Cannabis became legal in Canada in 2018, and with the new legalization came different laws and regulations for each province and territory. As of June 1, 2020, Manitobans were able to apply for a licence(s) to open their own cannabis retail stores. Although some of these new applicants had robust retail experience, many new candidates were new to the world of retail all together. As a result, landlords have been presented with a mixed bag of prospective cannabis tenants over the last year and a half.

StorageVille, a self-storage facility in Winnipeg, Canada – is part of the Shindico commercial real estate investment portfolio. Working closely with Shindico President and CEO, Sandy Shindleman, the management team at StorageVille sought out ways to reduce our operating costs. One area which came to our attention is in the renewable energy space with the opportunities available in Manitoba. Often, when someone mentions “renewal energy” and “Manitoba” in the same sentence, the first thing to come to mind is hydroelectricity. However, Manitoba is also a perfect location for utilizing another renewal energy source – solar technology. So perfect in fact that Manitoba Hydro began offering its Solar Energy Pilot Program in 2017.

Winnipeg, the largest city in Manitoba, Canada, has seen steady expansion in population, job creation and industrial space demand over the past several years. Growth in industry sectors such as aerospace, agribusiness, logistics, information technology and manufacturing have driven industrial vacancy rates to below 4 percent.

We sat down with one of Shindico’s property managers, Alex Akman, to discuss Winnipeg’s multi-family market.