Elementary students develop friendships with care home residents

Nine-year-olds and seniors in their ’90s regularly bond over bocce in Tuxedo.

École Tuxedo Park and Extendicare Tuxedo Villa are marking a decade of Senior Buddies, a partnership that began to build intergenerational friendship and understanding in their neighbourhood.

“It’s opening (students’) eyes to different parts of being a human and humanity and the community that they live in,” said Diana Stahl, a school counsellor at the kindergarten-to-Grade 4 building in Winnipeg.

Stahl and her students made the 350-metre trek to the long-term care home on Thursday for their final visit of the school year.

High school grads feel the love during North End parade

Talon Phrakonekham felt a tinge of nostalgia as he and fellow members of the Class of 2026 roamed North End streets lined with young cheerleaders and gave out high-fives on Tuesday afternoon.

Dozens of children from elementary schools in the neighbourhood that Talon grew up in shouted congratulations from the Salter Street sidewalk and waved posters marking the occasion.

“You did so good in math. We are so proud of you,” one sign declared in a child’s wonky handwriting.

Talon, 17, said the North End Grad Walk — now in its fifth year — provided an opportunity for both celebration and self-reflection.

Mayor’s cabinet signs off on proposed 110-acre neighbourhood on Dugald Road

A major development proposes to create nearly 3,000 homes, ample commercial space and a possible school at a mostly vacant industrial park.

The Waters Urban Village project would transform 110 acres (44.5 hectares) of employment and industrial land at 1390 and 1470 Dugald Road in the St. Boniface Industrial Park by creating 2,946 residential units, a commercial town centre, a central park and six business park buildings, pending final city council approval.

The largest high-rise residential buildings would be close to key Winnipeg Transit routes.

The substantial addition of infill homes and businesses fits well with the city’s goals to make use of existing infrastructure, said a proponent of the project.

Winnipeg musician brings love for the bus to new song with message to province

A new song released this week by John Samson Fellows comes with a clear call to action: “More buses, more routes, more accessible to everyone.”

The tune, titled 50/50 Funding, praises public transportation and calls on the provincial government to reinstate matching transit funding for Manitoba municipalities.

It was written in support of the Next Stop campaign led by Climate Action Team Manitoba and the Amalgamated Transit Union, which aims to restore the long-standing cost-sharing agreement scrapped by the former Progressive Conservative government in 2016.

Getting on board with a transit-improvement campaign was an easy decision for Samson Fellows.

Rainy day fund, meet climate change costs

On May 28, Winnipeg city council voted 14-1 to move over $18 million into the city’s rainy day fund. That same week, Mayor Scott Gillingham said the city’s chief financial officer is considering lowering the minimum amount the fund must hold.

Work progressing inside historic 121-year old library that will house City of Winnipeg archives

Construction on the redevelopment of the historic Carnegie Library into a new home for the city’s archives is now about one-third complete, bringing the collection one step closer to returning to the landmark building that housed it for decades.

Community gardens, urban farms more than hobby spaces, report authors say

The City of Winnipeg is being urged to make several changes to keep community gardens and urban farms in place longer.

‘Fentanyl fold’ on city streets stresses prompt need for supervised consumption site: premier

Alarmed after seeing the “fentanyl fold” on city streets, Premier Wab Kinew promises a supervised drug consumption site will open this month — despite concerns essential staffers have yet to be hired.

In a sit-down interview with the Free Press Friday, the premier reinforced that the site — announced in the summer of 2024 — would be operational by the end of June.

“The urgency of the drug crisis is so visible in a way that everyone sees it,” Kinew said.

The province received approval from Health Canada for the Indigenous-led site, at 366 Henry Ave., in May.

City looking into expanding 30 km/h zones in residential areas, on regional streets

Winnipeg city council’s public works committee has directed staff to study whether to expand its 30 km/h school zone speed limit to additional residential streets, or even busy regional roads.

Designated encampment debate returns to city hall

A city councillor is renewing efforts to identify potential locations for designated encampment sites following an Ontario court decision that could impact how homeless people are relocated in Winnipeg.

The motion, introduced by Coun. Cindy Gilroy is scheduled to go before the executive policy committee next week. It calls on the public service to examine multiple locations across Winnipeg that could be considered suitable to host encampments.

Speaking to the Free Press on Thursday, Gilroy said a recent court decision in southern Ontario has renewed the case for designated encampment sites in Winnipeg. Last month, a judge barred the Region of Waterloo from clearing an encampment in Kitchener, Ont., unless alternative housing options were made available to those living there.

“The laws are changing so dramatically,” the chair of the community safety committee said, adding she’s unsure if the city is prepared for a similar legal challenge in Winnipeg.

Millions of litres of sewage dumped into rivers after outages

Millions of litres of untreated sewage were dumped into Winnipeg rivers over the past 48 hours after Tuesday night’s massive storm caused power failures at pumping stations across the city.

Mayor’s inner circle to consider $600K grant for soccer complex upgrades if city gets women’s pro league team

City administrators are recommending a $600,000 grant to the Winnipeg Soccer Federation to help fund upgrades at the Ralph Cantafio Soccer Complex, subject to Winnipeg securing a Northern Super League team, Canada’s top professional women’s soccer league.

City’s encampment bylaw not intended to end homelessness, but it’s making a difference

When Winnipeg city council approved restrictions on homeless encampments near schools, daycares, parks, recreation centres and seniors housing, critics warned it would simply push vulnerable people from one location to another without solving the underlying problem.

City mulls grant to give life to vacant buildings

The city is looking at a vacant building grant that could entice developers to convert empty buildings into new homes.

Encampment numbers down since ban

The City of Winnipeg has identified 120 people living in 62 encampments — a far cry from the 700 people in roughly 100 camps last August, before the municipal government’s clampdown on such sites began in late 2025.

The figures were discussed during Tuesday’s community services committee meeting in which city officials provided a ward-by-ward breakdown of encampments.

Data collected by Main Street Project through outreach work and point-in-time counts shows Point Douglas has the highest number at 19 sites, followed by Fort Rouge–Fort Garry with 15 camps.

Chris Brens, the city’s community development manager, said the 62 encampments do not include people who stay in bus shelters, vehicles or other spaces. He told the committee MSP had identified 128 people in encampments, including 63 in Point Douglas and 30 in Fort Rouge–Fort Garry, as of May 31.

Bike-to-school day initiative features fun pit stops across city, encourages families to ride

Bike Week Winnipeg is piloting new student-friendly pit stops Tuesday as part of its signature event.

This year, for the first time, bike-to-work day is also being branded as bike-to-school day.

“When students ride, their families ride,” said Andraea Sartison, event producer for the volunteer-run organization promoting cycling with activities scheduled through Sunday.

“(This initiative) is a really good way for us to reach more people, I think. School communities are much larger than the student population, so this is a really nice way to get into neighbourhoods.”

Transit revenue drop projected to be worse than predicted in 2026 budget

Winnipeg Transit warns it may earn $18.4 million less from rider fares this year than its budget calls for.

When the city’s 2026 budget was released, Transit estimated it would earn $97 million in fare revenue throughout this year. However, it also listed an “outstanding risk” that fares could fall $11.1 million lower due to a drop in ridership.

A finance update, based on figures up to the end of March, notes that risk has since increased.

“As of the first quarter, Transit is forecasting a reduction in revenues of $18.4 million,” the report notes.

Efforts underway to determine ecological, economic benefits of Winnipeg’s trees

How a municipality cares for its trees — especially under increasing climate pressures — is just as critical to forest health as planting.

The logic of saving for a rainy day

We get it. It’s hard to be responsible, and it’s hard to pinch pennies when there’s so much pressure on your wallet.

Paramedic team to focus on overdoses in city’s core

With opioid-related emergencies overtaking alcohol-related calls for service in Winnipeg, the province is investing more than $1 million to ease pressure on front-line responders and improve overdose care.

The funding includes $802,000 for a three-month pilot project that will see a 24-7, two-person paramedic team respond to overdose calls in high-demand areas, including the downtown core, where many of the city’s shelters and support agencies are located. The pilot will start this month, the province said.

The province will also spend $150,000 on approximately 20 oxygen delivery devices to be managed by Main Street Project, which help when overdoses don’t respond to naloxone. Another $100,000 will be given to provide first aid and overdose response training for workers through St. John’s Ambulance and Manitoba Harm Reduction Network.

“We’ve been meeting quite regularly with the front-line organizations and this really came from them, and what they wanted and they need,” Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith told the Free Press Tuesday. “This was something that we could immediately respond to.”

Police-to-population ratio increases for first time since 2013

The ratio of Winnipeg Police Service officers to the city’s population has increased for the first time in more than a decade.

In 2025, the so-called “cop-to-pop” ratio reached 166.8 officers per 100,000 people, up from 164.8 the previous year.

While that falls behind a national average of 180.3 per 100,000, it was the first local increase since 2013.

Overall, the service added 35 more officers since 2024, to reach a complement of 1,425.

Doors Open to Winnipeg’s mystery, history

It’s easy to travel past the Manitoba Buddhist Temple and not even notice it.