OTTAWA -- Dozens of infrastructure projects in Manitoba received the gift of time from the federal government Thursday when Prime Minister Stephen Harper extended the economic stimulus construction deadline by seven months.

The extension -- until Oct. 31, 2011 -- gives another full construction season to finish the projects which might otherwise have died midstream or before they even got going if the government stuck to its guns about pulling funding from any projects incomplete by March 31. The only caveat is that the projects have to be at least underway by March 31.

Harper said more than 90 per cent of the projects are expected to be completed by the end of next March but the extension is warranted for the "small" number of projects hit by bad weather or "Murphy's Law."

"There are a number of organizations that were very concerned," said Manitoba Infrastructure Minister Steve Ashton.

Ashton sent a letter to Ottawa in early October warning there were several dozen "high risk" projects that were unlikely to be completed by the March 31, 2011 deadline.

Out of 207 federal stimulus projects approved in Manitoba, one third are finished and one third are more than half done. But as of Oct. 31, there were 57 projects which were less than half done and nine which hadn't even started yet.

Six of those are recreational pathways in Winnipeg. The city had 36 pathways planned under the stimulus plan, but six were delayed due to property negotiations and public consultations. Construction can't begin on those six until the spring.

Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz said he expected Ottawa would be reasonable and was pleased to see the extension.

The move takes pressure off Youth For Christ Winnipeg, which faced a March 31 deadline to raise another $3.57 million toward the completion of its $13.2-million Centre for Youth Excellence at the north end of the Main Street strip.

Salvation Army Commissioner John Nelson hadn't yet heard about the extension Thursday but said it was great news for the new Multicultural Family Centre under construction on Morrow Avenue.

Ground was broken on the $4.5-million project in July but construction delays have put the building behind and it won't be done by the end of March, said Nelson.

"We'll appreciate the extension," he said. "That will be wonderful."

The centre, which provides programming and transition help for new immigrants, received $1.5 million from both the province and Ottawa. The Salvation Army contributed the remaining $1.5 million.

Nelson said the extension until October gives more than enough time to get the building done.

The stimulus plan in Manitoba totals $694.5 million, with $271.4 million coming from Ottawa and $245.3 million coming from the province. The remainder came from municipal governments and the private sector.

Some project heads said they had planned to get around the looming deadline by completing the parts of their project associated with the federal cash first.

Virden Mayor Jeff McConnell said the federally-funded components of the $17-million multi-use recreational facility underway in Virden are on target to be done by the end of March.

-- with files from Bartley Kives and the Canadian Press

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca