I’m still feeling inspired by our Downtown Spring CleanUp earlier this month—what a day! We had a record-breaking turnout, with more than 900 participants representing nearly 85 local businesses, non-profits, and community organizations. Together, we filled close to 400 bags of litter, and your feedback afterward confirmed what we felt: this community cares, and it shows. Thank you to our incredible partners and sponsors, Manitoba Hydro and Wawanesa Insurance, and to the City of Winnipeg for their support in making the event possible.

And as we’re celebrating that success, what a wild ride the past two weeks have been downtown. If you’re like me, your heart rate has spiked multiple times, and you’ve chewed off all your nails but… WE BELIEVE. That powerful message, thanks to Virgin Radio’s Chrissy Troy and Amber Saleem, is all over the city as our Winnipeg Jets continue their battle with the Dallas Stars in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs! Our BIZ team is supporting the playoff push with extra cleaning from the Wawanesa Enviro Team, increased visibility from our Downtown Ambassadors, and by promoting member businesses offering game-day deals and playoff specials. If you're running something fun for fans, send your info to kristian@downtownwinnipegbiz.com or tag us @downtownwpgbiz so we can help spread the word.

Local media is taking notice, too—check out this recent Winnipeg Free Press article on how downtown businesses are benefiting from the playoff buzz:

READ THE ARTICLE

It doesn’t stop there—this weekend, we welcome the home openers for both the Winnipeg Goldeyes and Winnipeg Sea Bears. With baseball and basketball back in action, expect more visitors and even more reasons to celebrate downtown.

There’s a lot happening—and it’s all building toward the kind of clean, accessible and vibrant downtown we’ve been working toward together.

Curious how downtown is doing so far this year? The Q1 2025 Downtown Snapshot is now live. This quarterly report offers a look at the latest data and developments shaping our neighbourhood—and the good news is, we’re heading in the right direction.

Increased visitation remains steady, and we’ll see some visible changes in the coming months as progress on some big projects continues. With the transformation of Graham Avenue to a pedestrian-focused destination, and the re-opening of Portage of Main to foot traffic soon, it’s great to see that pedestrian visits were already up—nearly 30% in Q1, compared to last year.

While we were excited to welcome six new businesses downtown in Q1, unfortunately eleven others closed, resulting in a net loss of five. Many of these closures are due to the temporary closure within the Portage Place food court, which is necessary to facilitate the significant redevelopment plans to better serve the community.

READ THE FULL REPORT (PDF)

Last week, the Winnipeg Police Service released its annual crime stats (for 2024), noting a slight decrease in overall and violent crime, for the first time nearly a decade. Police Chief Gene Powers has said that while these numbers are encouraging and heading in the right direction, this is not a victory.

We know safety remains a top concern, and many downtown businesses are still dealing with vandalism, theft and erratic behaviour. As the weather warms up and we head into a busy season of events downtown, it's critical to increase visible presence and add more eyes and ears on the streets. That is why we are advocating for a return of the Downtown Safety Action Plan this spring and summer, in partnership with the Downtown Community Safety Partnership (DCSP), the City and the Province, to help create a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.

Meanwhile, we are pleased to hear the Province is providing over $350,000 for DCSP to establish an Indigenous Women’s Support Team —an important step toward providing culturally safe supports for Indigenous women in our city’s core.

As always, we’ll keep you updated on important advocacy efforts to improve public safety for our members and the community we serve.

Congratulations to Eph Apparel on its 15th year anniversary downtown!

Founded in Winnipeg, the custom menswear company opened on Garry Street in 2013 and has called 190 Smith Street home since 2017. This month, they celebrated the grand reopening of a newly renovated showroom, marking another exciting chapter.

Thank you to co-founders Alex Ethans and Andrew Parkes for their passion and unwavering commitment to downtown. Andrew is also a member of our Board of Directors and always brings valuable insight and input to help move our downtown forward. Congratulations on this milestone and here's to many more successful years ahead!

READ THEIR STORY

Rendez-vous Canada is coming to downtown Winnipeg in just two weeks!

From May 26–29, we’ll be welcoming 1,500 travel buyers and tourism professionals from 22 countries to the RBC Convention Centre, with delegates staying in six downtown hotels and taking part in walking tours throughout the area. On Wednesday, May 28, delegates will have a free evening to explore downtown—so it’s a great time to showcase what your business has to offer.

If you haven’t already, consider joining Tourism Winnipeg’s VIP Pass program, which allows you to offer a special perk or discount to attendees—Tourism Winnipeg handles all the promotion and delegates simply show the mobile pass to redeem the offer.

LEARN MORE

Thank you,

Kate Fenske, CEO
Downtown Winnipeg BIZ