In one line: the causes of outages in Manitoba organizations are ordinary, but can have significant effects. Having a written plan, tested backups, and a second trained person can prevent or mitigate the damage.
Last reviewed: September 2026
The disruptions that stop work in a Manitoba organization are ordinary: a ransomware email, a server that dies, a deleted file, an internet outage, a bad storm, or the one person who runs payroll being away. Preparing for the common business disruptions comes down to a written plan, backups you have actually restored, and a second person who knows each critical process.
Budgets are being set, harvest is on, and councils are heading into an October 28 election. Ask how your organization would keep running if one of these six things happened on a Tuesday morning.
Which disruptions actually stop work?
The disruptions worth planning for:
- Cyberattacks and ransomware
- Hardware and software failures
- Human error, such as a deleted file
- Internet or cloud service outages
- Severe weather and road closures
- A key employee being unavailable
What does a ransomware attack stop, and what should already be in place?
Ransomware locks the files your team uses to serve customers, members, or residents, and work stops until they are restored. In CIRA’s 2025 survey, one in four Canadian organizations reported a hit in the past year. Three things should already exist: a written plan naming who decides, who calls the insurer and lawyer, and which systems come back first; backups restored in a test, not just reported as successful; and staff who know how to report a suspicious email quickly.
Insurers now ask about all three at renewal, so read [what insurers ask at cyber insurance renewal] alongside this. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security publishes free plain-language guides on ransomware recovery and IT recovery planning.
What happens when a server fails or someone deletes the wrong file?
Both end the same way: someone needs a working copy and a known procedure for getting it back. Have four answers ready: when the last restore test happened, what was restored, how long it took, and whether anyone outside IT saw the result. Limit who can delete what, so a front-desk mistake cannot reach the whole file share.
What if the internet goes down?
Work does not have to stop. A second connection on a different carrier keeps payments, email, and phones running, and a short list of what can be done offline keeps everyone else productive. Decide in advance who tells customers or residents when phones and email are out; silence is what people remember.
What if the only payroll personnel is away?
Work stalls even though every system is fine. Picture a rural municipality where one office administrator runs payroll, utility billing, and the bank portal, and is off for three weeks. Council still expects cheques to go out.
Write down every process that lives in one head, cross-train a second person, and keep logins in a password system the organization controls. For a Level 2 organization, best practice is a documented process and a backup person for each critical task. Level 3 takes it further by testing the handover once a year, like a backup.
As a business leader, where should I start?
Bring one question to your next leadership or council meeting: which of these six would hurt us most, and what would happen in the first hour? If the room cannot answer, that is the finding. Most fixes cost less than a day of downtime, and a efficient managed IT relationship should surface these gaps all year, not the week after something breaks.
Questions leaders ask
“Does my organization need a formal business continuity plan?” Yes, and it can be short. Two or three pages naming critical systems, recovery order, who decides, and how staff and customers are reached covers most Manitoba organizations. The Cyber Centre’s business continuity guide is a sound outline.
“How often should backups be tested?” Quarterly at least, and after any major system change. A report that says “success” is not a test; a file actually restored, timed, and written down is.
“Who owns preparedness, leadership or IT?” Leadership decides what must keep running and how long an outage is tolerable. IT, in-house or a provider, owns the mechanism. If that split is not written down, the plan is trust.
Sources
The ransomware figure comes from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority’s 2025 CIRA Cybersecurity Survey (Ottawa, October 2025), available at https://www.cira.ca/en/resources/documents/cybersecurity/2025-cybersecurity-survey/.
Guidance on planning ahead for ransomware is from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security’s Ransomware: How to prevent and recover, ITSAP.00.099 (Communications Security Establishment Canada, January 2026), at https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/ransomware-how-prevent-and-recover-itsap00099.
Recovery order and tolerable downtime draw on the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security’s Developing your IT recovery plan, ITSAP.40.004 (Communications Security Establishment Canada, updated January 2026), at https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/developing-your-it-recovery-plan-itsap40004.
The outline of a short continuity plan follows the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security’s Developing your business continuity plan, ITSAP.10.005 (Communications Security Establishment Canada, November 2025, updated January 2026), at https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/developing-your-business-continuity-plan-itsap10005.
The election date is confirmed by Manitoba Municipal Relations, Municipal Elections 2026 (Government of Manitoba), at https://gov.mb.ca/mr/mfas/elections.html.
Highway closure information is from Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure’s Manitoba 511: Road and Traveller Information page (Government of Manitoba), at https://www.gov.mb.ca/mti/roadinfo