Winnipeg convention centre asks city for financial lifeline as it bleeds cash during pandemic

The vast meeting spaces at the RBC Convention Centre echo loudly with the sounds of an empty building.

June is usually a time when exhibitors from across North America and graduates from across Winnipeg fill the halls of the sprawlingdowntown facility.

"The cancellationsand postponement of events has really had a devastating effect on so many people from our staff to our clients to our partners and stakeholders,"convention centre president and CEO Drew Fisher told CBC News on Tuesday.

Management at the convention centre have now asked the City of Winnipeg for help in the form of a $7.5-million loan guarantee to cover losses that may continue through to next year.

The massive meeting space underwent a significant expansion, completed in 2015, and Fisher says it was booking record business the last two years. This yearlooked even more promising until the health emergency began.

The effects of public health orders in response to theCOVID-19 pandemic have slammed the doors shut on the meeting and convention business for months.

WATCH | RBC Convention Centre looking for financial help from city:

RBC Convention Centre looking for financial help from city

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The downtown meeting place has been shuttered since the start of the pandemic. The losses are now at 1.3 million dollars.

"Normal circumstances, we'd be bustling with people," Fisher said. "We are right now in the heart of grad season and we'd be preparing for another thousand-[place] dinner with lots of excitement."

The facility has already booked a loss of $1.3 million to April of this year and the forecast is for more red ink.

The convention centre has already taken a series of steps to mitigate some of the financial damage.

Senior management haverolled back their salaries by 11 per cent until the end of the year and non-union staff have taken a sevenper cent wage cut. Three positions that were vacant were not filled.

Temporary layoff notices were sent to unionized and non-unionized staff, maintenancehas been deferred and there is a hiring freeze in place.

There are concerns things could get worse before they get better.

Under an"optimistic" forecast, large events could return to the building by September, but that would still involve operating losses totalling $3.5 million.

A pessimistic "no events" scenario envisionsno functions in the facility through to the end of 2020, and losses climbing to $5 million.

Just down the block from the convention centre, theEast India Company restaurant had only afew diners on Tuesday. Co-owner Sachit Mehra uses the same word Fisher did for the impact of the closure "devastating."

"Those per diem dollars that come into the city are meaningful. They mean a lot to our business, they mean a lot to the businesses around us. The hotels, transportation you can see it right off the bat," Mehra said.

It's the future he worries about.

"Over a long term, the lost events the ability tokeep those people coming in, is the part where it gets a little scary."

If the convention centre remains shuttered until late 2020 or into the next year, Mehrawill have paid many months of high rents, staff wages and upkeep, with an equal number of months ofsignificantlylower revenue.

He hopes the provincial government has a strategy in place soon that will market the city and the province and provide support the hospitality industry.

Winnipeg could be a safe place to meet

The convention centre's Fisheris working on amarketing plan that would leverage Manitoba's relatively low COVID-19 infection rate to a message to businesses looking to get back into mass meetings.

"When you can travel to a destination and know that it's safe, how relaxing and refreshing is that?" Fisher said.

The convention centre's request for financial support from the city will likely get approval at council. The request for the loan guarantee has the backing offinance chair Coun. Scott Gillingham.

"The convention centre has taken several steps to reduce their expenses, but without the ability to generate revenue they face significant cash flow challenges,"Gillingham wrote in an email Tuesday.

"As the economy reopens, the business of conferences and conventions will be restored. The convention centre needs to be a position to attract those conferences to our city."