Manitoba Games leave a lasting legacy

The 2026 Manitoba Winter Games powered by Manitoba Hydro wrapped up March 7 in Thompson, but the impact the multi-sport competition had on the northern community will continue to be felt for sometime to come.

This year’s Games brought together more than 1,100 athletes, coaches, managers and officials from across the province for seven days of competition and camaraderie in the so-called Hub of the North. Last time Thompson hosted the Games back in 2018, they helped generate more than $1.7 million in economic activity including a $591,696 boost to the provincial GDP.

As notable as those numbers are, the most enduring impact the event has on a host community is the lasting legacy it leaves behind, says Todd Hardwood, co-executive director of the 2026 Games. To put things in perspective, consider the facility improvements that were conducted in the lead-up to this year’s Games:

Sound system upgrades to C.A. Nesbitt ArenaNew benches in the dressing rooms at Thompson Regional Community CentreThe addition of public Wi-Fi at the community centreA new scoreboard and shot clocks at Bill Comaskey GymA new gymnasium curtain divider and railing at R.D. Parker CollegiateA new ice scraper, rings and measuring devices for Burntwood Curling ClubA new storage shed and snow machine for trail maintenance at the Thompson Community Ski Trails Cross-Country Ski TrailsUpgrades to the change rooms at Mystery Mountain Winter Park“In my opinion, I think the biggest benefit of hosting the Games was we were able to partner with our school division and the City of Thompson to do some really big, public-facing projects,” says Harwood, who shared co-executive director duties for the Games with Cristy Andres.

The workplace essential: Promoting financial well-being for employees

As Canadians continue to struggle with savings has become more challenging. As a result, in workplaces across the country, employees are looking to their employers to help them get better prepared for their financial future.

This is where a comprehensive group savings program can help employers provide that support, making it possible for employees to gain a better sense of control about both their financial present and future.

The emphasis is on “comprehensive.”

“What’s different today is the financial wellness focus that a good group savings program includes,” explains Rob Hotel, Vice President, RBC Group Advantage, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nunavut and Western Ontario (MSNWO). “Through our program, for example, our advisors provide personalized and holistic financial advice to employees around top-of-mind topics like budgeting, credit, debt management, home purchase, education, wills, estate planning and retirement planning. We want to help employees better understand how to manage their expenses today and be able to build savings to reach their financial goals.”

Stronger together: businesses for health care innovation

"Supporting the Operation Excellence campaign reflects CGl's commitment to strengthening the health and well-being of the communities where we live and work. We're proud to support initiatives that improve access to care for Manitobans."- Dean Bosch, Senior Vice-President, CG/ in Canada

Thanks to CGl's contribution, we're helping improve surgical wait times for Manitobans.

Learn more about our Corporate Challenge at OperationExcellence.caor call 204-515-5612 or toll-free at 1-800-679-8493.

Inspired and Grateful

“For a variety of health reasons, about one in four of my patients are not candidates for traditional minimally invasive surgery. Some might be eligible for major open surgery; for others, there has been no surgical option at all. That changed with the acquisition of a donor-funded surgical robot. With the robot, these patients are getting the surgical care they need and going home with minimal pain, sometimes just hours after surgery. For these patients, robotic surgery is a gamechanger. And it’s only been possible because ofHSC Foundation donors. Your gifts are changing what we can do for our patients. Your gifts are saving lives. I am inspired by – and grateful for – what donors make possible.”

– Dr. Alon Altman, Gynecologic Oncologist, Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg

Robot-assisted surgery improves patient outcomes and hospital performance, helping patients recover and go home sooner, which frees up beds, improves patient flow, and eases pressure on the Emergency Department. With your support of the HSC Foundation’s Operation Excellence campaign surgeons at HSC can have access to leading-edge technology so they can do their best work for Manitobans. Help us make our next investments in surgical excellence. Please donate today.

Thank you for giving comfort to families and kids

When children are in hospital, especially for long stretches of time, it affects the whole family. Caregivers and kids can all feel stressed, overwhelmed and scared. That’s why at Children’s Hospital Foundation of Manitoba, we’re so grateful for the experts and donor-supported programs that help families and kids like Calvin cope while in treatment at Manitoba’s only children’s hospital.

In January of 2025, Calvin started to get very sick. At first parents Hannah and Scott thought he had the flu, but his symptoms escalated quickly. He began vomiting, complained of a severe headache, and became unusually sleepy. When he struggled to stay awake, they knew the situation was serious and he needed HSC Children’s Hospital Emergency.

In emergency, testing confirmed Calvin had meningitis and he was admitted to HSC Children’s where he stayed for about a week. Emergency was the first stop for Calvin, but to this day he still relies on the care at HSC Children’s.

Calvin lives with an autoimmune disorder called myasthenia gravis, which was well managed until his bout with meningitis and after his first stay Calvin had more flare ups of pain. Between January to March, he ended up at Children’s Hospital Emergency six more times overnight before a final 16-day stretch as an inpatient where he needed imaging, testing, medication, pain management and a nasogastric (NG) tube for nutrition.

Who are You walking For?

Every year, Manitobans come together at the IG Wealth Management Walk for Alzheimer’s to support the work of the Alzheimer Society, so families living with dementia have a place to turn for guidance and resources.

Some are first-timers, others are seasoned Walkers now joined by their children or grandchildren. Whether you’re walking for a parent, a grandparent, a spouse or a friend — or alongside your workplace team — we all have a reason to Walk.

Chelsea’s TeamChelsea Bernhard began walking in her mother’s memory more than 10 years ago.

“My mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at just 48 years old. I was in my early 30s and unsure what to expect,” says Chelsea. “It was tough, but the support from the Society helped guide us through the next steps.”

Explore Ukrainian Canadian culture

The Shevchenko Foundation (TSF) is excited about the upcoming KOBZAR Book Award Presentation at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights – an evening celebrating Canadian authors and their Ukrainian Canadian stories.

Since settling in Canada over 130 years ago, Ukrainians have continued to make a significant contribution to shaping the Canadian mosaic. This Award honours the fascinating and diverse stories that spotlight the Ukrainian Canadian cultural legacy. This year’s KOBZAR Book Award entries include a biography, non-fiction, and graphic novel, one of which will be awarded the $25,000 prize.

The literary arts are just one facet of this leading nation-wide charitable organization that has worked for over 60 years to preserve, promote, and develop Ukrainian Canadian culture.

Thanks to the generosity of donors, TSF distributes in excess of $1 million annually in grants and community sponsorships for projects that support the dynamic, ever-growing Ukrainian community and fuel the creativity of its artists. Last year, 61 organizations and 55 individual artists across 8 provinces received funding in one of the four pillars that inspire the work of TSF – Arts, Community Development, Heritage Preservation, and Education.

Connecting Communities and Empowering Progress

In today’s digitally driven world, reliable and secure connectivity is no longer a luxury—it’s a business essential. This is especially true for organizations with operations spread across rural and remote areas, where infrastructure gaps can slow down productivity and limit growth. For Sunrise Credit Union, which serves more than 35,000 members across 19 branches across Southwestern Manitoba, improving connectivity was a key step in continuing to meet the needs of their communities.

In 2023, Sunrise Credit Union began looking to modernize their digital infrastructure. “Our existing systems were functional but outdated,” said Kelly Scott, Vice President of IT at Sunrise. “We were ready for a more future-forward solution that could grow with us.”

After weighing their options, Sunrise met with an out of province technology partner, SaskTel. Saskatchewan’s leading communications provider is best known in their home province, yet SaskTel has been steadily expanding its footprint, working with organizations across Western Canada that need customized, high-performance connectivity solutions.

From the very beginning, SaskTel approached the project differently. “They didn’t come in just trying to sell us something,” Scott noted. “They listened. They spent time learning about our needs, our environment, our challenges. Then they came back with a strategy designed specifically for us — not a one-size-fits-all plan.”

Continuing a family tradition of eyecare in Winnipeg

Just one year after opening its first store in Winnipeg, Specsavers has doubled its presence in the province, growing from seven stores to 16. Specsavers stores are owned and run by local eyecare experts such as Lorenzo Sciarretta, Retail Partner at the Winnipeg West and Portage Avenue in Real Canadian Superstore locations. Now a Registered Optician, Lorenzo began his career as an optometrist in Italy.

“My father was an optometrist who owned four stores,” Lorenzo explains. “I started working with lenses and frames at the age of 10 and knew this was where my career would be.”

After arriving in Canada, Lorenzo shifted to opticianry and worked for several companies before joining Specsavers last year. The Specsavers difference, he says, is making great quality products and care accessible to everyone.

“My goal is to provide customers with a product that is more than a vision aid – it’s a fashion statement, an accessory for every day,” he says.

Operation Excellence: A community campaign for surgical innovation at HSC

| With donors stepping forward to support Operation Excellence, HSC is purchasing and deploying new, state-of-the-art surgical and diagnostic equipment, and is developing new spaces for surgery and patient care.

With the goal to reduce diagnostic and surgical wait lists, your continued support will make a difference for generations of Manitobans.

Learn more and donate at OperationExcellence.ca or call 204-515-5612 or toll-free at 1-800-679-8493.

Protecting participants: Why your voice belongs on research ethics boards

Imagine living with a health condition and being invited to take part in a research study that could change the future of treatment for you and countless others.

Would you fully understand what you are agreeing to? Would the risks be clearly explained? Would you feel pressured to participate, or confident in your rights? These questions sit at the heart of research ethics, and they are exactly why community members play a critical role on research ethics boards.

Across Manitoba, hundreds of research studies each year are reviewed for ethical and privacy concerns, before research can begin. These reviews are not carried out only by scientists or health system professionals. They also rely on everyday Manitobans who bring lived experience, and public accountability into the process. For many health research projects, these reviews are carried out by committee members of the Manitoba provincial research ethics board called CHIPER (Committee for Harmonized Health Impact, Privacy and Ethics Reviews).

Community members ensure that research is examined not only through technical and scientific standards, but also through the lens of the patients, participants, and impacted communities. Their presence helps safeguard dignity, privacy and informed consent, strengthening public trust in the research system.

“There’s a Growth Inside Your Head”

Max Erenberg will never forget when his excruciating head pain began. It was in April 2021, the same weekend as the Masters Tournament, and the National Hockey League was amid a COVID-1g-induced “bubble season.”

Working as the Manager of Research and Data Analysis for the Winnipeg Jets, Erenberg remembers that weekend being filled with three things: watching golf, working, and a killer headache.

Erenberg assumed the headache was stress-related. Work was busy, and with the pandemic hitting the world, a lot of life was still uncertain. So, he decided to push through.

Over a week later, Erenberg couldn't handle the constant pain. His family had a history of migraines, so Erenberg's doctor thought it might just be a particularly bad migraine. After that week of constant pain, and a bout of throwing up, Erenberg was sent for a CT scan. “I was on the bathroom floor at home when they called me with the results. The doctor's exact words were: ‘It doesn't look like a tumour, and no one is particularly alarmed yet, but there is a growth inside your head,”’ says Erenberg.

Operation Excellence: A community campaign for surgical innovation at HSC

| With donors stepping forward to support Operation Excellence, HSC is purchasing and deploying new, state-of-the-art surgical and diagnostic equipment, and is developing new spaces for surgery and patient care.

With the goal to reduce diagnostic and surgical wait lists, your continued support will make a difference for generations of Manitobans.

Learn more and donate at OperationExcellence.ca or call 204-515-5612 or toll-free at 1-800-679-8493.

I belong.

Claire is an energetic and determined eight-year-old who radiates joy and resilience. Her life was forever altered in 2021 with a diagnosis of Acute Flaccid Myelitis, secondary to West Nile virus. This rare condition resulted in nerve damage and partial paralysis. Despite ongoing challenges, Claire faces each day with courage and a contagious spirit.

Thanks to donor generosity, Claire is able to access expert and life-changing support from the Rehabilitation Centre for Children. She is cared for by dedicated professionals who support her mobility through wheelchair and walker adjustments, orthotic leg supports and monitoring her condition regularly. The specialized help she receives ensures Claire remains active, stays healthy and as independent as possible.

Your support of the Children’s Rehabilitation Foundation is integral to the Centre continuing to be a national leader in pediatric rehabilitation. Donor contributions fuel advancements in leading edge equipment and technology, vital programs, clinical services and research.

Your generosity helps Claire THRIVE. Thanks to donor funding, Claire and her peers are able to overcome barriers and connect more fully with their families, classmates, friends and communities.

Why it’s important to read your water meter

If you call the City’s Utility Billing Centre right now, you might be waiting longer than you want to. Our call takers are working to respond to a higher number of requests than usual.

“We are receiving more customer calls now than we have in the past,” says Lisa Marquardson, spokesperson for the Water and Waste Department of the City of Winnipeg. “Unfortunately, we can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to respond to residents’ concerns in a timely manner.”

You might be able to avoid calling us, simply by providing regular meter readings.

The problem with estimated bills