Business

Opinion

To contribute last-minute or not?

It’s RRSP season again — is it worth additions amid other ways to save?

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026

Canadians have great tools to save tax-deferred or tax-free for the future — and the granddaddy of them all is the registered retirement savings plan.

The calendar now turned to February, RRSPs are on the minds of many, with the March 2 deadline looming for the last contributions for 2025.

Yet in the context of the other ways to save — the tax-free savings account (TFSA) and the newer, first home savings account (FHSA) — the RRSP is not always the most attractive place to park, invest and grow money.

The ideal is to fund all of these savings vehicles, based on need, to their annual maximums.

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Business

WEL Manitoba closes 3rd fund fully subscribed

1 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

Women’s Equity Lab Manitoba has closed its third fund fully subscribed at 60 limited partners.

It marks the first time in the all-women angel investment fund’s three-year history a fund has reached full subscription, WEL Manitoba announced in a release on Friday.

With each limited partner contributing $5,000 in investment capital, the fund will deploy $300,000 into three to five early-stage, Canadian-headquartered, technology-enabled startups.

Cheque sizes will range from $35,000 to $80,000 per company. Active investing in portfolio companies begins this summer.

Opinion

Magnifico Time zones abstract concept vector illustration. Time standard, international business coordination, meeting management, utc converter, gmt, world clock calculator, jet lag abstract metaphor.

More time at work is not always more productive work

Tory McNally 5 minute read Preview

More time at work is not always more productive work

Tory McNally 5 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

There is a quiet assumption built into many workplaces that more time equals more value.

The employee who answers emails late into the evening is seen as committed. The manager who skips lunch and powers through 12-hour days is admired for their work ethic. The team that keeps stretching to absorb one more vacancy, one more project, one more urgent ask is praised for stepping up.

It feels productive. It looks productive. But often, it is not.

Canada’s productivity conversation has increasingly focused on a simple but important measure: output per hour worked. In other words, what are we actually producing for the time we are putting in?

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2:01 AM CDT

Opinion

Seeding clock ticks loudly on Prairie fields

Seeding clock ticks loudly on Prairie fields

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Preview

Seeding clock ticks loudly on Prairie fields

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

If the forecast holds, Manitoba fields will be crawling with equipment this week, as the race to seed this year’s crop begins.

An early-May start to seeding is right on track by historical standards, but still feels late this year, partly because it’s been so cold. Seeding dates have been edging earlier over time, especially for crops such as wheat, as farmers discover they can get away with super-early seeding under the right circumstances.

Due to the compressed growing season characteristic to this part of the world, it’s well-documented the later the crop is seeded, the lower it yields. However, seed too early and there’s a risk that a late-spring frost will force farmers to reseed some fields.

For most, it’s a gamble worth taking.

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2:01 AM CDT

Opinion

Lessons learned as customer experience judge

Tim Kist 4 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

For the fifth consecutive year, I will serve as a judge for the Customer Centricity World Series Awards. The role gives me a unique opportunity to review customer experience programs from organizations around the world across multiple industries.

It is truly an honour to be selected. More importantly, it provides me with unparalleled access to how successful organizations deliberately create experiences that build trust, loyalty and repeat business.

One insight continues to stand out: the most successful organizations do not treat customer experience as a recovery system, they treat it as a value-delivery system.

This distinction matters because I see too many companies still approaching customer experience as only important after a customer is frustrated. A complaint emerges, a delivery is missed or a problem escalates. Resources are then mobilized to “save” the customer relationship.

Opinion

Financial literacy’s blind spot

Winnipeg, U.K. economic experts team up to better understand poverty trap

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Winnipeg, U.K. economic experts team up to better understand poverty trap

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

Money know-how is essential to survival no matter where you live in the world. Without adequate financial literacy, it’s difficult to achieve what many experts in the field call “financial well-being.”

A growing field of research suggests one reason financial literacy initiatives have failed to make in-roads, especially for low-income individuals, is because they do not address the many facets of financial well-being, says one of the leading experts in the field.

“Financial well-being for most people is about a balance, and what you see quite strongly is that it really has a social component,” says Adele Atkinson, a professor at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Atkinson, who will be in Winnipeg this week, is a member of the university’s well-respected Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM). She says financial well- being goes beyond long-term financial security.

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2:01 AM CDT

Business

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Nicolas Audette and Pascal Fournier-Audette, 3, pick out local and Ontario-grown tomatoes Thursday at Jardins St-Léon Gardens, which opened this week for the gardening season.

Local garden centres rev up even as cold temperatures delay outdoor planting season

Malak Abas 5 minute read Preview

Local garden centres rev up even as cold temperatures delay outdoor planting season

Malak Abas 5 minute read Yesterday at 7:36 PM CDT

Colin Rémillard is obsessed with the weather.

When he and his family opened Winnipeg gardener’s staple Jardins St-Léon Gardens for the 2026 season on Wednesday, it came after weeks of chilly weather. But with staff itching to go — and customers waiting — they decided to open the doors after a “mad dash” to bring in produce and tag every product in the store one day earlier.

“Everything seemed to roll fairly well. We’re in good shape. It’s going to be a colder spring, that’s just reality,” Rémillard said from the garden centre Friday.

“We’ve had really nice springs for the past one or two years. We always remember only one year in the past, so we think this is unusual, but it is pretty normal to have this amount of cold.”

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Yesterday at 7:36 PM CDT

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Business

Winnipeg major link in new Flix passenger bus Prairies route

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Wednesday, Apr. 29, 2026

An international bus company will launch next month a route connecting Manitobans to Regina and Calgary.

It’s the start of what could be a greater expansion, according to Flix North America leadership.

“We’re really excited to be able to expand into what we feel like is an underserved market,” said Rafi Tumarkin, Flix’s business development team lead in Canada.

Beginning in May, Flix will run motorcoaches between Winnipeg and Regina four times per week. The motorcoaches will leave at night and stop in Brandon on the way west.

Business

Blacksmith Parlour seeking new ownership

Blacksmith Parlour seeking new ownership

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Preview

Blacksmith Parlour seeking new ownership

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2026

Steven Zacharuk nailed it and now he’s moving on.

The 35-year-old entrepreneur is selling Blacksmith Parlour. His asking price for the Winnipeg salon, which specializes in men’s grooming needs, is $142,500.

Located at 289 Garry St., Blacksmith Parlour offers hair removal services and hand and foot treatments in a setting that features oversized leather chairs, TVs and a selection of spirits and beer, as well as non-alcoholic beverages.

Featuring a rustic industrial feel and low lighting, the salon opened for business in February 2017. Its slogan is “Nails for males.”

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Tuesday, Apr. 28, 2026

Opinion

DIY starter kit It’s never been easier, cheaper to do-it-yourself invest … just remember to keep it diversified

DIY starter kit It’s never been easier, cheaper to do-it-yourself invest … just remember to keep it diversified

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

DIY starter kit It’s never been easier, cheaper to do-it-yourself invest … just remember to keep it diversified

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Apr. 25, 2026

Reality frequently suggests we do not live in the best of all possible worlds.

Yet from a do-it-yourself investor (DIY) perspective, perhaps present times do represent the best of all possible worlds.

DIYers have plenty of well- designed, easy to access and use discount brokerages to choose from — be it offerings from the big six banks or fintechs. Today, you can easily set up a self-directed account to trade stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and even options at relatively low cost from a smartphone or laptop in a matter of minutes.

And in the last few years, most platforms have begun offering commission-free trading.

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Saturday, Apr. 25, 2026

Opinion

Freepik

Why good employees struggle in wrong workplace

Tory McNally 7 minute read Preview

Why good employees struggle in wrong workplace

Tory McNally 7 minute read Saturday, Apr. 25, 2026

A manager once told me about an employee she couldn’t figure out. In one role, he had been described as disengaged, resistant to feedback and difficult with his team. When he joined her department, she braced herself. She expected the same issues to surface within weeks.

But they didn’t.

Instead, she found someone thoughtful and collaborative. He asked good questions. He followed through. He even became a steady influence on newer staff.

Months later, she called his previous manager, partly out of curiosity. “I don’t understand,” she said. “He’s doing really well here.” There was a long pause on the other end of the line before the response came back. “That’s not the version of him we saw.”

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Saturday, Apr. 25, 2026

Opinion

Food safety, security concerns evergreen

Food safety, security concerns evergreen

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Preview

Food safety, security concerns evergreen

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Saturday, Apr. 25, 2026

Readers are always quick to respond with comments, questions and even the occasional correction when I write about the tools of modern agriculture, such as GMOs and pesticides.

Last week’s column contained an error.

The column highlighted the risk to Canada’s mustard industry from a new variety called InVigor Gold.

I mistakenly stated the variety is a herbicide-tolerant canola built from borrowed genes from its mustard cousin.

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Saturday, Apr. 25, 2026
Financial literacy’s blind spot

Winnipeg, U.K. economic experts team up to better understand poverty trap

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Winnipeg, U.K. economic experts team up to better understand poverty trap

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read 2:01 AM CDT

Money know-how is essential to survival no matter where you live in the world. Without adequate financial literacy, it’s difficult to achieve what many experts in the field call “financial well-being.”

A growing field of research suggests one reason financial literacy initiatives have failed to make in-roads, especially for low-income individuals, is because they do not address the many facets of financial well-being, says one of the leading experts in the field.

“Financial well-being for most people is about a balance, and what you see quite strongly is that it really has a social component,” says Adele Atkinson, a professor at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Atkinson, who will be in Winnipeg this week, is a member of the university’s well-respected Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM). She says financial well- being goes beyond long-term financial security.

Read
2:01 AM CDT

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