Thompson, Manitoba

Thompson (population 13,678) is the largest city in the Northern Region of Manitoba and is situated along the Burntwood River, north of Winnipeg. Originally founded in 1956 as a mining town, it now primarily serves as the "Hub of the North", providing goods and services such as healthcare and retail trade to the surrounding communities.

Thompson's trade area is larger than New Mexico, yet it has fewer than 15,000 residents, with many of the smaller communities accessible only by air or winter road. Despite its isolated location in the heart of Canada's boreal forest, it is connected to Winnipeg via paved highway, railway (Via Rail), and Thompson Airport. It also has modern amenities, such as fibre optic internet and a large retail scene, including half a dozen shopping malls and several large chain stores (e.g., Walmart, Giant Tiger, Safeway, Shoppers Drug Mart and Canadian Tire).

Thompson's natural and undisturbed surroundings make it popular with outdoor enthusiasts. The largest marina in Manitoba is south in Paint Lake Provincial Park, hundreds of kilometres of snowmobile trails are maintained, and the lack of light pollution and Thompson's northern latitude allows for occasional viewing of the northern lights, even within the city limits.

History

The Thompson area was first inhabited by nomadic Paleo-Indian hunters around 6000 BC, sometime after the collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.

For a 10-year period beginning in 1946, Inco Limited explored northern Manitoba for nickel deposits; on February 4, 1956, a major ore body was discovered, and the modern history of Thompson began.

Thompson, named after Inco's chairman at the time, Dr. John F. Thompson (1881–1968), was founded following the December 3, 1956, agreement between the Government of Manitoba and Inco Limited. On March 25, 1961, Inco formally opened the first integrated nickel mining-smelting-refining plant in the Western Hemisphere (in Thompson) and the second largest nickel-producing operation in the world (after Inco's Sudbury operations).

Thompson was incorporated as a town in 1967 on Canada's Centennial Anniversary; in 1970 Thompson gained city status in the royal presence of Queen Elizabeth II.

The community was initially planned for a population of 8000, but Thompson grew rapidly to 19,001 residents by the 1971 Census; the population has even been estimated as high as 26,000 residents prior to the recession in 1971. Major layoffs at Inco Limited in 1971 and 1977 led to Thompson's population declining to 14,288 by the 1981 Census.

Thompson's rapid boom and bust was attributed to changes in the nickel market; during the 1960s, following large increases in the demand for nickel, 6 additional mines ( Birchtree, Soab North, Soab South, Pipe Number 1, Pipe Number 2, and Pipe Open Pit) were constructed near Thompson. After the Soviet Union gained access to the world nickel market in 1970, world supply of nickel exceeded world demand; in response, four nickel mines (Soab North, Soab South, Pipe Number 1, and Pipe Number 2) were closed in 1971 and 30% of Inco's workforce in Thompson was laid off. In 1977, when nickel prices declined substantially, a fifth mine (Birchtree) was put on care and maintenance and an additional 650 Inco employees in Thompson were laid off.

As Inco's workforce dwindled from over 4000 in the 1970s to around 850 in 2018, the economic driver of Thompson shifted to providing goods and services (e.g., retail, healthcare, social services) to the surrounding communities, earning Thompson the nickname, "The Hub of the North".

Geography

Thompson covers an area of 20.79 square kilometers (8.03 square miles) and is located on the Precambrian Canadian Shield.

The city is surrounded by boreal forest and bordered on the west and north by the Burntwood River.

Ecology – flora

Thompson is located on the border of plant hardiness zones 1a and 1b, making outdoor commercial agriculture impossible; for comparison, Winnipeg is located within zone 4a.

The dominant coniferous species are white spruce (''Picea glauca''), black spruce (''Picea mariana''), jack pine ('' Pinuus banksiana''), tamarack ('' Larix laricina'') and balsam fir (''Abies balsamea''). White birch (''Betula papyrifera'') is the most common deciduous species.

Ecology – fauna

Hundreds of ravens (''Corvus corax''), known locally as "Thompson Turkeys", reside in Thompson year-round. Many bird species visit Thompson and area in the summer to breed, such as herring gulls ('' Larus smithsonianus''), bald eagles ('' Haliaeetus leucocephalus''), golden eagles (''Aquila chrysaetos''), sandhill cranes (''Antigone canadensis''), and common terns ('' Sterna hirundo)''.

Beavers (''Castor canadensis'') are ubiquitous around Thompson, with a few residing in the city limits. Red foxes (''Vulpes vulpes'') can also be found in Thompson. Black bears (''Ursus americanus''), and less commonly, wolves (''Canis lupus''), are occasionally spotted on the fringes of town. Moose (''Alces alces'') and herds of boreal woodland caribou ('' Rangifer tarandus caribou'') can also occasionally be seen near Thompson. Rarely seen predators outside of Thompson include the marten (''Martes americana''), the wolverine (''Gulo gulo''), and the lynx (''Lynx canadensis'').

Climate

Thompson is marked by a subarctic climate (Köppen ''Dfc''), with long cold winters and short warm summers.

Monthly means range from in January to in July, and the annual mean is . A majority of the annual precipitation of falls from June to September. Snowfall totals per year, falling mainly from October to May.

Culture

Th
Thompson Regional Community Centre
contains two indoor skating rinks, a large 6-sheet curling rink called the Burntwood Curling Club, a gymnasium, exercise facilities, and a walking track.

Attractions within Thompson / tourism

Spirit Way is a 2 km (1.25 mi) walking and biking pathway with 16 points of interest that highlight Thompson's art, heritage, culture, industry, geology, and scenery; the pathway includes the largest photo-real mural in Canada and 56 painted wolf statues.

Th
Heritage North Museum
offers the opportunity to see animals native to the area, a boreal forest diorama, First Nation and fur trade artifacts (including an authentic caribou hide tipi), fossils, and mining artifacts. The Museum consists of two log structures, an open-air blacksmith shop, Institutional Archives, and visitor information booth.

Th
Millennium Trail
is a hike and bike loop around the city with sections that pass through the boreal forest. The crushed rock trail is open year-round to non-motorized travel. Walking, hiking and mountain biking are popular in the summer while walking and cross country skiing are winter favourites.

Attractions around Thompson / tourism

Paint Lake Provincial Park
located south of Thompson on Highway 6, spans over of Precambrian boreal forest.
Parks Manitoba
offers dozens of campsites for rent, whil
Paint Lake Lodge
runs the largest marina in Manitoba and offers cabin, boat, and canoe rentals, a restaurant, and a convenience store. Some features of the park include boat launches, beaches, playgrounds, a volleyball court, baseball diamond and fitness trail. In the winter there are groomed snowmobile trails, ice skating, toboggan runs, ice fishing and ice fishing derbies.

Pisew Falls Provincial Park, located south of Thompson on Highway 6, offers the chance to view Manitoba's 2 highest waterfalls. Pisew falls is viewable after taking a short trail that leads to a viewing platform (for taking pictures) of the , year-round falls. Kwasitchewan Falls, Manitoba's highest waterfall, is viewable after hiking an trail
The Pisew Falls to Kwasitchewan Falls Trail
; this trail is a difficult back-country trail, recommended for experienced hikers only.

Sasagiu Rapids Provincial Park, located south of Thompson on Highway 6, is the site of scenic rapids an
Sasagiu Rapids Lodge
which provides off-road rentals (e.g., Skidoo, Seadoo), camper/site rentals, dining, and suites/rooms.
Mystery Mountain Winter Park
located north of Thompson on Provincial Road 280, offers downhill skiing, snowboarding, and cross-country skiing trails.

Events

Nickel Days
is a large weekend festival held in June every year; the festival includes concerts, family games, a parade, and more.

National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations are held on June 21 each year.

Winterfest is an annual multi-day celebration of northern culture and activities that is held in February.

Sports

Thompson is home to the Norman Northstars hockey team, who play in the Manitoba U-18 'AAA' Hockey League. Thompson's minor hockey teams are known as the King Miners. The high school teams are called the RD Parker Collegiate Trojans. The Trojans' rivals are the Hapnot Kopper Kings from Flin Flon and the MBCI Spartans from The Pas.

Every year in April, students from the six elementary schools in grades 3–8 compete in the Knights of Columbus Track Meet. Juniper School dominated KoC in the 1990s, and Westwood School has had a winning streak during the 2000s (decade).

Media

The ''Thompson Citizen'' (covering Thompson) and the ''Nickel Belt News'' (covering the area around Thompson) are the only local newspapers.

There are five radio stations: AM 610: CHTM (adult contemporary), FM 102.9: CHTM (adult contemporary), FM 96.3: CINC-FM ( NCI), FM 99.9: CKSB-5 (Première Chaîne; repeats CKSB Winnipeg), and FM 100.9: CBWK (CBC Radio One).

Shaw Communications is the local cable television provider serving Thompson, and operates the local Shaw TV channel on cable channel 11.

Economy

Overview

The economy of Thompson is centred around nickel mining and providing goods and services to the surrounding communities in both Census Division No. 22 (in which Thompson is located) and Census Division No. 23; these two Census Divisions have a combined population of 51,136, which includes over 38,000 First Nations people. Thompson is by far the largest community in either of these Census Divisions, with the next largest community being Norway House Cree Nation (population 4927).

As is common in resource-based communities, Thompson has experienced above-average employment income and significant swings in mining-sector employment throughout its history.

The median employment income in 2015 for full-year full-time workers in Thompson was $65,262; this was 22% higher than the Canadian median of $53,431.

Thompson's unemployment rate in 2016 was 7.6%, slightly below the Canadian average of 7.7%.

As of the 2016 Census, Thompson had 7065 employed persons, with the five largest sectors of the economy being:

* mining (1255 employees)
* health care and social assistance (1100 employees)
* accommodation and food services (710 employees)
* educational services (710 employees)
* retail trade (670 employees)

Between the 2016 Census and 2018, approximately 400 job losses have occurred in the mining industry.

Mining

Vale Limited is the owner and operator of Thompson's mining operations, which involves the mining, milling, and concentrating of nickel; the concentrated nickel slurry is then shipped (for final processing) to Vale Limited's operations in Long Harbour and Sudbury.

Founded on a large and high-grade deposit of nickel, Thompson accounted for 11% of the world's finished nickel production in 1962, having produced over 40,800 metric tonnes of nickel that year; Thompson's nickel production peaked in 1970 and 1971 at over 60,000 metric tonnes (per year) and has since declined to 23,000 metric tonnes in 2017.

Despite the fact that Vale Limited's placed their nearby Birchtree Mine on care and maintenance (suspending nickel extraction at the mine for the time being), Thompson may be particularly well positioned for future growth in nickel mining industry: Vale recently invested over $100 million in the concentrate load out facility and Vale's North Atlantic mining operations director Alistair Ross recently stated that, "If you were to look across the world for an area that had nickel that could be invested in on a standalone nickel basis, there isn’t a better place han Thompson.

Health care and social assistance

The Northern Regional Health Authority (Eastern Campus) provides health care services to most of the communities in Census Division No. 22 and Census Division No. 23; Thompson-based facilities include the Thompson General Hospital, Northern Spirit Manor (personal care home), the Thompson Clinic, an
Hope North
(centre for youth in crisis).

Addictions Foundation of Manitoba also has a facility located in Thompson.

Accommodation and food services

Thompson has eight hotels, including Best Western, Days Inn, and Quality Inn, which have over 600 beds (total).

There are over 20 restaurants in Thompson including Boston Pizza, Pizza Hut, KFC, and McDonald's.

Educational services

The School District of Mystery Lake, based in Thompson, provides K–12 education through six primary schools and one secondary school; the Franco-Manitoban School Division also operates one school for K–8.

The University College of the North and the University of Manitoba

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