Hudson’s Bay Company to give historic Winnipeg building to Indigenous organization


The Hudson’s Bay Company is giving its historic downtown Winnipeg building to an Indigenous organization, to be used in part for affordable housing.

The company is expected to announce the gift Friday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other government representatives will be in attendance.

The six-storey, 655,000-square-foot building is being given to the Southern Chiefs’ Organization.

An anonymous source told The Canadian Press that Manitoba is pitching in $10 million, and that Winnipeg and the federal government will also contribute.

The building, which was recently granted heritage status, is in need of renovations. The store closed in November 2020. It was built almost a century ago.

The Winnipeg location, which opened in 1926, is one of the company’s original six flagship stores. Over the years, the company scaled back retail operations at the store as consumer habits shifted. Last year, the Manitoba government announced a $25-million trust to help preserve and enhance the building. At the time, HBC said it was in discussions with several organizations on how best to use the site.

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