‘We love our U.S. friends, but we need to diversify’

Suits appear to be the jersey of choice for players scouted for “Team Manitoba.”

Roughly 270 business executives gathered Thursday at Economic Development Winnipeg’s annual investor breakfast. Politicians, panelists and the economic development agency shared a similar message: it’s time to band together.

“Given the landscape in the (United) States and around the world and that uncertainty, it’s even more important for us to be investing in ourselves,” Manitoba Economic Development, Investment and Trade Minister Jamie Moses told the crowd at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Both he and Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham underscored their respective governments’ promises to foster a business-friendly climate.

It comes amid an investment chill felt within the private sector. Economic Development Winnipeg clocked a slowdown of investment in March.

Repercussions from U.S. President Donald Trump’s November election win hit Winnipeg before his tariffs were launched against Canada. In late 2024, a major foreign direct investor backed away from entering Manitoba after nearly inking a deal.

The company would have brought “significant” jobs with it, said Amanda Macdonald, Economic Development Winnipeg business development vice-president. She declined to share the company’s name, adding it could plant roots in the future.

The uncertainty Trump has unleashed worldwide is drawing new opportunities, said Economic Development Winnipeg’s vice-president, international Alberto Velasco-Acosta.

The agency made inroads with Sweden and Finland, when a delegation of European ambassadors visited last month, he added.

“We love our U.S. friends, but we need to diversify,” he said. “We need to be proactive in other markets.”

Attracting investment requires becoming speedier with permitting, approvals and project evaluations, Velasco-Acosta listed.

Better information sharing and systems alignment between economic development-related entities would also help, Macdonald said.

Organizations in Manitoba are already making headway, she added — instead of having “too many cooks in the kitchen,” an investor may deal with one contact point who’s sharing information on behalf of several groups, including real estate agencies and EDW.

“From a client perspective, you want just a few constant people,” Macdonald said. “Like a concierge type of approach.”

Macdonald presented Winnipeg as a “blank slate” to event attendees.

Last fall, Economic Development Winnipeg contacted roughly 60 American site selectors about the city’s business perception. Executives knew more about Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal.

“Being neutral isn’t necessarily negative,” Macdonald said in her speech. “It simply means others are more top of mind. That’s a challenge for us, but it’s also an opportunity.”

She highlighted Winnipeg’s location, clean energy and low operating costs as competitive advantages to broadcast.

“(We should) leave with a sense of optimism and not only share with each other, but with the rest of the world,” panelist Katie Hall Hursh, vice-president of the Megill-Stephenson Company Ltd., told the crowd.

Arnaud Franco, BDC director of economic research, clocked “a lot of optimism” in Winnipeg’s business community when he visited Monday, one day before Prime Minister Mark Carney met with Trump at the White House.

Franco provided an economic outlook to BDC clients. Currently, the business bank projects a one per cent increase in Manitoba’s GDP this year. The number is similar to the 1.1 per cent growth seen in 2024.

Economic conditions could improve if a deal with the U.S. materializes, Franco noted. He’s booked 11 speaking engagements across Western Canada this week.

“A lot of people want input, because this feeling of uncertainty that they’ve been facing, it’s paralyzing for small businesses,” Franco said. “They don’t know if they should hire. They don’t know if they should invest.”

BDC hasn’t tracked an influx in Manitoba business closures or layoffs due to tariffs, he added.

Nor has Indeed noticed a sharp decline in job postings. There’s been an overall decrease since early 2023, following a post-pandemic hiring boom. Manitoba mirrors a national trend.

“I think employers are still holding off on totally changing their hiring plans until we’ve got some clarity on the situation,” said Brendon Bernard, a senior economist with Indeed.com, a recruiting and jobs online platform.

Still, Indeed has experienced a “modest decline” in Canadian job postings, he continued.

Posts dropped 4.3 per cent nationally between the start of February — when U.S. tariffs were first expected to arrive — and mid-April. Manufacturing job listings plunged 10 per cent during the same time.

Robert Half, a human resource firm, is seeing companies hire staff. Paused investment likely comes on the project front, said Mike Shekhtman, a senior regional director.

“It’s a challenge because companies are trying to weigh some of their short-term, but also look at the long-term, repercussions for not hiring,” he stated.

Economic Development Winnipeg expects to launch a strategy guiding Winnipeg’s five-year economic growth this fall. Its goal is to be in “full alignment” with an economic development strategy the Manitoba government is creating, Macdonald said. The provincial document is anticipated for release this year.

EDW facilitated $281 million in capital investment last year, resulting in 644 jobs and $234 million worth of GDP growth, per data it shared Thursday.

It surpassed its goal of drawing $350 million in capital investment and generating $900 million in GDP growth between 2021 and 2025. By the end of 2024, those numbers hit $1.16 billion and $919 million, respectively.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com