Canad Inns Garden City Improves Scheduling and Payroll with TimeWellScheduled
Canad Inns is Manitoba’s largest hospitality provider, with full-service Destination Centres in Winnipeg, Portage la Prairie, Brandon and more. Across all locations, they prioritize affordability, cleanliness, and exceptional customer care.
by Kaatje | October 20, 2025
The Garden City Destination Centre is one of the busiest hotels in the Canad Inns network. General Manager, Kevin Stire, leads a team of more than 140 staff, ensuring operations run smoothly with a clear focus on efficiency, cleanliness, and guest satisfaction. The site is one of several full-service properties operated by Canad Inns across Manitoba and North Dakota.
In September 2024, Garden City became one of the first locations to implement TimeWellScheduled’s advanced scheduling software. Since then, Kevin has noticed major gains in workforce coordination, scheduling, and payroll processing.
We asked Kevin how their new system is helping improve communication and streamline operations in such a fast-paced environment.
Challenge #1: Inaccurate Manual Time Tracking
The cost of Handwritten Hotel Timesheets
Before implementing TimeWellScheduled, Canad Inns Garden City relied on paper timesheets for employees to sign in and out. Managers found it cumbersome to verify timesheets as self-reported hours often led to inconsistencies (not to mention the difficulty of reading staff handwriting)! These challenges made it clear that a more reliable, efficient solution was needed.
Solution #1: Digital Clock-In for Hospitality Staff
To eliminate confusion and streamline attendance, TimeWellScheduled replaced handwritten timesheets with a digital clock-in/clock-out system. Staff now sign-in and out directly through the platform, creating a clear and accurate digital record of attendance. Managers no longer need to decipher different handwriting styles, and can easily review and approve hours, reducing errors and making it much easier to track punctuality, late arrivals, and overtime.
“Time and attendance tracking has massively improved due to the signing in/out on the computer. We are able to accurately see when an employee has signed in/out, if an employee tends to be late to shifts or [is] staying past their scheduled time on shifts.”
Before the change, adjustments to timesheets were almost a daily occurrence. Managers often had to email accounting to deduct missed breaks or to correct start and end times. Now, most adjustments are handled during the approval stage, meaning issues reach accounting far less frequently.
Challenge #2: Manual Hotel Payroll Processing
Time-Consuming Payroll Processing
Prior to implementing TimeWellScheduled, payroll days at Canad Inns Garden City were often slow and stressful. Without a digital system to automatically track and calculate hours, everything had to be done manually, leaving room for error and making the entire process overly time-consuming.
SOLUTION #2: Streamlined Payroll Integration
By digitizing employee time records, TimeWellScheduled has streamlined the entire payroll process. Managers still review and approve timecards, but with scheduled and punched times visible side by side, verification is quicker and more accurate.
On the accounting side, the impact has been even greater. Instead of coding timesheets manually, payroll data can now be pulled into a single import file at the click of a button. What used to take hours now takes half the time — all while reducing errors.
"Payroll has been more streamlined and easier to use/process during payroll days. It is a lot quicker using this system than what we have had before."
Challenge #3: Managing Shift Availability & Changes
Difficulty Managing Schedules and Availability
Lastly, before transitioning to a digital system, scheduling at Canad Inns Garden City was a manual and time-consuming process. Without a centralized tool for communication, it was difficult for managers to stay on top of employee availability and last-minute shift changes. Updates were easily miscommunicated, leading to confusion for both managers and staff.
Solution #3: Centralized Scheduling & Communication
With TimeWellScheduled, managers at Garden City can now adjust shifts, track employee availability, and reference past schedules with far less effort. Employees are also able to submit their availability directly through the system, making it easier to manage changes and communicate clearly.
Implementing a centralized scheduling platform has brought clarity and consistency to daily operations, resulting in a smoother, more reliable workday for everyone involved.
“The scheduling of employees has improved with using TimeWellscheduled as you have the ability to look back on previous weeks: [you] can see what employees are available and can copy the shifts to the following weeks.”
While the scheduling process takes about the same amount of manager time as before, the accuracy and clarity it provides has eliminated guesswork, reduced miscommunication, and made it easier to balance availability with staffing needs.
“A favorite feature of mine is the ability to adjust the schedule easily and the ability to find hours from prior months when needing to use it for reports.”
Conclusion
At Canad Inns Garden City, scheduling isn’t a guessing game anymore. Employees know where they need to be, managers aren’t buried under hand-written paperwork, and payroll runs without a scramble. Communication between staff and management is clearer, quicker, and a lot less frustrating.
“The communication between managers and employees have improved with being able to make adjustments to the schedule easily as well as employees being able to put down their availability.”
It took some getting used to, but the payoff was worth it: accounting now spends half the time on payroll, daily timesheet corrections have dropped noticeably, and managers can focus more on leading their teams rather than chasing paper. The result is a smoother, more organized workplace that lets Kevin Stire and his team spend less time on administration and more time on what matters most: the guest experience.
