Owners shocked Falcon Beach Ranch could be wiped out by Trans-Canada twinning By: Chris Kitching Posted: 6:35 PM CDT Wednesday, Jul. 23, 2025

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This article was published 23/07/2025 (419 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owners of a ranch that has been in Whiteshell Provincial Park for 60-plus years fear it will cease to exist if a new Trans-Canada Highway corridor cuts through the area.

Kendra Imrie said land and horse-riding trails used by Falcon Beach Ranch, which is also her family’s home, would be expropriated if the province builds a new segment nearby when Manitoba’s only undivided section of the Trans-Canada is twinned.

“There would be no ranch if that option was chosen,” said Imrie, who co-owns the site with her husband, Devin. “Until we hear the final decision, it’s something that is going to be hanging over us. We’re worried.”

Consultants hired by the Manitoba government are studying potential corridors to align with Ontario’s twinned highway.

About half a dozen variations are being evaluated with the aim of improving safety and journey times on the trade and travel route, which has become increasingly congested.

Several people have been killed or injured in crashes on the existing two-lane, 16-kilometre stretch between Falcon Lake and the provincial boundary in recent years.

A preferred corridor has not yet been selected during a three-year conceptual design phase, which will be followed by a functional design. The province has not set a construction start date or estimated cost.

At a July 3 community meeting, the Imries learned an option that includes a new highway segment just east of the ranch, which would require expropriation, is being considered since an earlier presentation.

“We were pretty shocked,” Imrie said.

The Imries shared their concerns with consultants and Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure.

“Safe roads for Manitobans are a top priority, and twinning Highway 1 is a key step toward improving safety and supporting our trade network,” Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor said in a statement. “We know how important this project is for families, businesses, Indigenous nations, and the economy, and we’re taking the time to consult and move it forward thoughtfully and responsibly.”

The Imries’ lease of 40 acres of Crown land, just north of the Trans-Canada, includes a clause that allows them to make and maintain the trails.

Imrie said it is a unique spot in eastern Manitoba because it has a pasture and sandy, horse-friendly trails in a boreal forest, with minimal rock and no bogs.

“A loss of the ranch would be a loss for Manitobans,” she said. “It would have far-reaching implications for this area.”

The ranch welcomes thousands of guests each year, and currently employs 15 people, Imrie said. The site opened in 1963. It was acquired by the Imrie family 47 years ago.

One proposed corridor would double the existing highway to four lanes. A variation includes a new crossing over Barren Lake.

Two other proposals involve a new northern corridor that would go around Barren Lake. New lanes would be constructed just east of the ranch or west of Falcon Beach, creating a bypass of the community.

The northern corridor would be a four-lane stretch (turning the existing highway into a local park road) or a two-way couplet with the existing section.

While a route that goes as far north as possible would benefit the ranch, business owners in Falcon Beach fear a bypass would lead to a downturn in customers, Imrie said.

For each proposed corridor, consultants are considering the potential effect on everything from the environment and cultural sites to homes and businesses.

Meetings sought feedback from Indigenous land and water rights holders, permanent residents, cottagers, local businesses and industry.

Niiwin Wendaanimok (Four Winds) Partnership, which includes Shoal Lake 40 First Nation on the Manitoba-Ontario boundary, will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Manitoba government Aug. 12 to set a “collaborative path forward,” the organization said in a social media post.

Niiwin Wendaanimok signed an MOU with Ontario before its twinning project began east of the provincial boundary.

Following its own technical review, the Manitoba Métis Federation has significant concerns about the footprint of the linear corridor, and the project’s impacts on the rights, claims and interests of the Red River Métis, said Jack Park, the federation’s minister of energy and infrastructure.

“The MMF has made several recommendations to Manitoba seeking to avoid and/or mitigate these impacts such as reconsidering the preferred route and having a Red River Métis monitor on site during construction,” he said in a statement.

Whiteshell Cottagers Association president Ken Pickering said attendees’ concerns at the July 3 meeting included potential expropriations and the loss of natural land.

Some properties could be in the way if the province chooses to expand the existing highway, he said. At least one attendee asked if the highway can remain as is.

“There’s a broad range of concern, depending on where you are in the Whiteshell,” Pickering said. “People do tend to understand there’s limited real estate they can go through on that existing route. There’s concern that properties would potentially have to be dealt with in those areas.”

He said he left the meeting with the impression that everyone understood there are downsides to every option. The assocaition isn’t advocating for one option over another.

Earlier this month, Premier Wab Kinew announced the Manitoba government will not proceed with a restricted crossing U-turn, or RCUT, at the Trans-Canada and Highway 5 junction — where 17 bus passengers died in a crash in 2023 — following objections from Carberry-area residents. Other options are being explored.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca