A Tradition of Excellence
Helping our community’s seniors since 1915
Today’s Saul & Claribel Simkin Centre originated in 1915 as the Winnipeg Old Folks Jewish Home with five residents in a rented duplex on Euclid Avenue. It was founded by a group of Orthodox women concerned about the plight of destitute elderly Jewish men and women with no family to care for them.
Throughout much of its existence it was known as The Sharon Home, named after the Plain of Sharon in Israel. The corporation that operates the Saul & Claribel Simkin Centre is still known as The Sharon Home, Inc. The Home was entirely or substantially funded by the Jewish community as a demonstration of the Jewish value of caring for our elders.
The Sharon Home underwent many expansions, moves, and transitions throughout its history. Its first move was from Euclid Avenue to a larger building on Manitoba Avenue in 1919. As the re-named Jewish Old Folks Home of Western Canada, the new building housed 40 residents, but demand for spaces soon exceeded supply.
In 1940, the Home moved to a new and larger facility located on Magnus Avenue. The building cost $100,000 at the time and initially housed 65 residents, eventually expanding to 229. Operating as The Sharon Home, the facility was ultimately named the Kanee Centre in honour of the Kanee family’s role in the organization’s development. Click here to learn more about the Kanee family.
The Saul & Claribel Simkin Centre
Because of demographic changes and changes in health care delivery, work began in the mid-1990s to establish a new facility in southwest Winnipeg. Phase I of that plan was completed in 2001 with the opening of the 72-bed Saul & Claribel Simkin Centre on Falcon Ridge Drive, near McGillivray Boulevard.
Phase II was completed in 2008 to increase capacity to 200 beds at the new facility. When the Kanee Centre closed, residents were transferred to the new facility on Falcon Ridge Drive.
Today, The Simkin Centre Personal Care Home Inc. has evolved into what is now considered to be one of the most state-of-the-art personal care homes in Canada. It provides a holistic approach to address the medical, social, cultural, spiritual, therapeutic, and recreational needs of its residents.
It remains deeply committed to Jewish traditions and values, and to delivering high-quality services with dignity, compassion, and expertise.