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MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Sushi Point owner Olha Vovkotrub outside her restaurant at 238 Portage Ave. The eatery is listed on a new community project that features 138 local businesses, all operated by Ukrainians.

Ukrainian Guide to Winnipeg directory puts focus on area businesses, services run by Ukrainians

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

A new online directory brings together Ukrainian-owned businesses and service providers in Winnipeg.

The brainchild of Mila Shykota, a provincial government worker who immigrated to Winnipeg in 2022 after Russia invaded her native Ukraine, the directory features 138 businesses — a number she says she adds to every day.

“I came up with the idea a year ago, when I initiated a project at work celebrating our diversity, since our team is very multicultural,” Shykota said on Friday.

She invited co-workers to represent their own country in some way, be it cuisine, culture or heritage. She said when she was preparing her own presentation, she decided to collect data on all of the Ukrainian restaurants and souvenir boutiques in Winnipeg so her colleagues could experience her culture.

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Providence forced into cuts in wake of enrolment drop

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Preview

Providence forced into cuts in wake of enrolment drop

Maggie Macintosh 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Providence University College and Theological Seminary is laying off 10 per cent of its workforce and downsizing its academic programming.

The faith-based school, headquartered in Otterburne, is the latest to announce budget cuts connected to a drop in international enrolment.

“We find ourselves in a tough spot,” president Kent Anderson said in an interview during which he likened the federal government’s cap on study permits to “a tsunami.”

“We’ve lost 90 per cent of our international student body and that has created a substantial loss of something close to half our overall revenues.”

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Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

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Providence University College and Theological Seminary has lost close to half of its revenue, president Kent Anderson says.

Hellebuyck stuns Avs top guns again

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read Preview

Hellebuyck stuns Avs top guns again

Mike McIntyre 7 minute read Yesterday at 7:14 PM CDT

Nathan MacKinnon has seen this Connor Hellebuyck movie before. Cale Makar and Devon Toews, too.

A dominant performance from the Olympic gold-medal goaltender powered the Winnipeg Jets to a surprising 3-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre.

Hellebuyck stopped 28 of the 29 shots as the Jets handed the NHL’s No. 1 team just its 12th regulation loss of the season.

MacKinnon, Makar and Toews were all members of the Canadian team that had to settle for silver last month in Milan — undone in large part by Hellebuyck’s heroics and Jack Hughes’ overtime winner.

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Yesterday at 7:14 PM CDT

JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) saves the shot from Colorado Avalanche’s Nazem Kadri (91) during first period action in Winnipeg on Saturday.

Changes to security personnel training needed, forum told

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Preview

Changes to security personnel training needed, forum told

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Yesterday at 5:49 PM CDT

The grandfather of an Indigenous teen who was evicted along with his family from their hotel room while seeking medical care at Health Sciences Centre spoke through tears about the experience during a public forum on security guards on Saturday.

Raymond Robinson is the grandfather of 16-year-old Nicholas Robinson. Nicholas and his mother, Jodie, were kicked out of their Canad Inns hotel room at HSC on Tuesday despite being in the process of extending their stay.

“There are better ways of handling things than the way the were handled,” Raymond said at Saturday’s event held at Canad Inns Polo Park.

The event, hosted by the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of Manitoba, brought together community members, representatives of security companies, and government officials for an open dialogue on improving relationships, accountability, and respectful treatment in Winnipeg’s retail and public spaces.

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Yesterday at 5:49 PM CDT

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Nicholas Robinson, 16, is pushed into a press conference by his mother, Jodie Robinson, on Wednesday.

Mystery grows thicker in police HQ scandal: why was no one charged?

Dan Lett 5 minute read Preview

Mystery grows thicker in police HQ scandal: why was no one charged?

Dan Lett 5 minute read Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

Was a highly suspicious handshake deal to sell an acre of Arizona pasture land enough to create reasonable doubt?

Among all the questions hanging in the air at the inquiry into the Winnipeg Police Service headquarters project, that is perhaps the most important.

Despite the fact the RCMP conducted an intensive, years-long investigation of the awarding and management of the project, and had recommended criminal charges be laid, Manitoba Justice declined. That decision, justice officials would later say, was backed up by an out-of-province review of the file.

It was in that context — finality on the decision not to lay criminal charges — that Premier Wab Kinew ordered a judicial inquiry. After several weeks of testimony, what have we learned?

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Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES
Armik Babakhanians

Time to poll Manitobans on changing clocks: premier

Chris Kitching and Gabrielle Piché 6 minute read Preview

Time to poll Manitobans on changing clocks: premier

Chris Kitching and Gabrielle Piché 6 minute read Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

The province will survey Manitobans about whether to end twice-annual time changes, after B.C. decided to move to year-round daylight time, Premier Wab Kinew announced Friday.

Kinew revealed plans to seek public opinion 10 days after he said his government wasn’t looking to follow B.C. right now because it had other priorities to focus on.

“I understand what B.C. did. Going to that extra hour of evening daylight in the summer is popular,” he told reporters at an unrelated event Friday.

“The reason why I’m not rushing to that is I want us to carefully consider kids going to school in the dark in winter time, and I want us to carefully consider reducing obesity and stroke in our society.”

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Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Premier Wab Kinew revealed plans on Friday on whether to end twice-annual time changes in Manitoba.

Opinion

No time for stolen hours Russell Wangersky 5 minute read Thursday, Mar. 12, 2026
It’s easy drinkin’ green with these St. Paddy’s Day bevvies Ben Sigurdson 4 minute read Yesterday at 3:00 AM CDT
Free period products essential Jen Zoratti 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

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Province injects $2.7M into Concordia Hospital’s cutting-edge spine centre of excellence

Carol Sanders and Chris Kitching 4 minute read Preview

Province injects $2.7M into Concordia Hospital’s cutting-edge spine centre of excellence

Carol Sanders and Chris Kitching 4 minute read Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

Carol Bigold went from being housebound and in agony to climbing a mountain six months after receiving the first high-tech minimally invasive spinal surgery at Concordia Hospital.

“The pain was so severe you had to just not do anything … It would always be there, even when you’re sleeping,” the 74-year-old hiker told a news conference Friday morning at the hospital, where Premier Wab Kinew announced the province was spending $2.7 million to expand the spinal surgery program, reducing wait times and speeding up patient recoveries.

Bigold had been sidelined in recent years by sciatic nerve pain until undergoing surgery last June. In December she hiked up a mountain in England’s Lake District.

“The pain was gone, basically, once the surgery was over,” she said. “The recovery time was just amazing.”

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Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Dr. Jay Toor, orthopedic spine surgeon, shows Premier Wab Kinew how to use the new spinal surgery equipment at Concordia Hospital Friday.

Ruth Bonneville Winnipeg Free Press Feature Seniors - Terisa Taylor Portrait of Terisa Taylor, artist and low-income senior working on one of her latest paintings in her suite Monday. Taylor has to rigorously keep a close watch of her finances as her low income is made up of CPP, GIS and OAS. But, she has found joy, propose and fulfillment in her senior years through working on her art. Story: Extended Feature. Struggling Seniors. How do low-income seniors, particularly those living alone, get by, day by day? Reporter: Janine LeGal Story publication date: Maybe this Saturday, March 7th, Scott Gibbons editor. March 9th,, 2026
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Artist Terisa Taylor, a low-income senior, doesn’t let her financial situation get in the way of creative pursuits and physical activity.

The senior squeeze

Increasingly precarious financial situation of many older Manitobans is accompanied by costs including social isolation and declining physical and mental health

Janine LeGal 14 minute read Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

U.S. beats Canada 5-3, advances to the World Baseball Classic semifinals

Kristie Rieken, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

U.S. beats Canada 5-3, advances to the World Baseball Classic semifinals

Kristie Rieken, The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 12:06 AM CDT

HOUSTON (AP) — Aaron Judge doubled and Pete Crow-Armstrong and Brice Turang each had two hits as the United States beat Canada 5-3 on Friday night to reach the World Baseball Classic semifinals.

The U.S. squad rebounded after an 8-6 loss to Italy in pool play left them needing help to advance to this round.

The Americans move on to face the Dominican Republic in a semifinal on Sunday in Miami, with Paul Skenes starting against the Dominicans' Luis Severino. It will be the team’s third straight appearance in the semifinals and the fourth overall.

It’s another big win for the U.S. over its neighbors to the north, coming after the U.S. hockey team beat Canada 2-1 in overtime to win the gold medal at the Milan Olympics last month.

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Updated: Yesterday at 12:06 AM CDT

United States second baseman Brice Turang (13) hits an RBI single against Canada during the sixth inning of a World Baseball Classic quarterfinal game, Friday, March 13, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Winnipeggers with ties to the Middle East feel impact of war

Kevin Rollason 8 minute read Preview

Winnipeggers with ties to the Middle East feel impact of war

Kevin Rollason 8 minute read Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

Yosef Benarroch’s phone sets off an alarm when Israel’s security forces detect incoming missiles.

He doesn’t have to hide for cover; he’s safe in Winnipeg. But that’s not so for his wife and the rest of his family — they live in Israel.

Benarroch, the retired longtime rabbi at Adas Yeshurun Herzlia, a modern Orthodox synagogue in River Heights, has two phones — one for Canada and one he bought in Israel, which has an app that sends notifications when there’s a missile attack.

“I want it to be on here so I feel some sense of what they are feeling there,” says Benarroch, who works part time at the synagogue while they find his replacement.

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Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Retired Winnipeg rabbi Yosef Benarroch longs to be in Israel with his wife and family as they endure missile attacks but has been unable to secure a flight as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran rages.

Waterfalls in the Pimachiowin Aki site in 2018 (Supplied / Pimachiowin Aki Corporation)

Conservation consternation

Canada, Manitoba lagging behind promise to meet 2030 target of protecting more land and water

Julia-Simone Rutgers 7 minute read Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

Spaniards in town for curling documentary, brush up on the game

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Preview

Spaniards in town for curling documentary, brush up on the game

Taylor Allen 6 minute read Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

Joan Baucells looks out onto the ice at the Fort Rouge Curling Club and pauses for a moment, searching for the right words to describe it.

“This is like a cathedral,” he says.

His home country of Spain is world-renowned for its stunning architecture, but none of those buildings have what this one has to offer: pebbled ice, granite rocks and carbon-fiber brooms.

Oh, and don’t forget an in-house restaurant serving fat boy burgers and poutine.

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Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

‘It’s a culture, it’s more than a sport’

Next Prairie Theatre Exchange season will capitalize on what works

Ben Waldman 4 minute read Preview

Next Prairie Theatre Exchange season will capitalize on what works

Ben Waldman 4 minute read Friday, Mar. 13, 2026

Five Canadian productions are slated for next season at Prairie Theatre Exchange, a downtown institution that’s in the midst of a post-pandemic bounceback under the leadership of artistic director Ann Hodges and managing director Katie Inverarity.

Midway through their first full seasons at the venerable Portage Place company, Hodges and Inverarity have helped oversee a 59 per cent increase in subscriptions with a 27 per cent leap in single-ticket sales compared to 2024.

So when it came time to program PTE’s 54th season and her second at the helm, Hodges — who inherited the artistic mantle in 2024 from Thomas Morgan Jones — figured she wouldn’t try to fix what’s firing on all cylinders.

Announced Friday, the 2026-27 season will kick off with a trip to the rink for Tracey Power’s Glory, based on the story of the Preston Rivulettes, a women’s hockey team that won 95 per cent of its games over a dominant decade between 1931 and 1940. Set to be directed by Mariam Bernstein, the production (Oct. 13-25) will feature several hockey games choreographed by Victoria Exconde to era-specific swing music directed by Joseph Aragon.

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Friday, Mar. 13, 2026