ManitobaAfter more than a century, the Fort Garry Legion is closing its doors and merging with another Winnipeg legion.’A sign of the times, I guess’: branch co-vice-president Garry ReidDarren Bernhardt · CBC News · Posted: Oct 21, 2025 12:32 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago The Fort Garry Royal Canadian Legion Branch 90 will close its doors forever on Nov. 29. (Google Street View)After more than a century, the Fort Garry Legion is closing its doors and merging with another Winnipeg legion.”I’ve been involved on the board for number years, worked very hard to try and make it a success, so it’s a very bitter pill to swallow to know that we’ll be closing our doors and turning off the lights forever,” said branch co-vice-president Garry Reid, who has been with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 90 for more than 40 years.”For many years it was a meeting place, a place to come and socialize, a place to have fun. At one time we had over 1,500 members. Now that has dwindled to less than 300,” Reid said.”A sign of the times, I guess.”A number of other branches have closed in the past few years in Winnipeg and across the country.Winnipeg has a long history with the legion, going back to the very start. The organization was founded in the city in 1925 as the Canadian Legion of the British Empire Service League, and incorporated by a special act of Parliament the following year.Queen Elizabeth II gave her consent to use the Royal prefix in 1960, and the organization became known as the Royal Canadian Legion.The Fort Garry branch initially started up in 1917 as the Great War Veterans Association and received its charter as a legion in 1931.Its longest stretch of time was spent in its hall at Pembina Highway and Windermere Avenue, which opened in 1947.The branch moved a few blocks away, to Pembina and Stafford Street, in 2022, citing several reasons. Among them were expensive structural work that needed to be done, declining membership and financial struggles.The membership was able to sell the site, which is now home to The Point, a six-storey apartment complex.The Fort Garry Legion stood at the corner of Pembina Highway and Windermere Avenue from 1947 until 2022. (Google Street View)The legion’s site at Pembina and Stafford was a former Pizza Hut restaurant that was renovated.”When we looked at the demographics, we thought this is a perfect place — the right population, the right age group and the right income and the right traffic counts. But sadly, the demographics didn’t support what we needed financially,” Reid said.He believes legions, despite trying to attract new audiences, haven’t been able to break through long-held misconceptions.”The one thing that we’ve never been able to conquer is the feelings that people have about what a legion is. A lot of them, still today, don’t know you don’t need a membership.”For years, legions were only open to veterans of the British Commonwealth forces and Allied nations. Over time, the eligibility expanded to family members and then broadened to include anyone 18 or older. Bryan Cutts, the Fort Garry branch’s other co-vice-president, said the closure hits close to home. His dad was one of the people who helped build the Pembina and Windermere location following the end of the Second World War.”It’s a real blow, you know,” he said, recalling it being a hub of the community.”I can remember my dad and mom, they’d be down the legion and leave me and my two brothers. We’d sit up and watch TV and wait for them to come home, because they always brought us a bag of chips.”At the branch’s most recent general meeting, members were given three options for the future: consolidate with the South Osborne branch, create a virtual legion that would basically exist online only (except for performing certain duties around Remembrance Day), or relinquish the charter and distribute the funds to another organization.“Almost unanimously, the members voted to move to another branch [and retain the charter],” Reid said.”I think that was the only good choice that would give the existing members a place to go.”The last day of the legion’s existence will be Nov. 29, with a special event and dance.”I’m sure there’ll be some laughing. I think there’ll be some tears. It’s going to be a great night,” Reid said.ABOUT THE AUTHORDarren Bernhardt has been with CBC Manitoba since 2009 and specializes in offbeat and local history stories. He is the author of two bestselling books: The Lesser Known: A History of Oddities from the Heart of the Continent, and Prairie Oddities: Punkinhead, Peculiar Gravity and More Lesser Known Histories.With files from Chloe Friesen
Winnipeg’s Fort Garry Legion to close forever, merge with South Osborne
