Hydro plans to reopen downtown HQ to public next week with new safety measures in place By: Nicole Buffie Posted: 4:50 PM CST Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026

Manitoba Hydro employees are happy their downtown Winnipeg headquarters will be reopening to the public next week, but the issue of public safety in the downtown core remains top of mind.

Manitoba Hydro Place at 360 Portage Ave. will tentatively reopen to the public on Tuesday after an extended lockdown due to an assault in the foyer.

Hydro has hired seven Institutional Safety Officers and is finalizing its agreement with Manitoba Justice, spokesperson Peter Chura said in an email.

Hydro employee Trevor Small is encouraged to see his employer prioritize employee safety, but he’s still concerned about overall safety downtown.

“There’s been other security incidents around the area, so the day doesn’t go by that you don’t hear of something happening,” Small said while waiting for his lunch at Cafe 360, Hydro’s dining hall.

The hall, which had been closed to the public for the past month, reopened on Monday. It had been accessible only to Hydro employees via an internal entrance. An external door off Portage Avenue is now being used as a public entrance.

Public access to the building has been restricted since Jan. 30, when an employee leaving work for the day was shoved to the ground and assaulted by a man in the lobby. Another employee and several workers from an attached restaurant had to intervene before security jumped in.

On Thursday uniformed security guards monitored the main entrances of the Hydro building. Only Hydro employees are permitted through the doors and they must use their swipe cards to gain access, Small said.

Chura said Hydro will continue its contract with uniformed security personnel and they will work alongside the safety officers. The specially trained and licensed security staff have the legal authority to restrain, detain and make an arrest. They carry pepper gel and handcuffs.

“The day doesn’t go by that you don’t hear of something happening.”

The plan to hire safety officers pre-dated the Jan. 30 assault. The provincial government updated regulations on Jan. 14 to allow institutional safety officers to be stationed at Manitoba Hydro and the Manitoba Housing & Renewal Corp. The government didn’t publicly announce the change.

At the time, Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the change was part of the province’s plan to boost safety downtown.

In September, Hydro limited public access to the building through the connected skywalk.

Megan Saul, who works downtown and stopped in at Cafe 360 Thursday for a slice of pizza, said she avoids using the skywalk system and knows which streets are “safe” to use when she’s alone and which ones to avoid.

Saul said one of her co-workers was chased and ducked into a coffee shop to evade a person she guessed was intoxicated.

She said that without addressing underlying social issues, including addiction and homelessness, safety issues will persist.

“The problems that are happening in the downtown aren’t gonna get better if we lock the doors, it’s just gonna move the problem outside.”

One of the unions representing Hydro workers says it seems the Crown corporation has taken the January assault seriously and is earnestly addressing the safety issue, but security measures must be monitored and adjusted when the public is allowed back through the building.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 998 president Michelle Bergen, who represents about 700 clerical and technical workers at the utility, said paying attention to what employees say will be the only way to keep them safe.

“We are hopeful that members are going to feel the difference at work, and if that’s not the case Hydro will hear from us,” Bergen said.

Approximately 2,000 people work in the building, which is a handy shelter for people on cold days, as well as an access point for the skywalk system, he said.

“The problems that are happening in the downtown aren’t gonna get better if we lock the doors, it’s just gonna move the problem outside,” he said.

Last year, the Manitoba government announced it would give the Downtown Community Safety Partnership $500,000 to deploy a safety action plan. It also announced 12 provincially funded police officers to patrol downtown.

After a trio of random assaults in the downtown skywalk system on Jan. 8, the partnership co-ordinated with other organizations in a patrol program for skywalk users. Two Downtown Community Safety Partnership patrols are now stationed at the entrances of the most-used skywalks between 6:15 a.m. and 10:15 a.m.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca