“Spring is looking pretty good right now!” says Peace Garden CEO Tim Chapman. “We’ve got our seasonal supervisors back and there’s a greenhouse with a couple different things getting started – and really just everything that we typically do in April and May to get ready.”
“So, a lot of clean up,” he says. “Some clean-up we didn’t get to in the fall. We always hope this time of year we don’t get any crazy snows or a lot of rain that’ll cause a lot of tree damage, but Mother Nature will do whatever it does. So we just try to plow ahead and stay on top of seasonal staff hiring – which looks pretty good right now.”
An uncertain summer ahead
Chapman says with the anticipation of spring cleanup and then planting, they are trying to be realistic when it comes to the 2026 tourism season.
“It’s like, Okay, so what sort of challenges is the economy going to present this time around? Obviously, gas prices are high, so we’re working a little bit this year on a couple of different strategies, including like a gas stipend for folks who are driving from certain distances away every day,” explains Chapman.
“It’s not something we usually do but knowing how high gas is on both sides right now, we just want to try to attract people and acknowledge that a lot of people want to work here, but it’s difficult to make that decision if you potentially can have a job in your town and not have to worry about the commute.”
“.. it’s always exciting to bring new people into the fold!”
“But that said, we’ve got a lot of students who have applied,” he continues, “and a lot of those folks will stay on site if they’re coming from Assiniboine College or other schools that are a too much of a drive every day. So, we’re pretty encouraged by the applicants we’ve received so far. And always excitinh to bring new people into the fold!”
The Peace Garden is still accepting applications for summer employment as there is always work to be done on their over 2,000-acre grounds that straddle the Canadian-US border.
“And we pretty much do accept job applications throughout the year and throughout the busy season because folks have different obligations and maybe have to go back to school or get out of school later than others,” he says. “So, it’s kind of a bit of a puzzle and making sure all these pieces fit and that all of the key dates and times of the summer are covered.”
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