Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 21, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba B5 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2025 ● BUSINESS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM BUSINESS Manitoba First Fund, Emend Vision Fund prep $10M for local startups A VANCOUVER-based venture capital fund has slated $10 million for Mani- toba startups. Half the money — $5 million — comes from the Manitoba First Fund, a provincially-funded entity created to spur investment. “We definitely look at Manitoba as an area of significant opportunity,” said Todd Tessier, chief financial officer of the Emend Vision Fund. He and partners have been scouting Western Canada for startups — large- ly those in agriculture and advanced manufacturing. Emend has fundraised over the past 2 ½ years. It completed its first close, at $25 million, last spring. It recently inked a deal with the Manitoba First Fund: MFF tabbed $5 million for pre-seed to Series A firms, and Emend will match the money. The B.C. early-stage venture capital fund is eyeing two to three Manitoba companies. It could have news within the next quarter, Tessier said. He hinted at specialized agriculture food process- ing and farming software businesses. Emend might provide “smaller in- vestment cheques” starting at $500,000. It aims to connect firms with staff to help them grow, Tessier said. “It’s basically up to the founders, whether they trust us to … find people for their company,” he said, adding Emend won’t take controlling interest of a company. He was previously an executive at Recon Instruments, a smart eyewear company Intel acquired for an undis- closed amount. Emend hasn’t yet invested in busi- nesses, but it’s on the cusp of announ- cing two deals: one in Alberta and an- other in Saskatchewan. It’s choosing to focus on agriculture technology because of a growing population and a need for environmental sustainability, Tessier said. “There’s a lot of money to be made in areas like digital media and online consumption,” he said. “We chose this industry because it’s meaningful.” Emend is also prioritizing companies innovating oil and gas, mining, clean water, industrial artificial intelligence, transportation and infrastructure sec- tors. An alignment between “critical sec- tors” in Manitoba and Emend is among the reasons the Manitoba First Fund is funnelling money into the partnership, said chief executive Ken Ross. “They have a strong, successful track record, and their experience can help whoever they invest in beyond just their capital,” he said. The then-Progressive Conservative government launched the $100 million Manitoba First Fund in 2022. Since then, $80 million has been committed to various partnerships. The latter $20 million will likely be claimed by the end of next year, Ross said. Roughly $10 million from the Mani- toba fund has been dispersed between six companies, including VAW Systems and Northway Aviation. Partner invest- ors have placed some $38 million in those companies: “We’re actually get- ting about a three-to-one leverage, on average, for our money,” Ross said. Northway Aviation acquired Sky- North Air in January. It’s too early to tell how an investment in VAW Systems will unfold, Ross said. The money spent on VAW Systems between the Manitoba First Fund and partner PFM Capital wasn’t disclosed in May, when the duo announced they’d invest. gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com GABRIELLE PICHÉ Risk of recession in 2026 seen as ‘low’: IG Wealth report MANITOBA investors — and Can- adians at large — will benefit from Bank of Canada rate cuts and new gov- ernment spending in 2026, according to a report from IG Wealth Management. The Winnipeg-based company’s 2026 Market Outlook forecasts econom- ic growth through, in part, govern- ment spending on housing and infra- structure. It’s also anticipating a 25-basis point drop in the Bank of Canada’s key policy rate in March, which would lower inter- est rates across the country. “Usually for the full impact of rate cuts to be felt through the economy, it takes about a year to a year-and-a- half,” said Philip Petursson, IG Wealth Management’s chief investment strat- egist. “Canada will continue to benefit from the rate cuts … enacted in 2025.” The central bank has dropped its policy rate a full percentage point this year. IG’s report came out Thursday. It labelled the risk of a recession in 2026 “low” and encouraged funda- mental-driven management instead of headline-driven management. The S&P 500 fell between February and April, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration and mass launch of tariffs. It has since rebounded. “Markets don’t hate tariffs, they hate uncertainty,” IG’s report reads. Artificial intelligence could continue to bolster economic growth, the report states. “We could be in the early stages of an AI bubble,” Petursson said. “You never actually know at what point you’re in a bubble until the very, very end — and the end might not even materialize. “If AI continues to prove itself as a very, very useful tool in our daily lives … I think that’s a good thing down the road.” From a general economic perspec- tive — “regardless of where we might be on this AI journey” — companies are doing better, Petursson said. Public-sector spending and the weather, which affects agriculture, will likely have a greater impact than AI and lower interest rates in Manitoba, said Fletcher Baragar, a University of Manitoba economics professor. “That continuation of that uncer- tainty, I think, is going to continue,” he said. “I feel a little more wary, a little more cautious (than IG).” IG Wealth Management is predicting a “wealth effect” wave in 2026, similar to 2025, where investors saw equity gains. gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com GABRIELLE PICHÉ Surgical tech pioneer to be honoured THE man behind a multibillion-dollar medical device company — one that has developed more than 25,600 surgical devices and implants — has been named the newest recipient of a prestigious Manitoba business award. Reinhold Schmieding will be recog- nized at the 2026 IDEA Gala on May 21. The Associates, a group of 365 senior business executives with ties to the University of Manitoba’s business school, hosts the IDEA Gala annually. It honours a prominent business figure each year. Steve Young — co-founder of Huntsman Gay Global Capital — was the 2025 recipient. Schmieding founded Arthrex, a company known for advancing arthroscopic and less invasive orthopedic surgery devices. — Free Press staff ‘Markets don’t hate tariffs, they hate uncertainty’ — IG Wealth’s 2026 Market Outlook report Canadians seek savings as food costs remain top concern: survey A SURVEY of Canadians’ percep- tions around food affordability and purchasing behaviours sug- gests that consumers have changed how they shop, cook and eat in re- sponse to rising prices. The latest edition of the Canadian Food Sentiment Index, released by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab in partnership with on- line data platform Caddle, said food remains the dominant household fi- nancial concern for Canadians. More than four-in-five survey re- spondents indicated it’s their top ex- pense pressure. While that was down from 84.1 per cent of respondents a year ago, it still far outpaces other day-to-day expense concerns, such as utilities, household items and supplies, housing, transportation and entertain- ment. Half of the nearly 3,000 respondents to the survey conducted last month said food costs increased “significant- ly” over the past year, while just over one-third indicated their food expens- es were up “slightly” and close to 12 per cent said they stayed the same. About 20 per cent of Canadians said they now spend more than $600 per month on food at home, up slightly from the last biannual food sentiment index in the spring, while a combined 46.4 per cent spend between $300 and $600 monthly. Statistics Canada said earlier this week that prices for food purchased from the grocery store rose 3.4 per cent on an annual basis in October, cooling from four per cent in Septem- ber. That deceleration was driven by cooling costs for fresh vegetables and a category that includes mostly pro- cessed foods, but bigger price hikes on fresh and frozen chicken moderated the decline. Growth in grocery costs outpaced the overall annual inflation rate of 2.2 per cent for the month. Almost half of those surveyed for the food sentiment index indicated they have changed their grocery hab- its due to food price inflation by seek- ing out sales and discounts. Around 23 per cent said they tried either using more coupons, shopping online for bet- ter prices or going to cheaper stores. “People are making trade-offs every single day — switching brands, re- ducing variety, cooking more at home, or delaying purchases altogether,” said report co-author Stacey Taylor. “The data show a clear shift: afford- ability is now the lens through which most food decisions are being made.” Other common cost-cutting efforts included buying fewer non-essential items like ice cream, switching to cheaper brands, and buying fewer pre- mium foods such as meat or fruit. Canadians also seem to be limit- ing restaurant and takeout spending to help cope with higher costs, with around one-third of respondents spending less than $50 a month on restaurant food and nearly a quarter spending between $51 and $100. The report also found that trust in major food retailers continues to erode, with more Canadians feeling disconnected from how prices are set and frustrated by a lack of trans- parency. Meanwhile, support for Canadian-grown and Canadian-made foods is rising. “Canadians are adapting, but they’re tired. What we’re seeing in this report is not just frustration with prices, but a deeper concern about fairness, transparency, and the future of our food economy,” said Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab and lead author of the study. “One of the bright spots is the re- newed enthusiasm for Canadian-made products,” he said in a press release. “Many households see buying lo- cal as a way to regain control — sup- porting farmers, supporting domestic processors and helping strengthen Canada’s food sovereignty.” — The Canadian Press SAMMY HUDES JACQUES BOISSINOT / THE CANADIAN PRESS Produce in a Levis, Que., market. More than 80 per cent of Canadian Food Sentiment Index survey respondents indicated the issue was their No. 1 household financial pressure. CAE, Saab sign training services, devices deal MONTREAL — CAE Inc. has an- nounced an agreement to be the pre- ferred supplier of certain training and simulation equipment for Sweden-based Saab’s airborne early warning system. The Montreal-based company says the agreement will leverage CAE’s exper- tise in advanced training systems and the delivery of flight training devices. Under the agreement, CAE will pro- vide simulation-based training, and pi- lot and maintenance training services. CAE CEO Matt Bromberg says in a news release such expertise is critical to defence forces around the world, while the agreement with Saab responds to an evolving geopolitical landscape that re- quires stronger partnerships. — The Canadian Press Dr. Martens to shift production due to U.S. tariffs DR. MARTENS Plc is moving produc- tion of some of its footwear from Laos to Vietnam in a bid to mitigate the ef- fect of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The British bootmaker said the shift is part of a wider plan to offset a “high single-digit” million-pound tariff hit this fiscal year. It also plans to increase the prices of some of its footwear, known for its distinctive thick sole, from January. Most of Dr. Martens footwear is made in Southeast Asia, where coun- tries have been hit with some of the highest tariff rates as Trump tries to rebalance economic relationships with other nations, particularly those that have become manufacturing hubs ex- porting consumer goods to the U.S. “We’ve shifted any production that was from Laos, which is at a 40 per cent tariff rate going into U.S. It’s now go- ing to be made in Vietnam, which is at 20 per cent,” CEO Ije Nwokorie said on Thursday. The U.S. is a key market for Dr. Mar- tens and the Americas region was the best-performing division, posting six per cent sales growth during the first half, the company said Thursday. Dr. Martens said it’s on track to meet a full-year profit target of between £53 million to £60 million (US$69 million to US$78.5 million) despite the tariff hit, only half of which can be offset this year. By next year though, tight cost con- trol, sourcing changes and “targeted adjustments to our USA pricing policy,” will help Dr. Martens fully offset tariff headwinds, the company said. — Bloomberg News ;