Proponents of solar power push for provincial infrastructure investment to boost grid resilience

In the early 1970s, licence plates were stamped with the slogan “Sunny Manitoba” — a nod to long summer days, crisp blue winter skies and frequent sun dogs reflecting off of blinding white snow. While the slogan later changed, Manitoba’s ranking as Canada’s second-sunniest province has not.

Despite that sunlit reputation, solar power — one of the most-developed renewable energy sources — makes up just a small fraction of the province’s electricity grid.

“It’s extremely marginal, especially when you compare to other jurisdictions like Alberta and Saskatchewan,” said James Wilt, policy development manager at Climate Action Team Manitoba.

Manitoba boasts a predominantly emissions-free grid, with 97 per cent of its power generated by a network of hydroelectric dams. But the provincial utility, Manitoba Hydro, has forecasted that its once-abundant renewable energy source will soon fall short. There is growing demand for power amid the electrification of sectors like transportation and heating, and the rapidly growing interest in developing electricity-hungry data centres. Combined with more unpredictable water levels owing to climate factors like extreme drought, it’s all prompted the utility to warn that capacity could run out as soon as 2030.

Daycare loses playground structure in brazen overnight theft

HEADINGLEY — Children at a Montessori school in Headingley were set to enjoy one of the first warm days of the season, but when owner Angie Izzard arrived to open the facility Friday morning, she discovered it had been targeted in a bizarre overnight burglary.

Somebody rammed a vehicle through a chain link fence surrounding Guiding Minds Montessori playground and stole a wooden play structure.

Izzard said it appears the structure was cut free from its supports with a saw before being hauled away.

“How? How could this happen? Who? Why? I’m just shocked,” she said, adding that an assortment of other children’s toys were also missing.

Only unions consulted about jobs deal for provincial builds: industry

The Manitoba government is being accused of consulting only with a union collective before adopting a jobs policy that governs contracts involving the construction of public projects, including four new schools.

Construction industry associations representatives said Tuesday they learned through a freedom-of-information request that the government met only with Manitoba Building Trades, which proposed a labour framework in July 2025. The two parties discussed the jobs agreement in August, and it was signed 13 days later, the associations said.

They now want the provincial ombudsman to pause the Manitoba Jobs Agreement and conduct a review.

“I was extremely disappointed that there was little rigour in the negotiation,” said Darryl Harrison of the Winnipeg Construction Association.

Hydro advisory circle brings ‘wealth of Indigenous perspectives’

The board of Manitoba Hydro has appointed an Indigenous advisory circle as part of the Crown corporation’s reconciliation efforts.

Former Fox Lake Cree Nation chief and Keeyask Hydropower Limited Partnership board chair Robert Wavey will co-chair the group with Manitoba Hydro board chairman Jamie Wilson. The provincial government ordered the creation of the advisory circle in its 2023 mandate letter to Hydro’s board.

“I think we wanted to get everything right on this one,” Wilson said when asked why it has taken more than two years to appoint Indigenous advisers.

“This is a pretty fantastic group of people from a diverse background, including communities that are directly impacted by Hydro development in the past,” the first Indigenous chairman of the Manitoba Hydro board said in an interview Tuesday.

Province has to untie Winnipeg’s hands in fight against vacant, boarded-up properties

Mayor Scott Gillingham deserves credit for at least trying to tackle one of Winnipeg’s most stubborn urban problems: derelict, boarded-up houses that sit vacant for years, rot into neighbourhood eyesores and too often become fire traps.

City working to reduce number of vacant buildings but can do more, mayor says

After several blazes ripped through vacant homes earlier this week, Winnipeg’s mayor is highlighting efforts to seize dozens of empty properties and reduce that risk.

The city has started the process to seize 48 properties through a “taking title without compensation process” since mid-December.

That’s when city council called on staff to use the process more often.

“I think there’s more we can do, and I want to see us use this tool of taking title more frequently,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham.

Discussion paper floats ways Ottawa can help fund giant electrical grid buildout

Ottawa's electricity strategy will consider ways government can shoulder some of the cost of doubling the country's grid by 2050 and ensure equipment and workers are available to make it happen.

The federal government released a discussion paper Thursday laying out the broad strokes of its plan and opening it up to feedback.

"The scale is huge, the timeline is short, and the task of getting the right mix of power is complex," Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters in Ottawa.

Building Canada's electricity system is a "shared responsibility," the government said in the document.

AtkinsRéalis bets on nuclear-powered AI factories amid data centre surge

MONTREAL - AtkinsRéalis Group Inc.'s nuclear business powered a 34 per cent year-over-year jump in profits last quarter, as the engineering company banks on the technology to seize on soaring demand for energy-hungry AI data centres.

The Montreal-based firm's nuclear division now accounts for a quarter of total revenue versus 15 per cent two years ago, said CEO Ian Edwards. The segment boasted organic revenue growth of nearly 37 per cent to reach a quarterly record high of $737 million.

Preliminary work is now underway at Ontario's Pickering nuclear power station after AtkinsRéalis and Aecon Group Inc. signed a $2.1-billion contract for a life extension on four reactors last year. Money is also rolling in from Romania, where the company secured a deal in 2025 to extend the life of a reactor at the Cernavoda nuclear plant — after winning a contract the year before to build two new multibillion-dollar reactors there.

Atkins' ambitions go beyond traditional nuclear plants. In March, it announced it was teaming up with Nvidia to ramp up deployment of nuclear-powered artificial intelligence factories, as the two parties explore how to work the chipmaking giant's technologies into developing the facilities.

Churchill project not worth the risk

Premier Wab Kinew is banking on the redevelopment of the Port of Churchill as the game-changing project that will put Manitoba back in the black. That’s a risky bet for several reasons.

Developers selling some land slated for delayed ‘complete community’ near Polo Park

Plans for 84-acre development north of the major shopping mall included apartment towers, retail space and parks

Manitoba Construction Career Expo draws students from across province with goal of ‘AI-resilient’ career options

More than 1,200 students from across Manitoba hammered nails, operated miniature machinery and even tried their hand at masonry at a hands-on career fair organizers called a pitch for the “AI-resilient” jobs of the future.

The Manitoba Construction Career Expo has been organized by the Winnipeg Construction Association for more than 15 years. As Canada’s career landscape has changed for youth, there’s been an increasing interest in logging out of the virtual world and finding a more tactile profession, said Darryl Harrison, the association’s director of stakeholder engagement and advocacy.

“There’s a lot of opportunities in construction, whether you pursue an apprenticeship or take another path toward the industry, but it generally leads to well-paying jobs and it leads to a career that we’re now calling AI-resilient,” Harrison said at the event at Red River Exhibition Place on Wednesday.

“There’s a lot of careers where it’s questionable what the impact of AI will be, and we will always need hands-on work sites to build the buildings that we need.”

City missing opportunity to help the homeless, save significant amount of money

By all accounts, Winnipeg could face a tsunami of homelessness this summer. And, by many of those same accounts, Winnipeg is woefully unprepared.

Last month, End Homelessness Winnipeg released a new audit of the number of people living on Winnipeg streets and found that it had risen exponentially over the last year. The best, current estimate is that more than 8,200 Winnipeggers were living without adequate housing, and over half that number meeting the definition of chronic homelessness.

Agencies that support the homeless population have warned the city and province that warmer weather usually expands the number of people living rough on the streets. They have pleaded for more immediate help to deal with this impending crisis.

Government is responding, albeit rather unevenly.

Winnipeg: the crumbling city

At least Christine Keilback had a sense of humour about it. The 58-year-old fell into a buried, uncapped catchbasin on Lipton Street and ended up having to be pulled from the shoulder-deep hole by firefighters.

Infrastructure, military spending, economy dominate talk in federal finance minister’s visit

Federal Minister of Finance François-Philippe Champagne was in Winnipeg, but at a gathering of local business community members on Monday afternoon, he had another Manitoba locale on his mind.

“I love Churchill,” Champagne said when asked at a Manitoba Chambers of Commerce event what Canadian trade diversification opportunity he’s most optimistic about.

Ottawa has identified the Port of Churchill as central to its vision to build a stronger, more resilient Canadian economy that is better connected to global markets.

“I had no hesitation to mention Churchill — that came to mind immediately,” Champagne told a reporter after the event. “It is probably one of the most consequential infrastructure (projects) that we can imagine for the Prairies.”

Hopes rise for reuse of heritage buildings

The chairperson of a committee that advises city council on climate change issues is excited about a new report that outlines potential options for Winnipeg to reuse heritage buildings.

The city’s standing policy committee on property and development is scheduled to discuss the Promoting Adaptive Reuse and Preservation of Heritage report on Wednesday.

The 25-page document explores bylaws and rules Winnipeg could implement to promote the “adaptive reuse” of buildings — a recycling strategy that focuses on maintaining the structure or basic fabric of a building and repurposing its function.

Adaptive reuse would help the city reduce waste, protect historic places and add more housing options, according to the report.

Water feature: 113-year-old St. B tower to be saved

One of the last remnants of what was once the largest meatpacking facility of its kind in the British Empire is being saved by a developer.

A 27-metre high water tower in St. Boniface, emblazoned with Union Stock Yards on the side, will be “disassembled and relocated,” says a report to the city from a developer who plans to turn the site, dubbed the Water Tower District, into housing.

Robert Scarletta, a senior vice-president with Shindico Realty, said the tower will be relocated to either the site’s business district or one of its parks.

“We were always going to try to relocate it somewhere else in the development because right where it is is not really fundamentally suitable,” Scarletta said. “We’ve got a lot that we want to sell. It’s not a featured area.”

Business council’s new housing alliance, partners complete first ‘deeply affordable’ project

A unique Manitoba business-led enterprise created to invest in​ affordable housing has completed its first project, helping to launch a 23-unit building in Winnipeg’s inner city.