In 1960, the Committee on Utilities and Personnel was formed by By-law 18236 to perform the combined functions of the former Committee on Public Utilities and Committee on Personnel and Legislation.

The committee was appointed in 1958, and was responsible for considering and reporting on public and emergency housing projects, zoning, town planning, enforcement of by-laws relating to urban renewal, rehabilitation or conservation areas, matters relating to the Civic Centre, Public Safety Building, and Parking Garage, and the appointment of a technical committee to report and advise on the above mentioned activities.

On October 30, 1975, the Executive Policy Committee instructed the Board of Commissioners to study the status of women employees in the City. To accomplish this, the Board of Commissioners created the the Committee on the Status of Women in the Employ of the City of Winnipeg, which was comprised of civic employees. Merle McCullough of the City Clerk's Department served as chairperson of the committee. The committee was directed to study career opportunities for women within the City, to identify inequalities, and to create a report detailing recommendations and guidelines to "bring about a greater utilization of women within the employ of the City of Winnipeg". The committee delivered its final report in April, 1977.

The Committee on Public Works was a standing committee of Council. The Committee's roles and responsibilities changed over the years as it gained or lost different functions and duties. Jurisdiction of the Committee over the years included the Engineers Department, Shops Department, City Quarries, Sewer Inspection and Maintenance, City Yards, Streets and Sidewalks, Snow Clearing, Bridges and Subways, Street Name and House Numbering, Civic Buildings, Concrete and Asphalt Plant, City Gravel Pit, and Reports of City Surveyor on Plans and Surveys. The committee was required to report to Council on all of these matters, and to recommend works of permanent improvement.

Names of the Committee changed several times over the years, as is reflected in the committee minutes. Names of the committee have included Works Committee, Committee on Works, Works and Property Committee, Committee on Public Improvements, and, finally, the Committee on Public Works.

The Committee on Public Utilities was responsible for Hydro Electric, Steam Heating, and Street Lighting Systems, Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Water Mains and Sewers, Garbage Collection and Disposal, and Street Cleaning.

In 1958 the duties of the Committee on Public Utilities were taken over by the Committee on Public Works. In 1960 the Standing Committee on Utilities and Personnel was formed by By-Law 18236 to perform the combined functions of the former Committee on Public Utilities and Committee on Personnel and Legislation.

The Committee on Public Safety was responsible for supervision of the City Fire Department, Signal System, Building, Plumbing and Electrical Inspection Services, and Transportation and Traffic. The name of the Committee changed from the Committee on Public Safety to the Public Safety Committee for the years 1951-1957. In 1958 the duties of the Public Safety Committee were taken over by the Committee on Public Works.

The City of Winnipeg was incorporated November 9, 1873 by a charter granted by the legislature of Manitoba. The Charter established a committee system of government – while Council was the governing body for the City, it was in committee that civic policies were formed and executed. The initial task for the first and all subsequent elected Councils was to strike standing committees for the Council term. From 1876 onward, the City had a standing committee whose function was to consider a broad range of issues relating to public health and welfare. The name of the committee and its scope of responsibilities changed periodically over the years:

1876-1878 Board of Health
1879-1882 Heath, Relief and Cemetery Committee
1883-1886 Committee on Health and Relief
1887-1905 Health, Market and License Committee (sometimes Market, License and Health Committee)
1905-1908 Public Health Committee
1909-1957 Committee on Health
1958-1971 Committee on Public Health and Welfare.

In 1972, Chapter 105 of the Statutes of Manitoba came into force unifying twelve area municipalities and the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg into one city government. At this time, the Committee on Public Health and Welfare was discontinued and its responsibilities assigned to a new Committee on Environment (primarily licensing matters) and a new Committee on Recreation and Social Development (matters relating to libraries, health, social services, parks and recreational services).

The Committee on Legislation and Reception was responsible for wages and working conditions of civic employees, staff changes and appointments, grievances concerning civic personnel, labour union negotiations, work of the employer-employee advisory board, general legislation and charter amendments, and for reporting on legislation and receptions.

Names of the Committee over the years have included the Legislative Committee, Committee on Legislation, Reception, Trade and Commerce, Committee on Legislation and Reception, and Committee on Personnel and Legislation (1950-1957).

In 1958 the duties of the Committee on Personnel and Legislation were taken over by the Committee on Finance. In 1960 the Standing Committee on Utilities and Personnel was formed by By-Law 18236 to perform the combined functions of the former Committee on Personnel and Legislation and Committee on Public Works.* (See Municipal Manual, 1960 and Council Minutes 1957-1960).

As a standing committee of Council, the duties of the Committee on Finance included supervision of all City accounts, preparation of the annual budget, monitoring wages of all subordinate employees of the city, and consideration and review of every committee report that included a recommendation for the expenditure of civic funds before it was submitted to City Council. The original name of the committee was Committee on Finance and Assessment. In later years it was called the Finance Committee or Committee on Finance. The Board of Control replaced the Committee on Finance during the period 1907-1918.

The Civic Charities Endorsement Bureau was created on June 30, 1913 through By-Law No. 8062. The Bureau was established to “investigate and examine the character and bona fides of all charitable concerns seeking aid from the City or its citizens”. In effect, the Bureau was responsible for ensuring that charities raising funds in the City filled an actual community need and demonstrated efficient and responsible stewardship of funds. The Bureau was made up of nine members, each of whom held office for a three year term.

In 1925, the Bureau joined the Confidential Exchange. The Exchange, a program sponsored by the Social Welfare Commission until 1939 and the Public Welfare Committee thereafter, was a coordinating body for agencies involved in social welfare work. In 1956, the provincial government passed The Charities Endorsement Act and widened the Bureau’s powers. The Act regulated granting of authorization to solicit funds or sell items within the province of Manitoba for a charitable purpose by charitable organizations or other agencies.

In 1996, the Act was amended again, and these amendments resulted in dissolution of the Civic Charities Endorsement Bureau. On December 11, 1996, the City of Winnipeg passed By-Law 6916/96, the Civic Charities Applications and Permits By-law, which designated a City of Winnipeg employee to authorize by permit fund-raising activities for charitable purposes as defined in The Charities Endorsement Act. At that time, the Director of the Community Resource, Protection and Safety Services, Community Services Department, was charged with administering and enforcing the new by-law. Presently, permit applications for civic charities are issued by the Manitoba Consumers Bureau and permits for raffles are issued by the Manitoba Gaming Control Commission.

The first City Surveyor was appointed in 1878.

Building inspection was included as one of the duties of the City Engineer when responsibilities for this position were formalized by by-law in 1899. Since then, the City of Winnipeg has required all persons proposing to construct a new building or significantly renovate an existing building, to apply for a permit authorizing the work. As part of the permit application process, builders were required to submit 'drawings in blue or white print to scale, fully dimensioned, accurately figured, explicit and complete.'

Winnipeg was established as a city in 1874 and began creating records immediately, but it did not have a city archives until 1978. Many of the surrounding municipalities that were later amalgamated into Unicity in 1972 were in a very similar situation, and their surviving records have now become part of the Winnipeg City Archives' holdings. The building at 380 William, the old Carnegie Library, was set aside for storage of records and archives. Since its formation, the Archives and Records Control Branch has been responsible for managing records in storage, developing records management policy and practice, and facilitating research access to the City’s archival collection.

The required enabling bylaw for the records and archives provisions of the City of Winnipeg Act was passed in 1996, and the Records Committee was created and first met in June 1997.

See Terry Cook, "In the Public Trust: A Strategic Plan for the Archives and Records Management Services in the City of Winnipeg," (November 29, 1999).

The City of Winnipeg (1874-1971) was incorporated by a charter granted by the legislature of Manitoba on November 8, 1873. The office of the City Clerk was established early in 1874, its primary responsibilities having been defined in the Charter. The main duties of the City Clerk were to record and maintain a record of all resolutions, decisions and proceedings of Council and to act as the Returning Officer for the election of the Mayor and members of Council, for voting on money by-laws or plebiscites and for the election of school trustees for the School District of Winnipeg No. 1 (from 1891). By the 1880’s, the City Clerk was the Vital Statistics Division Registrar and kept records of vital statistics for Winnipeg (births, deaths and marriages). Further, the City Clerk was responsible for purchasing and distributing all stationery supplies required by the City and for preparing and distributing the Municipal Manual, an annual publication first published in 1904. The City Clerk also acted as Clerk of the Greater Winnipeg Water District (GWWD) and the Greater Winnipeg Sanitary District (GWSD). These districts were created in 1913 and 1935, respectively. When the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg (Metro) was created in 1961, the GWWD and the GWSD ceased to exist and the City Clerk was relieved of the task of clerking these two bodies. In 1964, the City Clerk became responsible for the regulation and control of the Civic Charities Endorsement Bureau, which was previously administered by the Public Welfare Department. With amalgamation in 1972, the City Clerk’s Department for the former City of Winnipeg took on this role for the new City of Winnipeg (1972-).

There have been seventeen City Clerks since the incorporation of Winnipeg as follows: A.M. Brown (1874-1883); C.J. Brown (1883-1926); M. Peterson (1926-1935); G.F. Bentley (1935-1945); L.M. Ault (1945-1948); G.L. Gardner (1948-1962); J.B. Kinnear (1962-1964); T. Mitchell (1964-1966); J.A. Masson (1966); W.A. Quayle (1966-1976); H.E. Sanger (1976-1979); R.J. Fergusson (1979-1986); M.G. McCullough (1986-1987); R.B. Hayes (1987-1991); D.E. Browton (1992-2000); R. Kachur (2001-2018); and M. Lemoine (2018-present).

The first public parks board for the City of Winnipeg was created in 1893 through By-Law No. 575, which adopted provisions in the Public Parks Act enacted by the Province of Manitoba in 1892. Membership of the Public Parks Board was prescribed in the legislation and initially included the mayor, six councillors and six citizen members. The Board met at least once a month. Circa the late 1940’s, the Public Parks Act was incorporated into the Municipal Act RSM as Chapter 141 Division III. An amendment to the Act dated April 20, 1951 resulted in a change of name: from Public Parks Board or Winnipeg Public Parks Board to Winnipeg Board of Parks and Recreation.

When first established, the Board was involved in acquiring land to create a system of urban parks throughout the City – including Assiniboine and Kildonan Parks. In addition to park development, the Board constructed and operated municipal golf courses and swimming pools, was involved in city beautification through tree planting and boulevard construction and maintenance, provided facilities for recreation, and managed the zoo and municipal cemeteries – including Brookside.

The Board had wide-ranging powers, including the ability to purchase property for park purposes and pass by-laws for the use, regulation, protection and governance of City parks. A committee structure was adopted to facilitate the work of the Board. In 1911, the Board passed By-Law No. 10 to regulate the proceedings and conduct of its committees and officers. Committees established by the Board reflected major responsibilities and initiatives. Periodically, special or sub-committees were formed to address specific issues. These were dissolved once the issue had been resolved. For most of its history, the Standing Committees of the Board were as follows:

Finance Committee
Boulevards and Trees Committee
Parks Committee
Cemetery Committee
Recreation Committee
Golf Committee.

In 1964, following the transfer of golf courses and large urban parks to the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg, the City of Winnipeg held a referendum on the future of the Winnipeg Board of Parks and Recreation. The result of voting on City of Winnipeg By-Law 19003 was 15,144 for and 12,537 against the dissolution of the Winnipeg Board of Parks and Recreation. By-Law 19060 then established the Committee on Parks and Recreation, which took over all of the duties and responsibilities of the Winnipeg Board of Parks and Recreation effective January 1, 1965.

Formed by four Controllers, the Board of Control was added to the City Council in 1907 in accordance with By-Law 4148. The Board of Control was elected annually by a vote of the entire city to conduct the executive work of the City of Winnipeg. As the executive body, responsibilities of the Board of Control included financial matters, the calling of tenders and awarding of contracts, directing and controlling departments, the nomination of all heads and subheads of departments and other permanent employees, inspecting and reporting to Council on municipal works within the city, and generally administering the affairs of the city (excepting the Public Schools and Police Department). The Board of Control was abolished by vote at the end of 1918.

The City of Winnipeg was incorporated in 1873 by a charter granted by the legislature of Manitoba. At incorporation, the City established a committee system of government: while Council was the governing body for the City, it was in committee that civic policies were formed and executed. The initial task for the first and all subsequent Councils was to strike standing committees for the Council year. In addition to standing committees, Council established special committees and commissions to investigate and manage various projects, issues and questions placed before the City.

The Better Housing Commission was formed in 1966 as specified in Section 707A of The Winnipeg Charter. The Commission consisted of five persons appointed annually by Winnipeg City Council. The Commission heard appeals related to notices issued under By-law No. 19165 (Minimum Standard of Housing Repair By-law). This by-law established minimum standards for the state of repair of the exteriors of residential buildings and of buildings in residential areas, and enabled enforcement. Members of the Commission in its inaugural year were: Alderman S. Rebchuk, George A. Stewart, E. J. W. Akins, T. A. MacFarlen, and Serge Radchuk. With the exception of Serge Radchuk, who was replaced by Fred James in 1967, membership remained the same until the last year of the Commission. The Better Housing Commission ceased operations in 1971 with the formation of Unicity.

The Advisory Traffic Commission was founded in 1936, with the passing of By-Law No. 14849. This By-Law was repealed in 1954, with the founding of the City of Winnipeg Traffic Commission. The Advisory Traffic Commission acted in an advisory capacity on all matters of traffic and pedestrian regulation in Winnipeg. Members of the Commission were appointed by Council.

Examples of Advisory Traffic Commission business were:
-Forming a Traffic Squad in the police department.
-Pedestrian control, including limiting crossing to intersections and crosswalks.
-Requests to erect stop signs at intersections.
-Implementing and regulating parking meters.
-Implementing parking bans.
-Implementing and regulating traffic signal systems.
-Regulating street cars.
-Widening streets.
-Turning restrictions.
-Loading zones.