Downtown Winnipeg ‘on the right track,’ according to 2023 snapshot

The heart of Winnipeg is beating with life as more businesses and people flow in.

Wednesday, the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ released the 2023 Downtown Snapshot, which shows more people are visiting the city’s core, opening businesses there, and visiting.

Kate Fenske, CEO of the BIZ said increases in these numbers means that “Downtown is actually on the right track. We knew it was going to take some time for downtown to recover, but it’s happening.”

In 2023, she said 27 businesses opened. “A lot of them really focused around retail, around hospitality, some restaurants. That’s what people are coming downtown for,” she said.

While 37 businesses were shuttered in 2023, she said the gap between openings and closures is narrowing. In 2023’s fourth quarter, the report said an equal number of businesses opened and closed — the first neutral quarter since before the pandemic.

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In 2022, 26 more businesses closed than opened, it said.

In addition to more businesses opening, there are more people living in Downtown Winnipeg. Fenske said the latest census data from 2021 shows over 18,000 people making the heart of the city their home.

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“But, looking at our numbers, our best guess right now is that we’ll be sitting over 20,000 quite soon. So, when the next census comes out, we’re really excited to get over that 20,000 mark for the very first time,” she said, thanks to new housing developments like 300 Main.

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While others are not relocating downtown, they are certainly visiting. The snapshot reports 9.4 per cent more people popped by for business or pleasure, and hotel stays more than doubled to 60,000 nights booked.

“It’s not exactly where we want to end up yet (and) we still have a ways to go, but some of that work we’re doing with our partners right now,” she said, adding the BIZ is coming back to the basics.

“Our enviro team picked up one million litres of garbage in 2023,” she said. “We want to work with more partners on that, getting our downtown looking as best as it can possibly be,” Fenske said.

Another challenge includes trying to fill vacant storefronts and businesses, she said.

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“The good news is, in terms of office vacancy, we’re actually below the national average compared to other cities across Canada,” she said. However, when it comes to street level businesses like restaurants and shops, vacancy rates are over 30 per cent.

“Our goal is to really minimize that… so there’s more businesses here that are creating more street activity,” Fenske said.

To get there though, she said “we need to make sure that we have the people, because those are their customers.”

“When we look at young people (and) getting them to stay here, we need to have a strong, urban, vibrant, safe downtown,” she said, adding that safety in the downtown is still a concern. Though, she said, it’s not as bad as it maybe seems.

“It’s a delicate balance between realities and the perception. We’re really working towards creating a downtown neighborhood that all Winnipeggers can be proud of,” she said.

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