A Mississauga-based transportation think tank will relocate to Winnipeg, officials from the province and the University of Winnipeg announced yesterday. The move of the Centre for Sustainable Transportation to the university's Institute of Urban Studies will not shift any jobs to Winnipeg from the Toronto area, officials said.

But a national search will soon begin for an academic to lead the centre from Winnipeg, said Jino Distasio, acting director of the Institute of Urban Studies. The province of Manitoba has committed $500,000 to the centre and the university $250,000. Both commitments are spread over five years.

"It's always nice to bring things from Toronto back to Winnipeg," said Lloyd Axworthy, president of the university and a former Liberal cabinet minister. The centre, created in 1996, is a non-profit organization aimed at providing leadership in achieving transportation that is environmentally and economically sustainable. Al Cormier, the centre's president and CEO, said the centre's annual budget of about $500,000 has come from a mix of government and private sources. Officials felt affiliation with a university would help secure increased and more stable funding for future work, he said.

Several universities expressed interest, but the University of Winnipeg submitted a formal proposal that impressed the centre's directors, Cormier said.

The centre's two existing staff, Cormier and research director Richard Gilbert, are retiring, Distasio said. Cormier said they will be available to the Winnipeg staff if needed but are not relocating. Final details are still being worked out, but it's unlikely the centre will keep a Mississauga office as it relocates to Winnipeg over the next two months, Cormier said.

Manitoba Transportation Minister Ron Lemieux said Manitoba is an ideal site for the centre as the country's hub featuring ports, highways, railways and airports. Student Andrew Basham, project co-ordinator of the U of W group Sustainable University Now Sustainable Youth Today, said he believes the centre will contribute to the debate over the future of public transit in Winnipeg.

"I think they're going to make it clear that personal automobiles are unsustainable," said Basham, 21.