Technical Vocational Education

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

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Recruitment and retention: a health-care challenge

Niall Harney 4 minute read Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025

Manitoba’s government was elected in October 2023 with a strong mandate to “fix health care.” Central to this commitment is resetting the relationship with Manitoba’s health-care workers.

The Manitoba NDP government says it has surpassed its goal of hiring 1,000 health-care workers since taking office more than a year ago. The exterior of the Manitoba Legislature is seen in Winnipeg, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods
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Manitoba surpasses goal of hiring 1,000 health-care workers, says health minister

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview
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Manitoba surpasses goal of hiring 1,000 health-care workers, says health minister

Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

WINNIPEG - Manitoba's NDP government has surpassed its goal of hiring 1,000 health-care workers since taking office more than a year ago, but the news is receiving mixed responses from some groups who represent health-care staff.

The province announced on Friday that from last April to the end of December it hired 1,255 net-new health-care workers, including nurses, physicians and midwives, to work within the public system.

"Each and every one of these 1,255 frontline health-care workers have joined our system because they want to care for their neighbours, their fellow citizens (and) their community members," Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara told news reporters.

The NDP government committed to hiring 100 doctors, 210 nurses and 600 health-care aides as part of its 2024 budget.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025
Marta Guerrero photo Linh Tran avec certains des biscuits à trouver sur sa boutique en ligne.
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Le rêve sucré de Linh Tran

Jonathan Semah 4 minute read Preview
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Le rêve sucré de Linh Tran

Jonathan Semah 4 minute read Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025

Avec Rêverie, une boulangerie sans gluten, Linh Tran voit un projet qu’elle a en tête depuis plusieurs années se concrétiser. Si elle s’est lancée dans le sans gluten, c’est avant tout pour des raisons personnelles. Mais, elle observe une demande en hausse année après année.

Tartes, cookies, beignets, gâteaux, desserts et biscuits, en parcourant la page Instagram et le site web de Rêverie, difficile de résister à la tentation face à toutes ces douceurs. Mais pour en arriver là, il a fallu des années d’essais et de pratique à Linh Tran.

Alors qu’elle a quitté son emploi au Centre de santé Saint-Boniface il y a quelques mois, la pâtissière est maintenant totalement concentrée sur Rêverie.

Une passion dès l’enfance

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Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES The Magellan Aerospace building in Winnipeg.
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Province invests $17M in Magellan Aerospace to create additional jobs, training

Martin Cash 4 minute read Preview
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Province invests $17M in Magellan Aerospace to create additional jobs, training

Martin Cash 4 minute read Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025

The NDP government is continuing its aggressive support of Manitoba’s aerospace industry, announcing Thursday a significant investment in Magellan Aerospace.

The province is providing Magellan with an $8 million grant and a $9 million loan (to be repaid over 12 years). The investment expects to lead to the creation of more than 60 positions at Magellan. (Its current workforce is about 650.)

The financial assistance will leverage additional capital investment from the company. It is a global player in the aerospace industry, with head offices in the Greater Toronto Area. In addition to its Winnipeg plant, Magellan has three manufacturing operations in Ontario, six in the U.S, six in Europe and two in India.

The Winnipeg plant has been around for close to 100 years. In addition to being a centre of excellence for the company when it comes to machining aero-engine parts, it is also Magellan’s space centre, having manufactured five satellites currently orbiting the Earth.

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Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025
Fashion designer and clothier Katelyn Woodburn poses in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Victoria Black *MANDATORY CREDIT*
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Slow fashion houses embrace made-to-order to reduce waste

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Preview
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Slow fashion houses embrace made-to-order to reduce waste

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press 6 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

TORONTO - On occasion, fashion designer and clothier Katelyn Woodburn is accused of running a scam.

When a customer makes a purchase without reading the "about" section on her website or following her on social media, they might send an email a week or two later saying something like: "Where's my order? It hasn't even shipped yet? What's going on?" Woodburn recounted from her Vancouver studio.

"Which is a totally reasonable response," she added. Consumers are conditioned to expect instant gratification when it comes to clothes shopping, but that's not really how Woodburn does things.

"I'll say, 'Oh, your shirt is being cut out. We're going to sew it tomorrow.' I tell them the whole process of what's happening. And 100 per cent of the time, I get a response going, 'Oh my gosh, I didn't even realize. This is so cool, no rush at all.'"

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025
Marta Guerrero photo Syvelie Mesidor Vaneus est la directrice de la garderie Les Petits Amis de Sainte-Anne.
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Les Petits Amis seront plus nombreux

Ophélie Doireau 3 minute read Preview
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Les Petits Amis seront plus nombreux

Ophélie Doireau 3 minute read Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024

La garderie Les Petits Amis de Sainte-Anne connaît un agrandissement qui va lui permettre d’accueillir jusqu’à 48 nouveaux enfants. Une bonne nouvelle malgré la liste d’attente encore très longue.

Depuis le 2 décembre, de nouveaux locaux de la garderie Les Petits Amis de Sainte-Anne accueillent 48 bambins pour le plus grand plaisir de la communauté qui avait besoin de cet agrandissement.

Syvelie Mesidor Vaneus, directrice de la garderie, rappelle que “c’est la seule garderie francophone qui existe à Sainte-Anne et c’est aussi la seule qui accueille des bébés. Nous manquions d’espace alors que la liste d’attente ne faisait que grandir.”

En date de son entrevue avec La Liberté, il y avait 84 bébés inscrits sur la liste d’attente et 102 enfants d’âge préscolaire.

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Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024
Gracieuseté C’est toujours Romane Denis qui incarne Gabrielle Roy dans cette saison 3. Supplied Gabrielle Roy
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Gabrielle Roy, une saison 3 pour aller encore plus loin

Jonathan Semah 4 minute read Preview
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Gabrielle Roy, une saison 3 pour aller encore plus loin

Jonathan Semah 4 minute read Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024

C’est à partir du 5 décembre que la saison 3 de la série Le monde de Gabrielle Roy sera diffusée sur ICI TOU.TV. Cette saison raconte le départ de l’écrivaine du Manitoba pour l’Europe, notamment Paris et Londres. Une période essentielle pour sa construction professionnelle et personnelle.

Alors que le public s’apprête à découvrir déjà cette troisième saison, pour Renée Blanchar, réalisatrice et scénariste, c’est toujours la même excitation avant un lancement. “La durée de cette série apporte une réelle profondeur que ce soit devant et derrière la caméra. Ça fait donc trois rendez-vous qu’on se donne avec le Manitoba pour raconter cette histoire-là, et au lieu de s’essouffler, elle se bonifie.”

Renée Blanchar définit cette troisième saison, toujours co-produite par Les Productions Rivard et Zone 3, comme un vrai “tour de force.” Pourquoi? Car les équipes de production ont réussi à tourner toutes les scènes de cette série qui a lieu à Paris et à Londres… au Manitoba. “Cette saison raconte donc le voyage en Europe de Gabrielle Roy entre 1937 et 1939, à l’aube de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Et tout a été tourné ici, au Manitoba. C’était un beau casse-tête. Sur ça, je tiens à féliciter l’équipe de Réjean Labrie, concepteur artistique, pour son travail. Donc l’architecture ici nous a permis de recréer un théâtre, un appartement parisien, on a pu aussi donner l’illusion d’être à Londres. Et tout ça a été complété avec des archives de l’époque.”

Un vrai défi de production

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Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Chris Holbrow at his new Forgotten Flavours location on Corydon on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. The Niverville-based bakery is opening in Winnipeg (where the Pennyloaf Bakery used to be) on Tuesday. For biz story. Winnipeg Free Press 2024

Forgotten Flavours Artisan Bakery fills Pennyloaf void on Corydon

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

Forgotten Flavours Artisan Bakery fills Pennyloaf void on Corydon

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

After nearly a year, the smell of fresh bread will once again fill a Corydon Avenue bakery.

The sign out front no longer reads “Pennyloaf Bakery,” and the staff inside are no longer employed by former clothing mogul and entrepreneur Pepper Foster.

Instead, an emblem for Forgotten Flavours Artisan Bakery faces passersby. Owners Chris and Maria Holbrow busy themselves inside 858 Corydon Ave., preparing for the Winnipeg shop’s first day open Tuesday.

“We’re trying to complement the space and ensure that we can fill a void that was very sad to see go,” Chris Holbrow said. “We have a great product to offer.”

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Monday, Nov. 18, 2024
Marta Guerrero photo Paul-Guy Lavack est le président du musée Pointe-des-Chênes.
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Bientôt un petit musée pour une grande réouverture

Hugo Beaucamp 4 minute read Preview
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Bientôt un petit musée pour une grande réouverture

Hugo Beaucamp 4 minute read Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024

Le musée Pointe-des-Chênes, situé dans le parc des Rédemptoristes dans la petite ville de Sainte-Anne, pourrait renaître de ses cendres plus de 10 ans après avoir été ravagé par un incendie.

Derrière l’église de la petite ville de Sainte-Anne, par-delà le petit pont piéton qui traverse la Seine, près du grand pavillon métis, quatre piquets ont été plantés dans le sol.

“C’est là que l’on coulera la dalle de béton, indique Paul-Guy Lavack, président du Musée Pointe-des-Chênes. Le nouvel emplacement sera un petit peu plus grand, car l’on prévoit de faire un espace à l’entrée et de le rendre accessible pour les fauteuils roulants.”

Pour rappel, le Musée Pointe-des-Chênes se dressait autrefois de l’autre côté du préau, près de la Villa Youville. En mai 2013, un incendie était venu détruire la bâtisse qui ne sera jamais reconstruite. Depuis cet évènement, Paul-Guy Lavack et le Comité du Musée Pointe-des-Chênes n’ont eu de cesse que de chercher un nouvel endroit où exposer les quelque 2,000 artéfacts qui ont été sauvés des flammes. Ces artefacts consistent principalement en des meubles, des tableaux, des livres, des objets du quotidien des pionniers comme des lampes à huile, mais aussi des outils.

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Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024
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Husband-and-wife food bloggers show how two chefs can navigate the home kitchen and stay happy

Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview
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Husband-and-wife food bloggers show how two chefs can navigate the home kitchen and stay happy

Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Husband-and-wife food bloggers and podcasters Sonja and Alex Overhiser have a new cookbook that uses a simple step to keep the kitchen a less heated place for two chefs: clear, alternating roles.

“A Couple Cooks: 100 Recipes to Cook Together” lays out ingredients and directions for a wide array of dishes, like any other cookbook, but also divides the cooking tasks — one home chef is designated a square, the other a triangle — so neither is overwhelmed or resentful.

“Everything is more fun together, we think. And so we found that about cooking,” says Sonja Overhiser from their home in Indianapolis. “You’ll stay doing it if you’re doing it with someone else.”

So to make their Meatballs with Fire-Roasted Marinara, one chef preheats the oven and then starts to make the marinara sauce, while the other prepares the meatballs. They come together at the end to coat the cooked meatballs with the sauce and add Parmesan cheese and basil.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025
How sweet it is
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New Jenna Rae cookbook focuses on bakers’ favourite home recipes

Eva Wasney 6 minute read Preview
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New Jenna Rae cookbook focuses on bakers’ favourite home recipes

Eva Wasney 6 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024

There’s a sweet new edition on the way.

Sisters Jenna Hutchinson and Ashley Kosowan are expanding their successful local bakery business with a new cookbook venture. Jenna Rae Cakes at Home: Our Favourite Recipes to Enjoy with Family and Friends hits bookstores Oct. 8 and features more than 100 colourful, family-friendly recipes.

The cookbook is a followup to their first release, Jenna Rae Cakes and Sweet Treats, and is a labour of love that brings together the twins’ individual interests.

“Ash was meant to make cookbooks,” says Hutchinson, whose passion for cake design prompted the entrepreneurial siblings to open their first Jenna Rae Cakes shop in 2014.

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Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Adam Woodbury, who formerly rented a chair at Waltz On In, has started a place of his own. ‘My life has changed forever and it’s going to be so exciting,’ he says of the new venture.

Woody’s Barbershop opens doors, fulfils personal dream

Aaron Epp 5 minute read Preview

Woody’s Barbershop opens doors, fulfils personal dream

Aaron Epp 5 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 4, 2024

For his birthday this year, Adam Woodbury treated himself to a business.

On June 30, the Red Seal hairstylist celebrated turning 32. The next day, he got the keys to 558 Academy Rd.; after almost two months of renovations, he opened Woody’s Barbershop late last month.

“I’m so happy,” Woodbury said Tuesday during some downtime between clients. “My life has changed forever and it’s going to be so exciting.”

A barber’s pole spins in the front window of the 850-square-foot shop, located near Lanark Street.

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Wednesday, Sep. 4, 2024
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS Almond Nail Bar is expanding across Canada. It's opened its flagship store in St. Vital, which is its biggest yet. 240830 - Friday, August 30, 2024. Reporter: Gabby
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Almond Nail Bar digs into expansion mode

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Preview
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Almond Nail Bar digs into expansion mode

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Friday, Aug. 30, 2024

Winnipeg’s newest export is packing its polish.

The first out-of-province Almond Nail Bar has quietly opened in Burnaby, B.C. Chinh La, the franchise owner, is preparing for a big unveiling in September.

His shop’s opening will be followed by one in Ontario and two more in British Columbia. Back in Manitoba, locations in Niverville and Steinbach are brewing.

In Winnipeg — where La and his wife own two locations — things are “very busy.”

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Friday, Aug. 30, 2024
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS Winnipeg Regional Health Authority Community Area Director Luba Bereza at the uncertified health care aide, or UHCA, ceremony held at the Masonic Memorial Centre on Monday afternoon.

Four-week program injects staff into city’s home-care ranks

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Preview

Four-week program injects staff into city’s home-care ranks

Tyler Searle 3 minute read Tuesday, Jun. 25, 2024

Efforts to bolster the roster of professionals who work in the city’s home-care sector are paying off as the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority celebrates the addition of hundreds of new employees.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Monday that 256 health-care aides have been hired by WRHA since February, when the city had a 24 per cent vacancy rate among home care workers.

“Home care is about providing dignified, compassionate services to the folks who need it most,” Asagwara said in a news release.

“The WRHA has put in a huge effort to recruit home-care workers and it’s paying off. It’s all good news: fewer vacancies, more visits and less frustrating cancellations for people.”

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Tuesday, Jun. 25, 2024
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES “Here we are again with the same offer for another group of MGEU members,” union president Kyle Ross said in a news release.

Spending on private health-care aides skyrockets

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

Spending on private health-care aides skyrockets

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Monday, May. 27, 2024

While the province tries to rein in the soaring costs of private agency nurses, spending on private health-care aides has also skyrocketed.

Freedom of information requests show spending on private agency health-care aides is way up in at least two Manitoba health regions.

The Interlake-Eastern Health region spent $8.7 million on private health-care aides in 2023-24, more than double the $3.4 million spent in 2021-22. The Prairie Mountain Health region spent almost $14.8 million for the first nine months of the 2022-23 fiscal year, nearly triple the $4.8 million spent in 2021-22.

Nearly half of what the Prairie Mountain region spent on agencies went toward travel costs, said Kyle Ross, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union that filed the freedom of information requests.

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Monday, May. 27, 2024
Clayton Warner holds a mirror as dental hygienist Mary Davis examines his teeth at the Christa McAuliffe School in Concord, N.H., Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
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Bringing dental care to kids in schools is helping take care of teeth neglected in the pandemic

Michael Casey, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview
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Bringing dental care to kids in schools is helping take care of teeth neglected in the pandemic

Michael Casey, The Associated Press 6 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Tucked away inside the teachers lounge at a New Hampshire elementary school, Amber Warner was having her teeth checked out for the first time.

The 5-year-old sat back on what looked like a beach chair and wore a pair of dark sunglasses as certified public health dental hygienist Mary Davis surveyed Amber's teeth and then with a tiny syringe applied traditional dental sealants, which had the consistency of nail gel.

“Close down and bite your teeth together, bite down like you are biting down on a hot dog or a cheeseburger," Davis told Amber, to ensure the sealants were done properly. After that, Davis flossed all of the “popcorn and the chicken, pizza between your teeth.” The whole visit took 15 minutes.

“Look at you. You are a pro on your first dental visit. I am so proud of you,” Davis said to the kindergartener, who got up from the chair and was hugged by a teacher's assistant.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Dressmaker Oluwayemisi Josephine Ogunwale sports one of her pieces.
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Pride and passion stitched right in

AV Kitching 4 minute read Preview
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Pride and passion stitched right in

AV Kitching 4 minute read Saturday, Mar. 23, 2024

Surrounded by vibrant textiles, Oluwayemisi Josephine Ogunwale, or Yemz, as she likes to be referred to, sits at her sewing machine, brow furrowed in concentration as she stitches the hem of a dress.

The tools of her trade within easy reach — fabric scissors, measuring tapes, cottons of various shades — Ogunwale is in her happy place: creating beautiful and wearable works of art for her loyal clientele.

The dressmaker has always been interested in fashion. As a child she would sew doll clothing from scraps of material her mother discarded. This progressed to altering her own clothes: modifying hems, adjusting frills, loosening or tightening waistlines.

“Sometimes I would destroy the clothes because of how many changes I made to it,” she laughs.

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Saturday, Mar. 23, 2024
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Johnny Vernaus, president of Vernaus Auto Body, with technician Roy Samlal, says minor claims are processing quickly, but vehicles with extensive damage are taking longer to be assessed.

Manitoba auto repair shops in high gear amid lengthy MPI strike

Tyler Searle 4 minute read Preview

Manitoba auto repair shops in high gear amid lengthy MPI strike

Tyler Searle 4 minute read Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023

Despite bumps in the road, Manitoba auto repair shops are chugging along as strike action at Manitoba Public Insurance drags into its seventh week.

“There are some delays, but we are hoping the (MPI) people can get back to work. We miss them. We miss the adjusters, but there is not much we can do about it,” said John Vernaus, owner of Vernaus Autobody in Winnipeg.

“Can you ask for more when (MPI is) operating with maybe one-10th of the staff?”

Around 1,700 walked off the job Aug. 28, after the Manitoba Government General Employees’ Union and the Crown auto insurer failed to reach a contract agreement. Many services have been halted, delayed or limited in the weeks since, as MPI works to maintain operations with reduced staff.

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Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023
JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Rachel Nedelec, owner of Flour & Flower bakery, is opening her first storefront location on Waterloo Street next week. The company’s creations were included in Grammy Awards gift bags this year.

Flour & Flower plants roots with Waterloo Street location as demand for unique cakes, cookies decorated with edible flowers grows

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Preview

Flour & Flower plants roots with Waterloo Street location as demand for unique cakes, cookies decorated with edible flowers grows

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Saturday, Sep. 30, 2023

Rachel Nedelec’s baking has reached the Grammys and Australia, an international fashion house and at least one yoga studio.

Next week, Flour & Flower will have a permanent home — its first brick-and-mortar bakery.

“I said, ‘I want it, I need it, this is my space,’” Nedelec recounted, laughing.

She and her real estate agent had heard the spot at 530 Waterloo St. was coming available. It was déjà vu: Nedelec first toured the site in early 2020, when her business was not yet half a year old.

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Saturday, Sep. 30, 2023
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Andy Baranowski, owner of J.W. McDonald Auto Service, by one of his cars, a 66 Thunderbird Landau.
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Leaving auto repair life in the rear-view

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview
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Leaving auto repair life in the rear-view

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Thursday, Jul. 7, 2022

For decades, Cadillacs, Mustangs and Audis have overnighted in the Exchange District for repairs and transformations.

Now, a Winnipeg mechanic envisions a new use for his shop — one that sees it filled with milk and produce instead of wrenches and tires.

“There’s no groceries down here,” said Andy Baranowski, owner of J.W. McDonald Auto Service. “Where are you going to get your milk?”

The 189 Bannatyne Ave. building has been an auto repair garage for almost a century — since 1923, according to the Manitoba Historical Society.

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Thursday, Jul. 7, 2022
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Howard Raber, the third-generation president of Raber Gloves and Mitts.
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Raber Gloves’ Garbage Mitts the must-have Winnipeg winter accessory

Ben Waldman 10 minute read Preview
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Raber Gloves’ Garbage Mitts the must-have Winnipeg winter accessory

Ben Waldman 10 minute read Monday, Feb. 28, 2022

‘I am the wrong person to complain to about the weather,” Howard Raber says jubilantly midway through a Winnipeg January, wearing a golf shirt as he opens the door to his family’s factory on McDermot Avenue.

Raber does not mind the cold. It’s the reason he is in business.

Had his grandparents immigrated in 1925 to a warmer place, their grandson’s opinion on the windchill might differ. But the ancestors chose Winnipeg — not such a bad place to be in the business of making gloves.

When it’s freezing outside, which in the wintertime is often, if not always, Howard Raber considers himself especially lucky. “When it’s cold out, we are everybody’s best friend.”

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Monday, Feb. 28, 2022
Simeon Rusnak photo Carly Shuler (left) and Maya Kotecha have built Hoot Reading into a major player in online tutoring. The $3 million in equity the company raised — led by toy maker Spin Master — will allow Hoot to expand its reach and its offerings.
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City company set to expand online tutoring presence after raising large equity stake

Martin Cash 4 minute read Preview
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City company set to expand online tutoring presence after raising large equity stake

Martin Cash 4 minute read Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021

Winnipeg education technology company Hoot Reading has landed one of the first investments in a new venture capital fund from toy maker Spin Master.

Interest in Hoot Reading, which has developed an online tutoring platform whose mission is closing the gap in what’s been identified as a reading slump in the fourth grade, has grown significantly through the pandemic.

With school-age children home in various parts of North America at various times during the pandemic, parents have been forced to look for more tools to help with early childhood educational habits and Hoot Reading has caught on.

“We have had incredible traction during the pandemic,” said Maya Kotecha, co-founder and co-CEO of Hoot Reading. “It has been a tailwind for us.”

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Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021
SHANNON VANRAES / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Being outside, like Anna Cooper Reid, with her dog in Assiniboine Park, is beneficial to health in many ways, including stress reduction.
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Nature prescription could be just what the doctor ordered

Kevin Rollason 3 minute read Preview
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Nature prescription could be just what the doctor ordered

Kevin Rollason 3 minute read Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021

Take a hike in the forest and call me in the morning.

Instead of prescribing just a pill or ointment, doctors could soon tell patients to head to the great outdoors.

PaRx, a national nature prescription program, has launched in Manitoba to help address mental and physical health problems and to encourage people to get outside to exercise.

Anna Cooper Reed, a social worker and doctoral student who is helping bring the program to this province, said she grew up being able to go to the family cottage in a provincial park in Manitoba so she knows first-hand the benefits of spending time outdoors.

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Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021
JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Spence Neighbourhood Association at the soft opening of their InnerCity Community Greenhouse Wednesday. From left to right: Kelly Romas, Director of Marketing Red River Co-op; Mandalyn Unger, Environmental and Open Spaces Coordinator at Spence Neighbourhood Association; Olivia Michalczuk, Director of Grants at Spence Neighbourhood Association; Lin Howes Barr, Executive Director at Spence Neighbourhood Association; Jocelyn Macleod, Building Sustainable Communities Program, Provincial Government; and Stephen Kirk, Greenhouse Coordinator.
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Greenhouse sprouts in inner-city neighbourhood

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Preview
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Greenhouse sprouts in inner-city neighbourhood

Gabrielle Piché 3 minute read Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021

AN inner-city greenhouse will soon burst with plants and people, and tackle food insecurity and unemployment.

The Spence Neighbourhood Association unveiled its community greenhouse at 689 Maryland St. Wednesday.

“In our neighbourhood, food access is a big issue,” said Mandalyn Unger, a co-ordinator with the non-profit.

The group regularlys accepts input from locals about their vision for the neighbourhood.

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Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021