City chooses U.S.-owned food giant for Kildonan Park, Windsor Park golf courses after 16 years with Sals By: Malak Abas Posted: 4:51 PM CDT Tuesday, Apr. 21, 2026

For the first time in 16 years, golfers won’t be able to grab a Salisbury House Nip at two city-owned golf courses this summer, as the local staple learned suddenly it was being replaced with a U.S.-owned food service mega-company.

Salisbury House operations manager Dave Petrishen said the company had been contracted by the city to provide beer carts and a “mini Salisbury House restaurant” selling Nips, hot dogs and other concessions at the Windsor Park and Kildonan Park golf courses for the last 16 years.

They reapplied for the contract after the City of Winnipeg issued a request for proposals earlier this year for a four-year food service agreement at both golf courses, set to begin April 1. Petrishen said management for the 95-year-old restaurant chain was told last weekend the city would be going with Aramark Canada, the Canadian arm of a multibillion-dollar U.S. firm, instead.

“We, being a Winnipeg company, local ownership, a Manitoba company, to be thwarted out of that — the city, last year, (had) a big movement about trying to change contracts and get away from U.S. suppliers, and then all of a sudden, we get the word that it’s not us,” he told the Free Press Tuesday.

City communications officer Kalen Qually confirmed the city chose to go with Aramark Canada, noting the company is “already active in the local food services landscape with both government and non-government organizations.”

Parent company Aramark is based in Philadelphia and provides food services to prisons, schools, hospitals and other businesses in 15 countries. Aramark Canada has more than 13,000 employees, with its headquarters in Mississauga.

“You would think, after all that time, that you want to have a conversation and want to keep the thing local, and keep it Winnipeg. That’s the disappointing part.”

Petrishen said Salisbury House has made an effort to keep the prices of its golf course offerings low, especially when compared to prices at larger venues, and supported local breweries with its beer carts.

He said he is wondering why, in the age of “shop local” messaging from all three levels of government, the city would forgo a long-held relationship with a local business with its own commissary for a massive company with U.S. roots.

“I kind of get it, it’s business, right? You go with whatever the best offer would be and things like that,” he said.

“But you would think, after all that time, that you want to have a conversation and want to keep the thing local, and keep it Winnipeg. That’s the disappointing part.”

Salisbury House designated about 15 staff for the two golf courses. Petrishen said those employees will be redirected elsewhere in the business.

City council property and development chair Coun. Evan Duncan called the decision “unfortunate,” but Aramark Canada won out in the RFP process.

“It’s unfortunate that a local company wasn’t the successful bidder for this, but Winnipeggers demand transparency when it comes to any level of government,” he said.

“And to go through a proper RFP process where it’s an open bid, it’s transparent, there’s a proper scoring system, that is the way to go when we are awarding contracts.”

Duncan (Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood) said the last time an RFP was issued for food services at both golf courses, Salisbury House was the sole bidder. This time it was more competitive.

“If we were a hub that had several large corporations operating out of Manitoba or Winnipeg, I would anticipate that we’d have even more bidders on this,” he said.

According to the request for proposals, Kildonan Park’s golf course makes approximately $275,000 to $400,000 in annual food and liquor revenue, including taxes, and 36,433 rounds of golf are played, based on a five-year average. Windsor Park’s golf course makes around $200,000 to $300,000 from an average of 32,601 rounds.

“It’s unfortunate that a local company wasn’t the successful bidder for this, but Winnipeggers demand transparency when it comes to any level of government.”

The contract allows for a mutually agreed upon two-year extension.

In October, the province defended a $12-million food supply deal it signed with Aramark Canada to cover a number of government entities, including Shared Health and Red River College Polytechnic.

At the time, Public Service Delivery Minister Mintu Sandhu said 226 Manitobans work for Aramark Canada.

Food and Beverage Manitoba executive director Michael Mikulak decried the decision from the city in the face of U.S. tensions.

“Especially right now, it seems tone deaf to go from a valued supplier like Salisbury House that’s been a partner with the city for years and years and years, and to turn toward a U.S. company during this time right now, when we’re having so many tensions and when the Americans are proving to be very unreliable partners, it seems like a missed opportunity,” he said.

Government procurement is an underutilized way to bolster economic development, Mikulak said.

“There’s really an opportunity to support local businesses and to have that kind of multiplier effect that ripples through the economy,” he said.

While Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association executive director and CEO Shaun Jeffrey declined to comment on the details of the change, he said government, like the rest of Manitoba, has a responsibility to support its own businesses.

“Especially here in the restaurant industry, we have faced years and years of detriment, to increases in prices and, obviously, detriment to our industry, and it’s becoming harder and harder to be a viable restaurant in Manitoba,” he said.

“We would hope that everybody trying to resource business… would be looking at a Manitoba business as much as possible.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca