in the late evenings and early mornings. Both UM staff and external contractors will be working throughout the Fort Garry Campus. Staff will be focusing on canker worms in the first part of June, with the elm spanworm in the later part of the month. 

For any questions, please contact Lyle Morin, Operations & Maintenance at:  lyle.morin@umanitoba.ca