Happy Monday, Winnipeg!

Hope the long weekend is treating you well.

Now, in today’s edition:

— Jas Singh

If you've spent an evening by a Manitoba lake, you've heard a loon calling somewhere out on the water. Starting next spring, you'll see one on the road too.

A few months back, the province put five designs up for a vote, after the Nature Conservancy of Canada asked for a plate that would help fund our parks.

Part of every sale goes to the Manitoba Provincial Parks Endowment Funds through The Winnipeg Foundation. We've got 93 provincial parks in this province, and that money goes right back into them.

If you're wondering whether that adds up to much, MPI's specialty plates have raised more than $6.4 million for local causes since 2011.

62,605 of us voted on those five designs, and the loon won. It'll also be the first Manitoba specialty plate offered in both English and French, reading "Explore Manitoba Parks" one way and "Explorez les parcs du Manitoba" the other. It lands at MPI service centres and broker offices in spring 2027.

It feels pretty fitting. Manitobans picked a plate that sounds like our summers, and buying one will help take care of the places that make them special.

Click here: To see all five designs Manitobans had to pick from!

Everyone has a part of the city they wish they lived in. For a lot of us, it's Osborne Village. Coffee, dinner, your Friday night, all a few minutes on foot.

And right now, you can move in with October 100% rent free.

Here's what usually stops people. Village suites don't sit empty. A lease ends, word gets around, and the place is taken before it ever gets listed. So you end up visiting the neighbourhood instead of living in it.

That's what makes right now different. Paragon has suites open in two Village buildings on the same block, and the first month is free if you move in for October 1.

Both have quartz counters and central air. And if you’ve ever tried finding a nice building that says yes to dogs and cats, both of these do.

With only a few suites left and a full month free, these won't sit around long.

P.S. Worth forwarding to anyone hunting right now. A free month makes the timing a lot easier.

You've gone by this place. Probably a hundred times, on your way to somewhere else on Corydon.

Inside, Tony Vailas and his dad are making one of the best burgers in the city, and have more than 1,000+ Google reviews to back them up.

The one to get is the chili burger. Tony calls it their flagship, and it lands messy enough that you'll want a fork, which is not a complaint so much as the whole idea.

But what most people don't realize is that the burgers are only half of it. There's a full Greek menu back there too. Gyros, souvlaki, lemon potatoes. Hardly anyone reads that far down the board, and that's usually what pulls you back a second time.

Portions are big, prices are fair, and there's parking around back, which on Corydon counts for something on its own.

It's the kind of place you drive past for years and then can't believe you waited.

📍 619 Corydon Ave
🕒 7:30 AM to 12 AM

Click here: To see the full menu before you go!

Once everyone's back in a routine, plans get harder to make. Between school nights, practices and four schedules pulling different directions, you look up and half of September is gone.

It doesn't have to go that way.

So we pulled together 30 things happening around the city this month. Food cooking over open fires, cold drinks outside, stadium lights, live music, and streets that stay busy long after dark.

And that's six of them. There are markets to wander, Jets preseason, concerts, food events, Culture Days and plenty more tucked in between.

Pick one and send it to the group chat. September will be gone before we know it, so see what's happening while it's still here.

Click here: To see all September events and send the list to someone you want to go with!

You get everyone out the door, drive across the city, pull into the parking lot... and the place is closed for Labour Day.

Not exactly how you want to spend part of your day off.

Hours are a little different around Winnipeg today, so here’s the quick heads-up before you leave the house:

And if you’d rather spend the day outside, Manitoba provincial parks are free to enter today, with no vehicle permit needed.

Whatever your plans are today, we hope you get to enjoy a bit of the long weekend before it wraps up!

If Pembina Highway is part of your Monday night drive, give yourself a few extra minutes.

Sewer work near Pembina and Chancellor Drive is closing a few things overnight, on top of the lane restrictions already there.

It's overnight, but a missing left turn means backtracking if you're not expecting it.

Send this to whoever in your life takes Pembina home. Might save them a detour tonight.

Click here: To see all the road construction happening around Winnipeg!

Somewhere in your wallet right now is a $20 with Queen Elizabeth II on it. Hang on to it, because those start getting replaced next year.

Canada unveiled its new $20 banknote last week, and King Charles III is on the front. It's the first Canadian bill to carry his portrait, and the first time in more than 70 years that a new monarch has appeared on the $20.

The new $20s start entering circulation in late February 2027, replacing older bills as they wear out. It's our most-used bill, so this one ends up in almost everybody's wallet eventually. Including the one you're carrying now.

Click here: To see the new $20 up close and all the details hidden in the design!!

This section includes only the major events happening soon. For a complete list of all events, you'll have to wait for future editions!

Thanks for reading The Winnipeg Digest! Let’s chat again on Wednesday!