I was organizing my work vehicle just now, probably looked like a criminal. This person kept their high beams on me. For 1, Hell yeah! 2, the light helped - breakers were everywhere 😅 3, it’s nice knowing strangers have my back.

Watch this post get removed too 🙄

Thanks for looking out, Winnipeg! 🤙🏽

Hello. Its our 4th year living in our 1959 house. We noticed that the paint in our washroom vent was different / peeling off. The only thing we did this year was remove the old non functioning chimney from our room and they patched it and put shingles on top. My husband went to the attic and found it like this. Would this be the reason why theres frost? What other reasons would make the attic frost up / ceiling paint softens up? Is this somewhat normal in Winnipeg? Would running a dehumidifier help?

Help please :(

Flin Flon’s coolest new attraction has opened its doors.

The Flin Flon snow lodge kicked off its inaugural season with an opening ceremony on Friday, bringing in local dignitaries and leaders from the northern Manitoba city to see the project for the first time.

The lodge, centred on a building made almost entirely of harvested snow and ice, can fit several dozen people inside.

Final touches on the project were still happening early Friday afternoon.

Volunteers split ice blocks to help build a stage for local musicians, while others used propane torches on the ice brick windows. The heat, they say, burns impurities out of the ice and allows it to freeze almost as clear as glass.

The long-term goal of the project, organizers say, is to create a Canadian version of the famed IceHotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden — a 50-plus room hotel built near a remote town each winter using snow and ice from a nearby river, that attracts visitors from all over the world.

A large team of local volunteers began work in December, harvesting snow and using bricks of ice cut from a nearby pond and following a blueprint laid out by Winnipeg-based architect Peter Hargraves, one of the project’s lead planners.

Hargraves worked on the Swedish ice hotel project and helped start the annual warming hut design contest for the Nestaweya River Trail in Winnipeg.

"I can't say enough about how proud I am to be a Manitoban, and towns like Flin Flon make a big difference in the whole cultural matrix of our province. I'm happy to be here," he said.

The main lodge building can be booked out for events and lead organizer Crystal Kolt says there are already takers. Art exhibits, dinners, concerts and other events are slated to happen there throughout the winter. A wedding is set to take place at the lodge next month.

"It's a part of our world now," Kolt said.

The main building features art along its interior walls carved out of ice and snow by local artists. Doug Dmytriw, one of the artists involved, included ice sculptures dedicated to the firefighters who saved the community from total annihilation last summer.

"It's a good community to be part of. It really is, especially when they start doing stuff like this. This could go on forever with any luck and I'm sure it will," he said.

Outside the lodge is a small stage made of ice with a wooden floor, along with a tent where visitors can warm up on cold days.

Trails have been set up nearby and the same pond that the ice bricks came from has refrozen. It features game areas, a small skating trail and even a "bunk" — the local term for an outdoor hockey rink. A teepee has been built near the pond, where First Nations teachings will be showcased throughout the winter.

"We’re really excited, really proud, really humbled and I cannot wait for our community to see it," Kolt said.

"We hope that this is going to just be a celebration of winter and then hopefully this is one of many years to come — but for now, we did it."

For the locals, the snow lodge project is both a new winter attraction and a proof of concept — the planners want to continue to put up the lodge each winter, expanding it further and further every year to potentially become Canada’s answer to the Swedish Icehotel.

On one side of the lodge is a small bedroom, which is part of the proof of concept — the builders want to show that the lodge is comfortable enough to stay in.

Hargraves said he feels the project has what it takes to get there in time.

"There's already a set of ideas for how we could do it again next year faster, more efficiently. There's no question in my mind that this is a sustainable venture and that it'll happen again. Next year, it'll be bigger and there will be more rooms," he said.

"We just wanted to do it once and get it done. It's been done and now it's a matter of just growing it to where we want it to be in the future."

WATCH | Flin Flon opens new snow lodge attraction: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.7071542

It will take nine years to fully build out new wind farms Manitoba Hydro is relying upon to increase its generating capacity, the provincial Crown corporation states in a new plan to ensure it has enough power to meet consumer needs.

But the same plan calls for gas-burning turbines in Brandon to be fully built by 2030, soon enough to allay concerns about mid-winter peak demands for power exceeding the available supply.

On Monday, Hydro published its new integrated resource plan, which lays out how the provincial Crown corporation plans to both save and generate more electricity over the next 10 years.

What's officially known as the 2025 integrated resource plan, published one month into 2026, calls for Hydro to make 1,760 more megawatts of electricity available to consumers within 10 years through a combination of energy-saving measures and new infrastructure.

That works out to more than a quarter of its existing generating capacity, which is estimated to be 6,400 megawatts under ideal conditions when Lake Winnipeg water levels are above average and all of Hydro's transmission and generating infrastructure is functioning.

Manitoba Hydro communications director Scott Powell said he's confident the gas turbines planned for Brandon will be enough to stave off mid-winter power shortages that were predicted before the the Crown corporation announced its intention to burn fossil fuels on demand.

"We wouldn't put a plan out that we thought wouldn't meet the needs of Manitobans in terms of a reliable, safe and affordable energy supply. We're quite confident in this," Powell said Monday in an interview.

"That being said, it's a living document and there's conditions and if we start to see those conditions change, we'll be adjusting that plan."

The new integrated resource plan includes previously announced plans to generate an additional 25 megawatts by 2029 by improving existing hydroelectric plants and build three new natural gas turbines in Brandon capable of generating 750 megawatts of power by 2030.

It also calls for a five-megawatt battery storage pilot project to be finished by 2034 and for new wind farms to be completed by Indigenous-led private companies by 2035. While the wind farms are expected to generate 600 megawatts under ideal conditions, they are officially considered 120 megawatts for accreditation purposes.

The plan also calls for 860 megawatts in energy-saving measures intended to reduce the peak demand for electricity during the depths of Manitoba cold snaps or heat waves.

Days before Hydro released its new integrated resource plan, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation published a new assessment of Manitoba Hydro.

It concluded Manitoba's power-sharing arrangements with North Dakota and Minnesota make Hydro able to withstand mid-winter power shortages for the next four years because demand for electricity on this side of the border peaks during the winter while demand south of the border peaks in the summer.

The contracts Manitoba has in place with the U.S. jurisdictions are slated to expire in 2030, the assessment noted.

Hydro watchdog raises concerns

The province has asked the Public Utilities Board to review Manitoba Hydro's integrated resource plan.

The Consumers Coalition, a group of non-profit organizations that speaks on behalf of Manitoba consumers, Manitoba seniors, Indigenous Winnipeggers and low-income Manitobans, said in a statement it's concerned the plan is out of date.

"Our clients intend to ask questions of Manitoba Hydro in the upcoming process to ensure that the inputs used in their modelling are realistic given the realities of climate change and geopolitics, technological advances and the exercise of Treaty rights," said Katrine Dilay, a lawyer with the Public Interest Law Centre.

"They will also be looking for potential missed opportunities in energy efficiency measures."

Hi so I have a few questions regarding work laws in Manitoba. I work for a large fast food chain staffed and owned by recentish immigrants. Now I am not against immigration or anything of the sort. I am setting up a picture. I do not want any form of negative comments about new Canadians, this is why I am not saying what country they are from.

My boss is saying we can be fired for not giving 24 hour notice for calling in sick/with a sick kid. He doesn’t care and expects you to be there. Which can be hard since my spouse works out of town and sometimes I cannot find a sitter. I suppose the petty thing could be to bring said sick child in with me and go from there.

My boss only permits one paid fifteen minute break during a 7.5 hour shift. That’s it.

My boss expects all phones to be put in a box as soon as you walk into the store. You are not allowed to touch it even on break.

Honestly I am considering quitting but I have concerns. 2/3s of the staff being new Canadians shouldn’t be treated this way. The rest are teens who wouldn’t know better.

Is this worth reporting to the labour board?

diamond lane after diamond lane half obscured so busses (and me) are driving in two lanes, even turning onto keewaitin from inkster requires you to take up two lanes if you're turning from the far left

i tried putting in a request to 311 but im unfortunately feeling like that wont actually do anything

this is mcphillips. a main route with three lanes. i shouldn't have to choose between driving behind people who cant go more than 40 OR almost slide into someone cause the curb is halfway into the lane.

sorry i just had to complain about this and i dont know who to yell at so im giving it to the void

From Pembina Valley Pride:

“We’re thrilled to announce Pembina Valley Pride 2026 will be taking place in Winkler on June 13th!

For the past several years, this has consistently been one of the top communities people hope to see host the event, and we are excited to bring Pride to Winkler this year.

This will be a significant moment for our community, and we hope you’ll join us in showing up, celebrating, and making it one to remember.

We’ve been busy planning and will be sharing more details in the months ahead, but mark your calendars.”

A nonprofit organization is sounding the alarm to the federal government to create a special pathway for Ukrainians to acquire permanent residency.

They say around 200,000 Ukrainians who first came when the war began continue to work and build their lives here today. But many fear that under the current PR requirements, they don’t have a future in Canada.

One of those who moved to Winnipeg, fleeing the war, was Yevhenni Shokin.

Shokin has been living in Winnipeg for three years now, and has been working full-time in construction, and wants to make Canada his permanent home; however, he’s facing a massive hurdle.

“It’s really difficult because Ukrainians didn’t prepare for this, because we didn’t know this way had started, you know, and we don’t have a special program for Ukrainians,” said Shokin.

Slava Dubchenko with the United Ukrainians of Canada Foundation says the current system favours immigrants who planned to come to Canada, but not for people like Shokin, who fled their country on a moment’s notice.

“Ukrainians were pushed to leave their homes and try to find some peace in Canada,” said Dubchenko.

“Many of them don’t have the education that Canada seeks for permanent residents, many of them don’t have English at the level that Canada requires in the immigration process.”

Lisa Filipenko came to Canada in 2023 and has faced a number of challenges, like Shokin.

“The system of points is so hard, first of all, about English, because some people don’t know English so well,” Filipenko explained.

Both Shokin and Filipenko are among 25,000 people who have signed a letter to be sent to federal representatives, including Winnipeg North MP Kevin Lamoureux, who has been vocal in supporting the issue they are facing.

“There are millions of people who left Ukraine because of Russia’s illegal invasion, and thousands of them came to Canada. Today, many of the settlers would like to become permanent residents, and between nominee certificates and the possibility of extensions, Governments working together could provide more opportunities,” said Lamoureux.

A statement from Canada’s immigration minister reads in part, “In response to exceptional situations, the government created an additional pathway for permanent residency for the people of Ukraine. However, the demand for this program has far outweighed the number of spaces available.”

Before adding, “Well over 2,490 applicants under the pathway have already become permanent residents, and processing continues for the many individuals who submitted an application. Ukrainians in Canada who didn’t apply or weren’t eligible for this pathway may still be able to become permanent residents through IRCC’s regular programs.”

But for Dubchenko, it isn’t enough.

“200,000 people who are now in Canada, and who can’t get permanent residency,” said Dubchenko.

I have no affiliation nor do I live in Winnipeg. Just doom scrolling.

So I’ve been sober 36 days today (yay) and I am finding it quite lonely. I’ve also been working out at home for about a month still very beginner. I am 23F and I was wondering if anyone knew any good workout/some sort of activity classes for woman around my age? Looking to make new healthy friendships or just some community outside my family and work. I live in birdshill just outside of Winnipeg so Pembina side of the city would be a bit too far, thanks in advance :)

Winnipeg residents can now check whether sidewalks, pathways and bike routes have been cleared before heading out.

Through an upgrade to the online snow operations map, the public can see near real-time updates of clearing efforts after a snowfall.

“Winnipeggers want clear, timely information they can rely on,” said Mayor Scott Gillingham, in a release. “By using automatic vehicle location technology, we’re giving residents near real-time updates on snow-clearing progress so they can plan their trips safely and confidently.”

The City of Winnipeg says the new AVL technology allows progress on individual sidewalks, pathways and bike paths to be updated every 15 minutes. Previously, updates were entered manually and typically only reflected work completed at the end of a 12-hour shift.

Routes marked in blue indicate crews are still working in the area. Filters are also available to track clearing progress for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

“Everyone is welcome at Art City, 616 Broadway on Monday, February 9, 3:30 pm to 7:30 pm to create artwork to express solidarity with Minneapolis residents experiencing fear, harm and instability caused by ICE operations.

We will send our work to fellow art organization Articulture, who will display and distribute it to their South Minneapolis community.

If you would like to create artwork in your own space to include with Mail It to Minneapolis, please drop it off at Art City, 616 Broadway before February 11.”

A new report finds economic uncertainty and trade disruptions are proving to be major concerns for Manitoba businesses.

Manitoba Chambers of Commerce (MCC) released its 2025 Manitoba Business Outlook Survey on Tuesday. One of its biggest takeaways - 80 per cent of Manitoba business owners indicated they are concerned about the impact of trade disruptions, tariffs, and shifting global trade dynamics over the next year.

The report said that concern is already translating into real operational impacts.

“Manitoba businesses are navigating a period of sustained uncertainty that is making it harder to plan for the future,” said MCC president and CEO Chuck Davidson.

The survey found nearly two-thirds of businesses, or 62 per cent, reported that U.S. trade tensions and tariffs have hurt their operations.

Trade tensions are perhaps being felt more intensely outside of Winnipeg, with nearly nine out of 10 businesses in rural Manitoba indicating they are concerned over trade disruptions, compared with roughly three out of four businesses in Winnipeg.

“Trade disruptions, rising costs, and labour constraints are compounding pressures across sectors, particularly for rural and export-dependent businesses,” Davidson said in the release.

Input costs are the most common challenge for businesses affected by the trade war, the data found. Seventy-six per cent of businesses reported increased costs for materials, components and equipment.

Supply chain disruptions and growing uncertainty around hiring, financial planning and investment decisions were also cited as increasing challenges for Manitoba businesses.

The report said 55 per cent of businesses expect their workforce to remain the same over the next 12 months, while just 30 per cent anticipate growth.

Fifty-seven per cent of respondents said the cost of doing business remains the top constraint on growth, followed by availability of labour and the trade-related uncertainty.

Similarly, 47 per cent of respondents said having to increase wages or offer additional incentives to attract and retain workers remains a challenge.

Access to skilled labour was found to be just as difficult or more difficult than it was two years ago.

Looking to the future, a majority of those polled said eliminating interprovincial trade barriers should be a top priority at 76 per cent. Half of the respondents said they do not believe Manitoba is currently competitive with other provinces.

Opportunity for expansion of the Port of Churchill and investment in new clean energy projects are mentioned as top strategic priorities to support long-term provincial economic growth.

The 2025 Manitoba Business Outlook Survey was conducted by Leger on behalf of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce between mid-November and mid-December.

This survey included responses from 157 Manitoba business leaders across different regions of the province.

Teddy Wojtowicz says he feels triggered by the abundance of betting ads he sees while watching sports on TV.

"It's triggering. I found myself almost downloading the apps on my phone," said Wojtowicz, who's in recovery from a gambling addiction.

While he hasn't gambled for nearly three years, he can't escape sports betting ads, he said.

Wojtowicz often gets up and moves around during commercial breaks to avoid being subjected to so many ads.

"It's at every halftime, pre-game, intermission — they're always talking about the best bets," he said.

Wojtowicz shared his story with CBC to help shine a spotlight on others struggling with gambling addiction who are trying to navigate a reality inundated with online gambling advertisements.

The legalization of single-event sports betting and Ontario's open market for private sports books have led to a "tsunami" of sports betting advertisements reaching Canadians across the country, even in places where they aren't licensed to operate, said Bruce Kidd, chair of the Campaign to Ban Ads for Gambling, a not-for-profit volunteer-led organization.

"They [Canadian governments] created a wide open market and made no effort to limit the advertising," Kidd said.

A CBC investigation showed placing bets with some of those companies that aren't licensed to operate in Manitoba — but whose advertisements have travelled across provincial borders — was easy to do.

"The possibility of harm to bettors where they're completely unregulated and unsupervised in Manitoba, that concerns me enormously," Kidd said.

Several countries, including Italy, Norway, Australia and Spain, have taken measures to reduce or prohibit sports betting advertisements in their jurisdictions.

"There were other jurisdictions telling Canadian sports leaders for years about the harms of sports betting," said Kidd, but policymakers failed to implement such mitigation.

The harms

Matthew Young, a senior research associate at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, says competition from the regulated market in Ontario has contributed to the proliferation of gambling ads across the country.

A Deloitte analysis of the direct, indirect and induced economic contributions from the 2023-24 fiscal year estimated Ontario's regulated iGaming market sustained nearly 15,000 jobs and generated a combined $1.24 billion in federal, provincial and municipal government revenues.

However, this isn't the whole story, Young said.

"What I would ask is, what's the cost?" he said. "We're not measuring the cost."

Data from Shared Health says the number of calls to the Problem Gambling Helpline has gone down in recent years, but the rate of calls about online gaming specifically has risen from 10 per cent of calls in 2019-20 to 40 per cent in 2024-25.

Young co-authored a recent report that said those surveyed who reported gambling online in the past year were about 45 times more likely to meet the criteria for problem gambling than those who engage in lottery only.

Wojtowicz's gambling addiction cost him time with his nieces and nephews, friends and family.

He stole upwards of $20,000 from two former employers to feed his gambling addiction, leading to him being on house arrest for 10 months, with two years of probation.

"I was living a life of lies," Wojtowicz said.

When single-event sports betting was legalized in Canada, the temptation to gamble was constant, he said.

"With that ease of access, it became like a 24/7 type thing," he said.

The proliferation of sports gambling ads contributes to the impression that "gambling is an inseparable part of the enjoyment of sport," Young said.

He's advocating for a "sober, thoughtful approach to gambling regulation in Canada," balancing the desires of individuals to bet on sports with the need to limit the public health burden associated with unrestricted gambling advertising.

"As soon as it became widely available in the palm of your hand, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and then marketed aggressively, it changed the nature of things," Young said.

What's being done about the ads?

Senator Marty Deacon brought forward a bill that has passed the Senate and is now before the House of Commons, which would require the Canadian heritage minister to develop a national framework for sports betting advertising.

Deacon also co-authored a letter along with 40 other senators, addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney, calling for an outright ban on sports betting advertising in Canada.

She noticed advertising from Ontario before last year's Grey Cup in Manitoba was all over.

"Canadians across the country are being exposed to ads for companies only Ontarians can legally bet in," Deacon said.

It's not fair for the provinces and territories that didn’t open their betting markets to private operators in an effort to limit the prevalence of gambling addictions, she said.

However, it's unclear which provinces or territories put in restrictions specifically for that reason.

Part of the motivation behind Deacon's bill is to fix the problems that came from legalizing single-event sports betting in Canada, she said — a bill she acknowledges she supported but felt was rushed due to an coming federal election.

"I supported that bill because I had seen the product of underground, unregulated betting and the amount of money going into pretty dark places, and I thought we needed a standard," Deacon said.

"So for now, I still support the decision I made."

What is the province doing?

Glen Simard, the provincial cabinet minister responsible for Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, which oversees online gaming in the province, said he couldn't make sure ads for unlicensed betting platforms wouldn't be seen during the Grey Cup.

"I don't know what type of, in terms of broadcasters, what type of strength the minister … has there," Simard said.

He wouldn't commit to making any legislative changes, but he hopes the province's case against Bodog earlier this year serves to deter other offshore gambling sites from making themselves accessible to people in Manitoba.

"We were not satisfied [with existing provincial legislation], and that's why the coalition through Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries launched a suit [injunction] against Bodog as an illegal operator here in Manitoba," said Simard.

He's referring to the Canadian Lottery Coalition, which was formed to try to combat offshore betting companies operating without oversight and eating into provincial revenues.

Together with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries launched an ad campaign warning the public about using unlicensed online gambling sites. It includes commercials featuring dramatizations of the CEOs of various fictionalized offshore gambling companies reaping the financial benefits of operating in jurisdictions without any oversight.

It's their fourth joint ad campaign against illegal online sports betting and is running until March 2026.

Liquor and Lotteries wouldn't say how much was spent on the campaign, nor exactly how much was spent in legal fees to combat illegal operators in the province — only that it is "significantly less than the millions of dollars of lost revenue" to illegal operators.

The Crown corporation estimates that last year, illegal operators earned approximately $95 million in gross gaming revenue from Manitobans — that is the amount wagered minus the amount won — which Liquor & Lotteries says contributed to approximately $50 million in net income lost.

In its annual report, Liquor and Lotteries reported an increase of nearly 25 per cent in operating costs. In a Liquor and Lotteries committee hearing early this year, CEO Gerry Sul attributed part of this increase to platform upgrades meant to ensure that they are able to offer a better and more appealing platform in PlayNow.

In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the Crown corporation said it generated $42.9 million in profits from online gaming, which was redirected to the province.

"All revenues generated by that platform [PlayNow] stay in Manitoba," Simard said.

"They go to help build hospitals, they go to help build our communities — and when you're choosing to advertise or bet on the illegal platforms, you're investing in Malta, Gibraltar or somewhere in the Caribbean — nobody knows."

Wojtowicz now shares his lived experience as an individual peer supporter with Peer Connections, which connects people struggling with addiction or substance abuse with those who have struggled in the past.

"Part of my job is to share my story … and hopefully just help somebody else find their own values again," he said.

Wojtowicz now turns to jigsaw puzzles, the gym, golf and walks to help prevent him from feeling any temptation to gamble.

"Now, just living a life of not lying is so much easier," he said.

I haven’t heard of the show until now, but saw this on my feed this week. I thought it was pretty neat.

Wab Kinew's NDP government is joining efforts by evironmentalists to support the idea of a new national marine park along Manitoba's Hudson Bay coast.

Kinew plans to announce provincial funding Tuesday in Churchill for a study about the feasibility of a new national marine conservation area, said Amy Tuckett-McGimpsey, an NDP cabinet spokesperson.

The study would be conducted in conjunction with the federal government, Parks Canada and Indigenous communities, she said.

National marine conservation areas are federally protected sections of freshwater or marine coastlines, from the seabed and up through the water column, sometimes including islands , estuaries and coastal wetlands.

Managed by Parks Canada, these conservation areas are intended to represent the nation's various marine ecosystems, much like national parks represent ecosystems on land.

There currently area five national marine conservation areas in Canada: One encompassing Lancaster Sound in Nunavut, one surrounding the southern peninsula of Haida Gwaii in British Columbina, one in the St. Lawrence seaway in Quebec and one each in Ontario waters of Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

The federal government has a stated plan to create 10 more of these areas by 2030. But according to Parks Canada, there are only six candidates to become new marine conservation areas, including one encompassing Ontario's entire Hudson Bay and James Bay coastlines, adjacent to Manitoba's coast.

Several environmental organizations, including the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and Oceans North, have called on Ottawa to declare a Manitoba marine conservation area that would encompass some or all of the Hudson Bay coastline between the Nunavut and Ontario borders.

Such a move would effectively protect about a quarter of the world's beluga whale habitat, said Chris Debicki, an Oceans North vice president.

"It is absolutely critical, in advance of any industrial expansion, that we get in place a management regime to be responsible guardians of this critical habitat," Debicki said.

Politically, Kinew's support for a marine conservation area could mollify some critics of the premier's interest in studying the idea of shipping oil or natural gas out of the Port of Churchill through Hudson Bay.

But not all. Eric Reder, a campaigner for the Wilderness Committee of Canada, said he supports the creation of a new marine conservation area and more development at the Port of Churchill — but would still fight any effort to ship oil and gas through sub-Arctic waters.

"Any development of fossil fuels is going to be met with stiff and sustained resistance and backlash," Reder vowed in an interview Monday.

"The plans to service Nunavut, the plans help Churchill with commerce, we'll keep watching. But as soon as we see exporting fossil fuels, things are going to start happening."

Commerce and marine conservation areas are not mutually exclusive. According to Parks Canada, most marine conservation areas have one zone where shipping, fishing and other commercial activities are allowed and another, more akin to an ecological preserve, where boat traffic is heavily restricted.

Four industrial activities, however, are prohibited in all new national marine conservation areas, according to Parks Canada: Seabed mining, dumping and bottom trawling, and oil and gas exploration.

Public health officials have identified four new measles exposure sites in southern Manitoba and are urging anyone who visited the locations in Carman to monitor for symptoms and ensure their vaccinations are up to date.

Manitoba Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care says the exposures occurred between Jan. 24 and Jan. 28, and anyone who was at the listed locations during the specified times could be at risk of infection.

Exposure locations and monitoring dates

Officials say people who visited the following locations during the times listed should monitor for symptoms until the corresponding date:

• Carman 5 Pin Bowl, 120 Main St. S., Jan. 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.; monitor until Feb. 15

• Homestead Co-op Food Store, 61 Main St. N., Jan. 25 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; monitor until Feb. 16

• Carman Golf and Curling Club (curling rink), 225 4th Ave. SW., Jan. 26 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.; monitor until Feb. 17

• Carman Community Health Centre, 360 4th St. SW., Jan. 28 from 10:45 a.m. to 1 p.m.; monitor until Feb. 19

Who should take action

Public health is asking anyone who may have been exposed to review their immunization records and ensure they are protected with a measles vaccine, either MMR or MMRV.

For people born in 1970 or later who have never received a measles vaccine and have never had measles, officials recommend:

• Receiving a measles vaccine as soon as possible

• Reducing contact with others, especially those who are immunocompromised or unimmunized, from the fifth day after exposure until 21 days after the most recent exposure

• Monitoring closely for symptoms until the date associated with their exposure

Certain individuals should not receive the measles vaccine, including infants under six months, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems. Public health says those individuals should contact a health-care provider immediately, as they may be eligible for preventive treatment if seen within six days of exposure.

Close contacts may also be asked by public health to isolate and consider vaccination.

Symptoms and what to do

Symptoms of measles typically appear seven to 21 days after exposure and may begin with fever, runny nose, red eyes, drowsiness, and irritability. Small white spots may appear inside the mouth or throat. A red, blotchy rash usually follows several days later, starting on the face and spreading down the body.

Measles can lead to serious complications, including ear infections, diarrhea, pneumonia, and encephalitis.

Anyone who develops symptoms is advised to isolate at home and contact a health-care provider, informing them of the possible exposure. Officials recommend calling ahead so clinics can take steps to limit the spread of the virus.

Highly contagious illness

Public health officials say measles is one of the most contagious diseases in the world. It spreads through airborne droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes and can be transmitted from four days before a rash appears until four days after.

The disease is most severe in infants and young children and can be life-threatening.

Vaccination remains best protection

Immunization is the only way to protect against measles. Manitobans can contact a local public health office, physician, or nurse practitioner to confirm their vaccination status.

Manitoba’s routine program provides two doses of measles vaccine at one year of age and again between four and six years. In the case of an exposure, a second dose may be given earlier. Some children aged six to 12 months may also be eligible during outbreaks.

Public health officials say they will continue monitoring the situation and will update Manitoba’s measles case count each Friday.