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In 1997, the Government of Manitoba established a minimum population threshold of 1,000 to incorporate a municipality. As of the 2011 census, 93 of Manitoba's 197 municipalities had populations less than 1,000. The Government of Manitoba announced in 2012 that municipalities would be required to amalgamate in order for them to meet the minimum population threshold and make them more sustainable communities moving forward. The Municipal Amalgamations Act was subsequently enacted in 2013, requiring that municipalities with a population less than 1,000 amalgamate with one or more neighbouring municipalities by 2015. Two municipalities with populations less than 1,000, the Rural Municipality of Victoria Beach and the Village of Dunnattor, were subsequently exempted from the requirement to amalgamate due to their uniqueness as resort municipalities. In 2013 and 2014, the Government of Manitoba passed legislation to amalgamate 107 municipalities (65 rural municipalities, 25 towns and 17 villages) into 47 effective January 1, 2015. These amalgamations therefore reduced the total number of municipalities in the province from 197 to 137.