Benito is an unincorporated urban community in the

Municipality of Swan Valley West A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Prior to 1 January 2015, Benito was designated as a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

. The community is situated in the

Swan River Valley The Swan River Valley (also known as Swan Valley) is a valley between the Manitoba Escarpment in the Parkland Region of Manitoba, Canada. It is located between the Porcupine Hills to the northwest and Duck Mountains to the south, as well as Thund ...

, southwest of Swan River, northwest of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, and east of the

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

border. To the south is Duck Mountain Provincial Park and Forest, to the north is Thunder Hill and further north of Swan River is Porcupine Mountain Provincial Park. Benito has a large

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

sector; its economic base is agriculture and

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

History

People from

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of the Hudson Bay/Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newfoundland and Labrador, ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

first settled Benito around the beginning of the 20th century. In 1905, the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

went through, and Benito slowly grew and was incorporated as a

in 1941. On 1 April 2013, Benito was featured in an

April Fool's Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

joke across the

Province of Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

. The CJ Radio Network announced that as part of a protest against forced municipal amalgamation, Benito had joined Saskatchewan. Staff at the former village office went along with the prank and informed callers that they were indeed now known as Benito, Saskatchewan, instead of Benito, Manitoba. On 1 January 2015, the Village of Benito and the

Rural Municipality of Swan River The Rural Municipality of Swan River is a former rural municipality (RM) in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was originally incorporated as a rural municipality on May 1, 1901. It ceased on January 1, 2015 as a result of its provincially mand ...

amalgamated to form the

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Benito had a population of 360 living in 181 of its 215 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 370. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Transportation

Benito is served by PTH 83.

Attractions

Benito is home to a branch of the North-West Regional Library of nearby Swan River. Founded in 1965, today the North-West Regional Library Benito Branch provides over 14,000 books, DVDs, puzzles and other items accessible to the public as well as many other services.

Notable people

Ed Werenich Edward Werenich (born June 23, 1947) is a Canadian curler from Holland Landing, Ontario. Nicknamed "The Wrench," Werenich has been known to be a colourful and outspoken character. Outside of curling, Werenich worked as a firefighter. Career We ...

, world champion curler, known as "The Wrench",

References

External links

* (2011) {{MBDivision20 Designated places in Manitoba Unincorporated communities in Parkland Region, Manitoba Unincorporated urban communities in Manitoba Former villages in Manitoba Populated places disestablished in 2015 2015 disestablishments in Manitoba