Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press

Evacuees from northern Manitoba continued to pour into Winnipeg Friday as a renewed round of wildfires threatened communities and shrouded much of the province in smoke.

"It's been rough," Misty Harper said, as she and her partner walked outside of a large indoor soccer complex set up to house evacuees, along with her one-year-old daughter in a stroller. 

Some people sat at picnic tables under small canopies or on grass in an adjacent field. Buses filled with more evacuees arrived a few times each hour.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew again declared a provincewide state of emergency Thursday, as renewed wildfires forced thousands out of their homes, some for the second time in weeks.

Kinew said the order, the second since late May, is critical to rally resources.

"We're going to be asking Manitobans to be helping out in a number of ways," Kinew told a news conference. 

"We want to underscore just how serious this wildfire season is."

Two student pilots died Tuesday morning after their single-engine planes collided mid-air during practice exercises, the head of a pilot training school said.

The students, who were not identified, were practising takeoffs and landings when they appear to have tried to land at the same time on the small rural runway south of Steinbach, said Adam Penner, president of Harv's Air. 

The collision left the planes wrecked in a field on private property, roughly 400 metres from the runway.

Two people are dead after two single-engine planes crashed in mid-air south of Steinbach, Man.

Adam Penner, president of Harv's Air pilot training school, says the two were students and were practising takeoffs and landings in small Cessna planes this morning.

He says the two appear to have tried to land at the same time and collided a few hundred metres away from the small runway.

He says the planes are equipped with radios, but it appears the two pilots didn't see each other.

Jonathan Toews is officially back.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion, who last played an NHL game more than two years ago, was introduced Friday as the newest member of his hometown Winnipeg Jets, donning a jersey with his signature No. 19 at a team press conference.

The Jets announced their intention to acquire the 37-year-old centre last month, but it only became official this week with Toews signing a one-year deal worth US$2 million, plus performance bonuses tied to games played and playoff success.

The former head of Manitoba Hydro was paid just over $881,000 last year, despite being dismissed six weeks into the year.

Jay Grewal's earnings in previous years, where she had worked a full year, ranged from $500,000 to $546,000.

The amount last year, revealed in an annual Manitoba Hydro compensation report, suggests a large lump sum payment when Grewal was let go as president and chief executive officer.

A well-known cave-like tunnel that attracts boaters to eastern Manitoba has reopened thanks to some ingenuity involving a backhoe, a grappling bucket and a crew removing fallen rock from a tight, gorge-like opening.

The tunnel between Caddy Lake and South Cross Lake, just north of the Trans-Canada Highway and west of the Ontario boundary, is the first of two cave-like tunnels along a popular water route for people in canoes, kayaks and small motorboats.

Wildfire evacuees continued to make their way home in some Manitoba communities Tuesday, but there were hurdles.

Tataskweyak Cree Nation lifted its evacuation order Monday evening, then told the community's 2,400 residents Tuesday morning the return was being delayed due to problems with the water system.

"Water tests came back (with) high aluminum. The pipes and reservoir will need to be cleaned and samples taken after the cleaning," said a message posted on the chief and council's Facebook page.

Rain and cooler temperatures brought relief to fire-ravaged Manitoba and Saskatchewan Monday, allowing fire bans to be reduced and more evacuees to go home.

The weather helped fire crews get an upper hand in parts of northern Manitoba to clear the way for some of the 21,000 or more evacuees to start returning home.

David Monias, chief of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, reposted video of heavy rainfall on social media along with video of small planes leaving Winnipeg with evacuees who were forced out almost three weeks earlier.

The Manitoba government is expected to use more "revenue levers," similar to its recent income and property tax changes, as part of its plan to reduce the deficit, a credit-rating agency report says.

S&P Global Ratings has affirmed the Manitoba government's existing short-term and long-term credit ratings and says the outlook for the province is stable, based in part on expected revenue changes and spending control.