Winnipeg’s historic buildings aren’t just striking architecture; they carry the stories of the people, businesses, organizations and communities that built this city. Heritage Winnipeg exists to ensure that our built heritage is not only protected, but also thrives!

Heritage Winnipeg was founded in July 1978 through a collaborative effort by the City of Winnipeg, the Province of Manitoba, and the Heritage Canada Foundation (now known as the National Trust for Canada). As an independent, non-profit charity, it focuses on restoring, revitalizing, and preserving Winnipeg’s built heritage through advocacy, education and public service.

We formed as a grassroots organization of Winnipeggers who saw the immense value in protecting our built heritage in downtown Winnipeg and the Exchange District. Concerned citizens started a campaign to save the former Bank of Hamilton and the former Bank of Commerce on Main Street between Lombard and McDermot Avenue from demolition. The former Bank of Commerce, now the Millennium Centre, is a stunning 1912 neo-classical building designed by Architects Darling and Pearson. Heritage Winnipeg was then created to help protect our built heritage and work with the City of Winnipeg to create the heritage bylaws, so buildings could be designated and protected until redevelopment could take place. In 2000, the Millennium Centre was created as a charitable organization and opened its doors in 2002 as a public and private Event Centre. During COVID in early 2021, the Millennium Centre again faced the possibility of closing its doors, so Heritage Winnipeg began to take on its conservation and maintenance while overseeing events. Critical revenue is then invested back into the operations of the building.

The Millennium Centre, June 24, 2026. Source: Heritage Winnipeg

The organization’s work includes educating and providing public service for building owners, community groups, all levels of government, schools, the media, and the general public. We have published several books, including Armstrong’s Point: A History, Winnipeg 150 and a second Winnipeg book showcasing original architectural drawings by artist Robert Sweeney. We have many digital educational projects, and we provide student mentorship programs and employment. For 23 years, we have facilitated our Doors Open Winnipeg event, “celebrating the stories our buildings tell”, which is free to the public, one weekend a year at the end of May. We have also participated in many Manitoba Day events, most recently providing free digital activity booklets that educate students about our provincial history, along with many other educational digital projects available on our website.

Heritage Winnipeg supports building owners, developers, non-profit organizations, and all levels of government in advocating for revitalization that protects and respects a site’s heritage value and character-defining elements. This work is vital for the historic streetscapes in the Exchange District, a national historic site that includes over 100 heritage buildings across 20 city blocks east and west of Main Street. Heritage Winnipeg also draws attention to smaller artifacts of civic history, which initially started with the Provincial designation of the Timothy Eaton statue, now proudly displayed at the current Canada Life Centre. Most recently, we advocated for protecting Winnipeg’s first public clock, erected in 1903 for the former Gingerbread City Hall. When City Hall was demolished in 1962, the city moved it and put it into storage until 1987, when it was again prominently displayed at Edmonton Mall in Portage Place. We are now working with the city to have it stand proud again one day for all Winnipeggers to enjoy.

The former Gingerbread City Hall clock at Portage Place. Source: Jim Moore

Advocacy and education are always in action for our organization, with hundreds of buildings protected and redeveloped for almost five decades. Most recently, the vacant St. Charles Hotel at the corner of Albert Street and Notre Dame Avenue has sat empty since 2008, with no plans for a future. Heritage Winnipeg advocated to ensure it remained designated and protected until redevelopment plans emerged. It will now be redeveloped for housing, along with retail on the main floor, with a proposal to sympathetically dismantle and rebuild the façade.

We are very proud that many downtown heritage projects are underway. Projects such as the historic 1926 former Hudson’s Bay Company building on Portage Avenue as a mixed-use cultural and housing hub named “Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn” led by the Southern Chiefs’ Organization. Also, the Manitoba Métis Federation’s redevelopment of the landmark 1913 former Bank of Montreal building at the iconic intersection of Portage and Main into a National Métis Heritage Centre is also well underway. At 120/128 James Avenue in the East Exchange, Heritage Winnipeg supported the mixed-use residential development, which would add four floors atop the 1912 De Laval Warehouse alongside a new ten-storey building, creating 87 rentals. Finally, the 1890 Sanford Building and 1903 Maw’s Garage redevelopment on Princess and King Streets are moving forward as mixed-use projects with over 100 residential units.

120/128 James Avenue, July 31, 2026. Source: Heritage Winnipeg

The organization also looks out for at-risk community heritage buildings. Recently, the former 1914 Vaudeville Pantages Playhouse Theatre (located at 180 Market Avenue), which has sat empty since 2018, secured a $15-million commitment from the province in 2026. Plans include turning it into a rehearsal, educational, and mid-sized performance space for the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Performing Arts Consortium of Winnipeg, while preserving key historic features and hosting many other arts organizations.

The Pantages Playhouse Theatre, July 2026. Source: Heritage Winnipeg

The Marlborough Hotel, located at 331 Smith Street, which closed in 2024, raised many concerns. Now, a proposed $48-million adaptive reuse plan will bring 307 rentals, including 40 affordable units, while restoring significant historic spaces like the Churchill Room and the Skyview Ballroom. This is thanks to the new owner and to CentreVenture’s $5-million heritage residential conversion grant from the federal Housing Accelerator Fund.

The Marlborough Hotel, August 5, 2026. Source: Heritage Winnipeg

In 2025, CentreVenture helped support a feasibility study to stabilize the 1884 Gothic Revival Holy Trinity Anglican Church, a nationally and municipally designated heritage building in the downtown. In July 2026, the renewal effort entered Phase 2, a key step toward securing the building’s future and its role in the community.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Donald St entrance, July 29, 2026. Source: Heritage Winnipeg

Careful restoration work has also drawn immense praise for the landmark Fort Garry Hotel, located at 222 Broadway. Spaces like the former Palm Lounge, now known as the Oval Room, have preserved the hotel’s original Châteauesque character and received recognition with a 2026 Heritage Winnipeg Preservation Award. Since 1985, Heritage Winnipeg’s Annual Preservation Awards have recognized outstanding conservation work, dedicated service and youth leadership. The 2026 ceremony, held at the historic Fort Garry Hotel, marked the awards’ 40th anniversary, during which many historic buildings and individuals were again honoured.

The Fort Garry Hotel, September 8, 2026. Source: Heritage Winnipeg

Military heritage is also part of Heritage Winnipeg’s mandate. The organization’s blog has covered Fort Osborne Barracks, Valour Road and Winnipeg’s role in wartime history. Its advocacy helped ensure the Bank of Montreal’s First World War monument was respectfully moved to Brookside Cemetery (located at 3001 Notre Dame Ave), a National Historic Site that holds one of Canada’s largest Fields of Honour and the graves of over 10,000 veterans and service members. A digital First World War Memorial on Heritage Winnipeg’s website now preserves the names of all the fallen heroes.

First World War Statue at Brookside Cemetery’s Field of Honour, 2026. Source: Heritage Winnipeg

Educating the next generation of heritage professionals is another priority. Through the Young Canada Works in Heritage Institutions employment program, post-secondary students and recent graduates gain valuable paid work experience in research, writing, communications, project and event planning. They strengthen their work and life skills while extending the reach of the organization’s capacity. Student support matters because Heritage Winnipeg has always had to do more with less. With very limited funding from the city and province, we depend on donations, memberships, grants, sponsorships and fundraising to help sustain the day-to-day work we undertake. Even so, lack of resources has not limited our ability, ambition and success! For nearly 50 years, Heritage Winnipeg has demonstrated that preserving and redeveloping heritage buildings is not about resisting the future; it is about building a stronger future, and that the greenest building is an existing building!

Help Protect Winnipeg’s Heritage!

Help support our work by attending our 2026 Fall Fundraiser on Thursday, October 1, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. Discover the beautifully restored 1911 Glasgow House at 34 Middle Gate, in Armstrong’s Point, Winnipeg’s first Heritage Conservation District. The evening includes live music, wine, hors d’oeuvres from Bergmann’s on Lombard, and a fireside chat with owners Wins and Rae Bridgman. Join us in celebrating our built heritage and community, while supporting Heritage Winnipeg’s important ongoing work!

Featured Image: Looking north down Main Street’s Bankers’ Row from Portage Avenue circa 1908-1911.
Source: PastForward, Rob McInnes Postcard Collection (cropped, public domain)