Exchange District public cigar lounge seeks to light up ‘untapped’ market By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 5:27 PM CDT Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

One lone public cigar lounge stands in Manitoba. That could change next month.

A group of entrepreneurs aims to open Sofia Cigars in the east Exchange District on Nov. 5. The team has worked through government regulations over the past year, said co-founder Noel Bernier.

Next up are renovations: 80 Rorie St. still bears awnings with Aveda’s name, despite the beauty school moving in 2023.

“We have an opportunity here in Winnipeg … to create a culinary experience that is cutting edge in the cigar world and a tourist attraction and something positive,” Bernier said.

Cigar lounges are scarce across Canada. Most jurisdictions have blocked the business model by prohibiting smoking in indoor public places. Health advocates denounce such spaces.

Manitoba allows for cigar lounges via an exception in the Smoking and Vapour Products Control Act. Tobacconists can sample tobacco products if the sampling room is fully enclosed and has a separate ventilation system.

Sofia Cigars will occupy some 8,500 square feet that was designed as a condo unit — it has its own ventilation, Bernier said.

He’s planning for 50 seats, in a roughly 3,000-sq.-ft. café, upon opening day. Nicaraguan and Dominican cigars will fill the menu. At least 25 types from seven or eight different makers will be available, Bernier said.

Coffee, dessert and dishes from neighbouring restaurant Hermanos will also be ready for purchase. Bernier owns Hermanos, a Bannatyne Avenue steakhouse.

“The involvement of cigars into pairing and sampling with food and beverages … it’s growing (in popularity),” Bernier said. “It creates a very unique aficionado experience.”

Bernier plans to add another 100 seats for a “rum lounge” within Sofia Cigars upon receiving a yet-to-be-obtained liquor licence.

Elsewhere, patrons can drink at Thomas Hinds, Manitoba’s only operational public cigar lounge. The downtown Winnipeg hub opened in the 1990s under the name Havana House.

“We have an opportunity here in Winnipeg … to create a culinary experience that is cutting edge in the cigar world and a tourist attraction and something positive.”

The Manitoba Club runs a cigar retail and sampling room for its members.

Demand could support another Winnipeg cigar lounge, said William Paiement, co-administrator of a Cigar Lovers of Manitoba Facebook page.

“There’s such a market for it that is so untapped,” Paiement said.

He’s met customers from South America, China and elsewhere in Canada at Thomas Hinds. Manitobans seeking a “well-ventilated” cigar lounge outside downtown Winnipeg might have to travel to Edmonton or the United States, Paiement said.

Canada’s cigar market has grown roughly five to seven per cent annually over the past few years, a Cigar Association of Canada report reads. It estimated the market to be worth around $300 million in 2024.

“(Cigar lounges are) such a big trend everywhere else. It’s such a big opportunity,” said Stephen Lamoureux, co-creator of Sofia Cigars.

Having air filtration systems more readily accessible is a helpful outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lamoureux added.

GreenTech Environmental Canada, a local air purification company, will likely install dozens of units inside Sofia Cigars to filter odours and volatile organic compounds, said president Kevin Shale.

He expects to take a “multi-pronged” approach to 80 Rorie St., including in-duct filters, before the November opening.

“The Exchange District is one of the major draws of the city. Something like this adds… another kind of unique experience.”

“The plan is to have no air being exchanged with any other floors,” Shale said. “All the smoke (is) being basically mitigated in the space as it is being emitted.”

Sofia Cigars received a City of Winnipeg development permit for a cigar lounge with a retail store in June. It has a provincial permit to sell tobacco.

Provincial authorities will continue monitoring tobacco sampling spaces for specific control measures related to public health, an unattributed government spokesperson wrote in a statement.

The Manitoba Lung Association doesn’t support any business or industry promoting smoking, organization president Juliette Mucha wrote in a statement.

“These nicotine-related activities (cigarettes, vaping or cigars) are the leading cause of lung cancer and other serious lung diseases,” Mucha wrote.

Seventy-two per cent of lung cancer cases in Canada are tied to smoking tobacco, a cigar ingredient.

Sofia Cigars customers must be adults, Bernier said. The cigars are “meant to be enjoyed in the same way you would if you were going to a whiskey tasting event, a wine tasting event,” he said.

“We think we’re not only safe, but a classy and very positive addition to the neighbourhood.”

Smoking cigarettes and vaping will not be allowed inside, Bernier added.

Sofia Cigars joins a swath of “innovative concepts” found in the area, said David Pensato, Exchange District Business Improvement Zone executive director.

“The Exchange District is one of the major draws of the city,” Pensato said. “Something like this adds … another kind of unique experience.”

The large space has been hard to fill after Aveda’s departure, he said.

Sofia Cigars plans to hold an opening-day fundraiser for Operation Walk Manitoba, which connects surgical treatments with people in developing countries.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com