Canad Inns founder Ledohowski dead at 81

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WINNIPEG — Leo Ledohowski, the founder of the Canad Inns hotel chain, has died, leaving behind an entrepreneurial legacy that helped shape Manitoba’s hospitality sector.

The Business Council of Manitoba announced Ledohowski’s death in a statement Tuesday morning, hailing him as a “pillar of leadership and service.” The hotelier, 81, introduced the homegrown hotel chain to Winnipeg in the 1970s and spent decades at its helm.

“He helped build communities,” council president and CEO Bram Strain said in an interview.

“He really thought of his industry, that accommodation industry, as being more than just a place to stay. (It) was really about being a destination and being a hub for the community.”

Strain knew Ledohowski for six years and described him as a “giant” who brought national recognition to Manitoba.

Canad Inns owns and operates seven hotels in Winnipeg, and one each in Portage la Prairie and Brandon. It has another location in Grand Forks, N.D.

The chain also owns and operates other businesses, including the Radisson hotel and Metropolitan Entertainment Centre downtown, and nine Tavern United restaurants and bars.

The locations have long been a draw for conferences in the province, Strain said.

In its statement, the business council credited Ledohowski as a “visionary entrepreneur who transformed the hospitality experience” here.

“Under his leadership, Canad Inns evolved into the province’s largest hotel chain … Leo’s contributions extended far beyond business. He was a passionate advocate for community development,” the business council said.

Ledohowski served on the board of the Manitoba Hotel Association for more than 25 years and on the board of the Hotel Association of Canada for 20 years. He was a former director of the business council’s board and served as honorary consul of Ukraine to Manitoba.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress honoured Ledohowski with the Shevchenko Medal award for public service in 2010, crediting him with advocating for worldwide recognition of the Holodomor.

“He was a community leader, and he helped to put Ukraine on the map in Manitoba,” Joanne Lewandowski, president of the congress’s Manitoba chapter, said by phone.

Ledohowski was on the Bank of Canada’s board while now-prime minister Mark Carney was the central bank’s governor. He received many awards and honours throughout his life, including the Order of Manitoba in 2022 and the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Manitoba in 2003.

Michael Juce, the hotel association’s president, said he regularly leaned on Ledohowski for knowledge and advice.

“Every component, things we work on, his fingerprints were around it,” Juce said by phone, adding Ledohowski was “sharp and intelligent and wise.”

“He could get to the heart of a challenge or issue really, really quickly.”

Canad Inns is a “homegrown Manitoba business success story,” Juce said.

“His impact in our sector, his impact in the broader community, his impact outside of Manitoba, obviously, (is) tremendous,” he said of Ledohowski.

Ledohowski’s contributions to Winnipeg included efforts to preserve the capital city’s history. He helped protect older and heritage-designated buildings such as the downtown Somerset Building and the Metropolitan Theatre, both of which Canad Inns owned.

Ledohowski’s work to save what is now called the Metropolitan Entertainment Centre was a risky project, said Cindy Tugwell, Heritage Winnipeg’s executive director.

“We’re really happy that he championed that heritage building,” Tugwell said. “(It’s) a commitment to his city … It’s wonderful to have those kinds of champions live in your city.”

Ledohowski oversaw the construction of a Canad Inns hotel attached to Health Sciences Centre in the mid-2000s.

“The hope is that a hotel like this will take some of the fear and anxiety out of the hospital visit,” he told the Winnipeg Free Press in 2013, when the hotel opened.

It was the first hotel attached to a major tertiary and acute-care hospital in Canada, said Jonathan Lyons, president of the HSC Foundation.

“I knew him to be a big personality with a big vision for his business,” Lyons said by phone. “He leaves a very strong legacy in Manitoba, one that his family, friends and employees should be very proud of.”

Ledohowski’s life’s work included a variety of philanthropic donations, including a $1-million contribution toward the construction of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

“Leo saw the importance of establishing a museum that would become a worldwide hub for human rights education and envisioned how it would help future generations to learn about human rights,” Mena Gainpaulsingh, chief executive officer of the Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, said in an email.

Condolences and praise from prominent Manitoba politicians poured in Tuesday as news of Ledohowski’s death spread.

“He was something of a business giant. His businesses covered a lot of territory, and they were very important investments in the development of the city and of the province,” former federal cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy said in a phone interview.

“He’s one of those people whose actions benefited the larger community.”

In a statement on social media, Premier Wab Kinew called Ledohowski a “generous community builder whose impact will be felt for generations.”

Mayor Scott Gillingham shared a similar sentiment online.

“All Winnipeggers have benefited from what he accomplished,” he said. “It is this kind and generous spirit, his spirit of caring and service, for which Leo will always be remembered.”

Progressive Conservative Leader Obby Khan said Ledohowski’s legacy will live on in the businesses he built and communities he uplifted.

“His generosity and willingness to roll up his sleeves to get things done were well known,” Khan said in a statement.

Canad Inns did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Its website states it is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

» Winnipeg Free Press