Business

Business

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Trade Minister Jamie Moses speaking at the event. Federal and Provincial governments announce funding for airside development at the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport for trade infrastructure Friday. Federal minister, Dr. Doug Eyolfson, Trade Minister Jamie Moses, Mayor Scott Gillingham, Nick Hays, president and CEO, Winnipeg Airports Authority and Carly Edmundson, CEO of CentrePort Canada Inc. gathered with other key players to speak about the development at the airport at the event. See story. Feb 27th, 2026

Manitoba to open India trade office

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Wednesday, May. 20, 2026

Instead of being stationed on Broadway, a Manitoba government employee will set up their own office — in India.

The New Democrats will today announce their plans to open a trade office in the South Asia country.

“We’re going to be continuing to expand our global presence,” said Business Minister Jamie Moses.

Government has slated $150,000 for the trade office, including the representative’s salary. A request for proposal will be posted online Tuesday, Moses said.

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Opinion

Need for farm innovation never greater

Need for farm innovation never greater

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Preview

Need for farm innovation never greater

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

Surging Canadian demand for organic foods is a dilemma for primary agricultural sector and policy makers.

At a time when Canada is actively trying to diversify its exports, increase its own nutritional self-sufficiency and bolster its food-processing sector, it makes sense to find ways to meet this growth head-on without compromising the much larger supply chain for conventionally grown crops.

The latest market research report conducted on behalf of the Canadian Organic Trade Association shows consumer demand for organic has grown by nearly 32 per cent to $11.88 billion over the past three years.

It is also a leading exporter, with sales of $2.58 billion.

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Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

Business

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Canadian Museum for Human Rights CEO Isha Khan (left) speaks with Amanda Buhse, Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce board chair, at a chamber luncheon on Friday.

Everyday business is human rights work: CMHR chief executive

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Preview

Everyday business is human rights work: CMHR chief executive

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

There’s war, disease spread, attacks on minority groups globally.

But when the head of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights addressed Manitoba business leaders, she offered more narrow advice: start by looking inwards.

“Every single person in this room is already doing human rights work,” Isha Khan told Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce members during a Friday luncheon.

Spread among the tables in the Delta Hotels ballroom were slips of paper saying “Imagine,” with blank spaces underneath. The sheets are usually found on the national museum’s seventh floor.

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Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

Business

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Business Minister Jamie Moses (from left), Minister of Advanced Education and Training Renée Cable and Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs Rebecca Chartrand check out a robotic manufacturing training machine at RRC Polytech in Winnipeg after the announcement Friday of Canada-Manitoba funding to retrain workers impacted by global tariffs.

Governments launch program for tariff-impacted workers

Free Press staff 2 minute read Preview

Governments launch program for tariff-impacted workers

Free Press staff 2 minute read Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

The federal and provincial governments are directing $18.2 million to retrain Manitoba workers impacted by tariffs.

Money through the new Canada-Manitoba Workforce Tariff Response could reach upwards of 2,100 workers, including those who are unemployed or participating in work-sharing agreements, a government news release says.

Sectors such as agriculture, construction, manufacturing and transportation will be targeted. Workers may upskill or retrain to meet the needs of evolving industries or to gain skills for in-demand jobs.

The $18.2 million will be spread over three years.

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Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

Opinion

Marketers not trained in marketing?

Tim Kist 4 minute read Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

A recent IPSOS survey asked marketers 10 questions designed to determine their level of basic marketing knowledge. In Canada, of the 350 respondents, only 31 per cent achieved a passing grade of seven correct answers.

I would suggest many Canadian companies stay in business because their competitors’ marketing capabilities are even worse than their own.

This survey result was alarming because it speaks to the credibility of marketers and the ability to drive profitable revenue growth and customer value. If we don’t understand basic marketing concepts, how can we have the organizational trust from our colleagues that what we propose to spend and where we recommend spending it is actually in the company’s best interest?

My first Free Press article, nearly eight years ago, was titled: “Marketing is more than making it pretty.” While a bit tongue-in-cheek, I made the case marketing is much more than just creating advertisements and hosting parties.

Opinion

Return to office mandate keys: clarity, consistency, consideration

Return to office mandate keys: clarity, consistency, consideration

Tory McNally 6 minute read Preview

Return to office mandate keys: clarity, consistency, consideration

Tory McNally 6 minute read Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

A recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision is prompting renewed conversation across Canada about remote work, employer authority and what happens when expectations about where work is performed are not clearly set out.

While the case itself is rooted in B.C., the implications are relevant for employers in Manitoba and elsewhere who are continuing to refine their return to office strategies in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world.

At the heart of the discussion is a simple but important question: if an employee was hired during a period when remote work was widely accepted or even standard, can an employer later require that employee to return to the workplace full time?

The court’s message, in essence, reinforces something many employment lawyers have been emphasizing since pandemic restrictions eased: remote work is not automatically a permanent entitlement.

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Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

Opinion

Arlyn McAdorey / THE CANADIAN PRESS FIFA World Cup 2026 branding is displayed on city hall during a men’s World Cup trophy tour event at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto.

Beautiful game’s big price tag: soccer fans face record ticket costs for World Cup

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Beautiful game’s big price tag: soccer fans face record ticket costs for World Cup

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

The world’s soccer fans will converge on Toronto and Vancouver in a few days for the start of the 2026 men’s World Cup, revelling in the euphoria (and deep disappointment) that often is endemic to the planet’s premier sporting event.

Undoubtedly, many hope to scream “goal” as their favoured nation scores and clinches a victory. Yet the biggest winner is arguably FIFA, the global organization running the World Cup and other vaunted soccer events.

The non-profit is forecast to rake in more than $10 billion from the event, double that of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

What’s more, Canada — with Toronto and Vancouver as host cities — is expected to see an additional $3.8 billion in economic activity from the event.

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Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

More Business

Business

Doors Open to Winnipeg’s mystery, history

Doors Open to Winnipeg’s mystery, history

Aaron Epp 5 minute read Preview

Doors Open to Winnipeg’s mystery, history

Aaron Epp 5 minute read Monday, Jun. 1, 2026

It’s easy to travel past the Manitoba Buddhist Temple and not even notice it.

Situated on the corner of Tecumseh Street and Winnipeg Avenue, next to a Health Sciences Centre parkade, the white and brown building is home to a congregation formed in 1948 that belongs to the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism.

The congregation invited the public into the temple on Sunday as part of Doors Open Winnipeg, the annual weekend-long celebration organized by Heritage Winnipeg that allows visitors to take free tours of unique locales.

“(We participate) so that people know we’re here,” said Tanis Moore, an ordained spiritual leader at the temple.

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Monday, Jun. 1, 2026

Opinion

MATTHEW FRANK / THE CARILLON FILES Piles of dried distillers grain are among the byproducts from the ethanol production process. The grain can be used as livestock feed.

Awaiting next stage in biofuels balancing act

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Preview

Awaiting next stage in biofuels balancing act

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Saturday, May. 30, 2026

There was a lot of mixed messaging over the role agriculture plays in climate change mitigation during the Justin Trudeau era, when the federal government was heavily focused on making the Canadian economy less dependent on carbon-based fuels.

“On the one hand, the federal government, for the last 10 years anyway, has certainly seen our crops as traditional food commodities and has treated their emissions as climate threats,” Grain Growers of Canada executive director Bruce Burrows told a recent webinar discussing Canada’s Clean Fuel Regulation (CFR).

“Yet on the other hand, under CFR, we’re celebrating these exact same crops when they’re turned into fuel, and so … it’s not food or fuel, it’s both.”

The identity crisis was further complicated by Canada’s increasingly testy relationship with its next-door neighbour and largest trading partner.

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Saturday, May. 30, 2026

Opinion

Magnific The challenge for intrigued investors is separating scientific fact from fiction, says Kenneth Lamont, principal researcher at Morningstar specializing in emerging technologies, based in London. ‘You may be completely correct on the importance of a new technology, but the horse you bet on could just fizzle out for the wrong reasons.’

Investors can roll dice on emerging technologies that may or may not shape future, portfolios’ net worth

Joel Schlesinger 5 minute read Preview

Investors can roll dice on emerging technologies that may or may not shape future, portfolios’ net worth

Joel Schlesinger 5 minute read Saturday, May. 30, 2026

We live in hyperstitious times.

A philosopher named Nick Land coined the word hyperstition in the 1990s, describing the sense of living today in science fiction of the past.

Investors may have that same sensation, given the dominance of artificial intelligence in their portfolios.

Yet AI is arguably more than an advanced chat-bot/search engine. It is “the fabric that’s binding” together a lot of other science fiction-like technologies, moving them closer to viable commercialization, says Mickey Ganguly, associate portfolio manager for the CIBC Technology Innovation Fund.

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Saturday, May. 30, 2026

Opinion

Magnific Constructive conflict becomes easier when we stop expecting workplace relationships to meet emotional needs they were never designed to fulfil.

Overcoming workplace conflicts, setting boundaries can create professional resilience

Tory McNally 6 minute read Preview

Overcoming workplace conflicts, setting boundaries can create professional resilience

Tory McNally 6 minute read Saturday, May. 30, 2026

In small industries and close-knit communities, people rarely disappear from your professional life forever.

You may change employers, move into consulting, switch sectors or take on leadership roles, but chances are high you will cross paths with the same people again over the course of your career. The person you struggled with five years ago may become your client, colleague or board member, or sit across from you at a negotiating table. In smaller communities especially, professional relationships have long memories.

That reality changes the way we need to think about workplace conflict and professional boundaries.

Many people enter the workforce believing a good workplace should feel like a family. It sounds warm and positive on the surface, but it can actually create confusion and disappointment.

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Saturday, May. 30, 2026

Business

Reanna khan Two of Do It Differently leadership conference’s four co-organizers: Donavan Robinson and Tamara Kroeker.

Do It Differently leadership event centred on creativity, curiosity

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Preview

Do It Differently leadership event centred on creativity, curiosity

Aaron Epp 3 minute read Friday, May. 29, 2026

Donavan Robinson’s entrepreneurial instincts kicked in when he was in high school, selling snacks and disposable cameras out of his locker to his classmates.

Now 48, the Winnipegger’s professional experience includes heading Vantage Studios, a marketing firm; co-founding the Good Will Social Club, a now-defunct West End music venue; and acquiring, expanding and selling A Little Pizza Heaven.

He currently runs Pop CoLab, a company that includes a retail store and offers professional development centred around play.

“I’ve had probably hundreds of employees, and I wouldn’t say I was very successful in my early years trying to figure out how to navigate that,” Robinson said.

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Friday, May. 29, 2026

Marketers not trained in marketing?

Tim Kist 4 minute read Saturday, Jun. 6, 2026

A recent IPSOS survey asked marketers 10 questions designed to determine their level of basic marketing knowledge. In Canada, of the 350 respondents, only 31 per cent achieved a passing grade of seven correct answers.

I would suggest many Canadian companies stay in business because their competitors’ marketing capabilities are even worse than their own.

This survey result was alarming because it speaks to the credibility of marketers and the ability to drive profitable revenue growth and customer value. If we don’t understand basic marketing concepts, how can we have the organizational trust from our colleagues that what we propose to spend and where we recommend spending it is actually in the company’s best interest?

My first Free Press article, nearly eight years ago, was titled: “Marketing is more than making it pretty.” While a bit tongue-in-cheek, I made the case marketing is much more than just creating advertisements and hosting parties.

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