‘Yes, we are real’ Winnipeg airport lands genome sequencing testing outpost By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 6:17 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2025

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This article was published 23/09/2025 (326 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Landing at Winnipeg’s airport can now end with a genetic test purchase and a quick cab to a Sandman hotel seven years in the making.

The newest business located in the Winnipeg Richardson International Airport sells tests to sequence customers’ genomes and identify microbiomes. It joins a growing trend — in the city and abroad — to personalize health care.

“The goal is, first, to start conversations about these new health sciences,” said Dr. Anmol Kapoor.

He first struck a relationship with the Winnipeg Airports Authority, which oversees the airport, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kapoor’s company, CardiAI, conducted COVID-19 testing for travellers in Winnipeg.

Then Kapoor, a cardiologist by trade, launched BioAro. The company has been growing since 2021 from its Calgary base.

It touts genome sequencing tests, where users’ DNA is read and traits are flagged. The human genome was first sequenced in 2003; since then, sequencing has become commercialized and is also used in Canada’s public health system.

BioAro has labs in Calgary, the United Arab Emirates and San Jose, Kapoor said.

For now, BioAro has erected an office on the arrivals floor of Winnipeg’s airport — between a Pizza Pizza and Nexus Canpass Air.

“What will your DNA uncover before you take off?” a sign papering BioAro’s office reads. The outpost is manned by one staff member, Brock Hay, and is generally open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Having the public access in the airport, you get a lot of fun surprises with that,” Hay said.

Mainly, people buy tests to learn if they’ll react poorly to pharmacy drugs or as they prepare for parenthood, Hay said.

“Having the public access in the airport, you get a lot of fun surprises with that.”

BioAro primarily uses blood samples. Pinprick devices or collection tubes, for people wanting a health-care professional to pull their blood, are included in the company’s tests.

Samples are sent to Calgary for sequencing, Hay explained. BioAro uses Illumina sequencing and its own computer software; findings are compiled into reports and delivered to customers.

Patients’ data are not sold, Kapoor stressed. Personal genomics company 23andMe is being sued by 27 states and the District of Columbia for planning to sell customers’ genetic data without consent.

BioAro data is kept using blockchain technology, Kapoor said.

He said the Winnipeg Airports Authority approached him about opening a space in the city airport. The WAA didn’t respond to interview requests by print deadline.

It’s a first step into Winnipeg, Kapoor relayed. Hay sees customers individually in the office and is also networking with government, researchers and medical centres to grow BioAro’s footprint.

“Our outpost is a commitment to the province. We’re showing ‘Yes, we are real, we are here and we are open for business,’” Kapoor said. “We have a lot to offer, and we are looking for help — collaboration, partnerships.”

Kapoor aims to open a Winnipeg sequencing lab that’s focused on human, animal and agriculture DNA. “It makes sense since … Winnipeg is the centre of Canada,” he said.

BioAro’s arrival in the city is “wonderful,” said Andrea Ladouceur, president of Bioscience Association Manitoba.

“When we think of where innovative medicine is going — there’s so much information in our genome,” said Ladouceur, who’s a board member on Genome Prairie, an entity funding bioscience projects.

Other genetic testing options exist within Winnipeg, but there’s room for more in the sector, from Ladouceur’s view. Tests sometimes leave the country for sequencing, she noted, adding medical interventions need timely results.

BioAro advertises result turnaround times of two to four weeks. An epigenetic test costs $299; whole genome sequencing is priced at $2,099 online.

A roughly six-minute drive away, the Sandman Hotel Group has opened its second Winnipeg location — one that shares a parking lot with a nearly 20-year-old Sandman location it also operates.

“It’s obviously super exciting for the city and travellers to Winnipeg to have more selection, more inventory,” said Michael Juce, president of the Manitoba Hotel Association.

Ground broke on the 215-room hotel in 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic — and related uncertainty — extended construction and caused redesigns, Northland Properties told the Free Press in 2023.

Northland, which owns the brand, didn’t respond to questions by print deadline Tuesday.

Winnipeg hotels have undergone renovations since the COVID-19 pandemic, but none have opened near the airport, Juce noted. He called the opening of the Sandman Signature Winnipeg Airport Hotel & Suites a “sign of the strength of our community.”

Combined, the new hotel and the Sandman Hotel and Suites at 1750 Sargent Ave. count upwards of 400 rooms and nearly 5,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.

The new Sandman houses the Tavern on King Edward. A hallway links the restaurant and hotel.

“It’s like having a big house next door to a pub,” said Peter Shelley, Tavern general manager. “I think when the weather gets a bit colder, more people will stay connected in here.”

The Tavern’s first three months open have been “better than we could’ve hoped for,” he added.

Richard Kroll, who stayed at the Sandman Signature, called the latest build “nice” and obviously new.

Winnipeg’s hotel occupancy for 2025 will likely match 2019’s rate of 70 per cent, per a CBRE forecast. The city’s revenue per available room has increased $38 during the timeframe — from $90 to $128 — and the average daily rate has jumped from $128 to $182, the forecast reads.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com