The owner of a leading Winnipeg development company refuses to be deterred by the uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariff threats and its impact on the city’s commercial real estate market.

Sandy Shindleman, founder, president and CEO of Shindico, told Connect that the company will continue to invest in, and develop, projects in the Manitoba capital as the turmoil plays out.

“We expect to be building all through it,” said Shindleman in an interview.

Shindico is a fully integrated CRE owner, investor, developer and property manager. The company builds many of its projects in the core office, retail, industrial and multi-family asset classes through a construction firm that it owns.

But Shindleman, whose firm is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, said it will still be impacted by the U.S.-Canada trade war.

“No doubt, we’ll be affected,” he said. “The cost will be up and it’ll take longer to get the projects that we want done, because the pre-construction is where it’s going to take its biggest toll.”

Shindico owns and develops projects mainly in Winnipeg, which ranks as a major market but is considerably smaller than the likes of Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.

Shindleman expects the Winnipeg market to slow down during the rest of 2025 it goes through a discovery phase.

“People have to figure it out exactly how it is going to affect them,” he said. “So, it’s a slowdown. It’s a slowdown everywhere in Canada. It’ll be pencils off as people have a certain amount of uncertainty. So, some will build, and some won’t.”

Shindico plans to hold off on developing any new office projects unless the company can secure a substantial amount of preleasing from a tenant that occupy’s most of a building’s space. The company expects to continue developing muli-family projects in suburban areas rather than downtown, where it owns and manages some apartments but not add assets.

Shindleman, whose firm has always focused on procurements from local and other Canadian vendors, does not expect the tariffs to be an issue in 2026.

“No doubt, it will be negotiated, or dealt with, before that because no [U.S.] administration wants to keep American vendors from selling products,” he said.

“And, if it ignites Canadian manufacturing for appliances and steel, etc., it will probably be a net benefit to Canada. It’s just a question of timing.”

Shindleman predicted that, despite the uncertainty ahead, the Winnipeg CRE market will continue to display historical resilience.

“It’s always been a steady Eddie,” he said. “It’s never been boom or bust. We think it’s just going to continue. There’s no huge wins but, luckily, no losses.”

Pictured: A future building within Shindico’s major Water Tower mixed-use development project in Winnipeg.

Photo: Courtesy of Shindico

Be there on May 28 | Toronto: Canadian CRE leaders will be at Connect Canada on May 28th to discuss where the CRE market is headed for the second half of 2025 and beyond. Get the experts’ insights into the challenges and opportunities facing the industry and learn from the leaders who are driving Canadian CRE forward. www.ConnectCanada2025.com | May 28, 2025 | Malaparte, Toronto.