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![\"Ruth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4382988_web1_260709-MMF-435-Ellice2--.jpg\")
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Ruth Bonneville \/ Free Press<\/p>\n
The former National Research Council building, on Ellice Avenue and the end of Vaughan Street, will house nurse training, research labs and, the federation hopes, an MRI machine.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody\u2019s happy, they\u2019re happy, we\u2019re happy. And now we just got to start the transition of our plan,\u201d federation president David Chartrand told the Free Press Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re bringing another 100 to 120 employees downtown and we\u2019ve already (moved) 500 employees there to show our support for a revision and saving of downtown. I\u2019m very concerned as a leader, to see our cities start to fall. We need to do more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chartrand said more than 100 staff who work at M\u00e9tis Child and Family Services Authority will relocate to the Ellice Avenue site from offices at 2000 Portage Ave.<\/p>\n
The laboratory building, which includes more than 70 labs, will be repurposed for nurse training, M\u00e9tis-led research initiatives and, Chartrand hopes, it will eventually house an MRI machine.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to start with (licensed practical nurses) right away,\u201d Chartrand said, adding the course has been approved by the MMF cabinet. \u201cI know there\u2019s a mass shortage of nurses and nurses are having to work a lot of overtime as it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said an MRI machine would allow for 4,000 appointments annually.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe we can start off with one,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe we can start off with two.\u201d<\/p>\n
Details of a new partnership with the University of Winnipeg will be released at the media briefing today.<\/p>\n
The federation is partnering with the Bioscience Association of Manitoba to make unused laboratory space available to industry, researchers and academic institutions at a time when demand for specialized lab facilities outpaces supply.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur No. 1 export is medicine,\u201d said Andrea Ladouceur, the association\u2019s president and CEO. \u201cOne thing that Manitoba needs more of is lab space \u2014 lab space that can be used to help, whether it\u2019s a new or an established company or researcher, make those discoveries that help us improve health care, improve agriculture, improve clean technologies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ladouceur said the shortage of lab space has forced some Manitoba companies and researchers to look outside the province.<\/p>\n
She added the building\u2019s specialized infrastructure, including backup power systems, makes it especially valuable for research.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is built to a standard that is pretty rare nowadays,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ladouceur said that level of reliability is critical for researchers, whose work can be set back by years or result in the loss of millions of dollars if experiments are interrupted by a power outage.<\/p>\n
The property was owned by the federal government, but the Stephen Harper government announced in April 2012 that it would be shuttered, 54 researchers would be let go and the site would be declared surplus.<\/p>\n
In its September 2023 lawsuit, the M\u00e9tis federation alleged negotiations to buy the property fell apart because the research council did not act in good faith. It argued the failed sale breached the federal government\u2019s constitutional obligation to deal honourably with Indigenous Peoples.<\/p>\n
The federation had offered $14.4 million for the vacant property in March 2020 and had plans to lease the lab space back to the research council at fair market value for 25 years.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit said the sale was halted because the Public Health Agency of Canada was interested in the site during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initial purchase offer expired in July 2020.<\/p>\n
The federation submitted a separate offer to buy the office tower in 2021, but alleged negotiations were repeatedly delayed before the research council said in 2022 it would seek other buyers.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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Chartrand said Thursday the lawsuit was necessary because, in his view, an offer to purchase was accepted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very disappointed in that,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the time, we were expanding and our own operations were cluttered everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chartrand said they didn\u2019t look at other buildings because they believed there was an agreement to buy the Ellice Avenue site. Eventually, he said he bought 200 Main St. at a higher price because he had no choice.<\/p>\n
The federation owns 11 properties in downtown Winnipeg, including the Bank of Montreal building at 335 Main St., 333 Main St., and 191 Pioneer Ave. Its headquarters is on Henry Street in Point Douglas.<\/p>\n
scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n
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Scott Billeck Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade\u2019s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.\u00a0 Read more about Scott<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
Reporter
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