A couple threads connect an insurance-focused artificial intelligence company and a Type 2 diabetes research firm.

First, both are based in Manitoba. Second, both received notable loans from the provincial government.

Manitoba green-lit last month a $475,000 loan for JasperVOCAL, which is expanding its AI footprint. The province also slated $300,000 for biotech company Scimar Ltd.

It’s through a program meant to “create good jobs here at home,” Business Minister Jamie Moses said in a statement.

The off-season in football is when your overall systems are developed and confirmed. During the pre-season is when you install the new offensive or defensive system and practise it throughout training camp.

The players understand it and the coaches believe in it. The plan is clear.

Then the first game happens. As the saying goes, “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

Suddenly, your systems don’t work. On offence, drives stall because timing is off and execution is uneven. On defence, missed assignments lead to big gains. By halftime, the scoreboard is not kind.

Farmers may have difficulty seeing the opportunity lurking in the fertilizer prices skyrocketing alongside those military drones soaring over the Middle East.

After all, these are times that test the fortitude of any optimist.

Farmers can’t do anything about the sticker price on crop nutrients, but the latest annual Fertilizer Canada survey tracking their use suggests they have more latitude to adjust their purchases.

The current economics around crop fertility may accomplish what environmental and climate change lobbyists have been advocating for years. Farmers may be driven to accept the science and adopt different technologies — both new and old — that improve how efficiently they feed their crops.

Vacation home prices are expected to rise this year, according to Royal LePage.

The real estate company released its annual Spring Recreational Property Report on Thursday. The report forecasts the median price of a single-family home in Manitoba’s recreational regions will increase 5.5 per cent year over year in 2026 — 1.5 per cent more than the national average.

The weighted median price of a single-family home in Manitoba increased 4.6 per cent year over year in 2025 to $281,400, according to the report. Meanwhile, the median weighted median price of a single-family, waterfront property increased 5.7 per cent year over year to $477,400 during the same period.

“Several years have now passed since the gold-rush (COVID-19) pandemic era that saw recreational property prices rise at a record pace,” Phil Soper, Royal LePage’s chief executive, said in a news release.

A couple threads connect an insurance-focused artificial intelligence company and a Type 2 diabetes research firm.

First, both are based in Manitoba. Second, both received notable loans from the provincial government.

Manitoba green-lit last month a $475,000 loan for JasperVOCAL, which is expanding its AI footprint. The province also slated $300,000 for biotech company Scimar Ltd.

It’s through a program meant to “create good jobs here at home,” Business Minister Jamie Moses said in a statement.