Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,607 and a metropolitan population of 834,678, making it the sixth-largest city, and eighth-largest metropolitan area in Canada. The city is named after the nearby Lake Winnipeg; the name comes from the Western Cree words for "muddy water" - “winipīhk”. The region was a trading centre for Indigenous peoples long before the arrival of Europeans; it is the traditional territory of the Anishinabe (Ojibway), Ininew (Cree), Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota, and is the birthplace of the

Métis Nation The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United State ...

. French traders built the first fort on the site in 1738. A settlement was later founded by the Selkirk settlers of the Red River Colony in 1812, the nucleus of which was incorporated as the City of Winnipeg in 1873. Being far inland, the local climate is extremely seasonal even by Canadian standards with average January highs of around and average July highs of . Known as the "Gateway to the West", Winnipeg is a railway and transportation hub with a diversified economy. This multicultural city hosts numerous annual festivals, including the Festival du Voyageur, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the

Jazz Winnipeg Festival The TD Winnipeg International Jazz Festival is a Canadian jazz festival first held in 1989 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is usually held in June. The festival, organized by the Jazz Winnipeg organization and formerly called the Jazz Winnipeg Festiva ...

, the

Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival The Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival is an alternative theatre festival held each year for twelve days in July in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. History Founded in 1988 by the Manitoba Theatre Centre with Larry Desrochers as the first Executive ...

, and

Folklorama Folklorama is an event that runs for two weeks each August in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Visitors to the festival are invited to sample cuisine and celebrate the cultural and ethnic heritage of people from dozens of cultures who have made Winnipe ...

. In

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, Winnipeg was the first Canadian host of the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

. It is home to several professional sports franchises, including the Winnipeg Blue Bombers ( Canadian football), the Winnipeg Jets ( ice hockey), Manitoba Moose (ice hockey), Valour FC ( association football),

Winnipeg Sea Bears The Winnipeg Sea Bears are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). They play their home games at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. History On November ...

( basketball), and the Winnipeg Goldeyes ( baseball).

Etymology

Winnipeg is named after nearby Lake Winnipeg, 65 km north of the city. English explorer Henry Kelsey may have been the first European to see the lake in 1690, and he adopted the

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

and Ojibwe name (also transcribed or ) meaning "murky water" or "muddy water" (modern , ). French-Canadian fur trader

La Vérendrye La Vérendrye, La Verendrye or Verendrye may refer to: People *Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye (1685–1749), French Canadian military officer, fur trader and explorer, often called simply "La Vérendrye". His sons were: **Jean ...

referred to the lake as or when he built the first forts in the area in the 1730s. Local newspaper ''The Nor'-Wester'' included the name on its masthead on February 24, 1866, and the city was incorporated by that name under legislation by the Manitoba Assembly in 1873.

History

Early history

Winnipeg lies at the

of the Assiniboine and the Red River of the North, a location now known as " The Forks". This point was at the crossroads of canoe routes travelled by First Nations before European contact. Evidence provided by archaeology,

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

and oral history indicates that native peoples used the area in prehistoric times for camping, harvesting, hunting, tool making, fishing, trading and, farther north, for agriculture. Estimates of the date of first settlement in this area range from 11,500 years ago for a site southwest of the present city to 6,000 years ago at The Forks. In 1805, Canadian colonists observed First Nations peoples engaged in farming activity along the Red River. The practice quickly expanded, driven by the demand by traders for provisions. The rivers provided an extensive transportation network linking northern First Peoples with those to the south along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. The Ojibwe made some of the first maps on birch bark, which helped

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

rs navigate the waterways of the area. Sieur de La Vérendrye built the first fur trading post on the site in 1738, called Fort Rouge. French trading continued at this site for several decades before the arrival of the British Hudson's Bay Company after France ceded the territory following its defeat in the Seven Years' War. Many French men who were trappers married First Nations women; their mixed-race children hunted, traded, and lived in the area. Their descendents are known as the

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

Lord Selkirk was involved with the first permanent settlement (known as the Red River Colony), the purchase of land from the Hudson's Bay Company, and a survey of river lots in the early 19th century. The

North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...

built Fort Gibraltar in 1809, and the Hudson's Bay Company built Fort Douglas in 1812, both in the area of present-day Winnipeg. The two companies competed fiercely over trade. The Métis and Lord Selkirk's settlers fought at the

Battle of Seven Oaks The Battle of Seven Oaks was a violent confrontation in the Pemmican War between the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and the North West Company (NWC), rivals in the North American fur trade, fur trade, that took place on 19 June 1816, the climax of ...

in 1816. In 1821, the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies merged, ending their long rivalry. Fort Gibraltar was renamed Fort Garry in 1822 and became the leading post in the region for the Hudson's Bay Company. A flood destroyed the fort in 1826 and it was not rebuilt until 1835. A rebuilt section of the fort, consisting of the front gate and a section of the wall, is near the modern-day corner of Main Street and Broadway in downtown Winnipeg. In 1869–70, present-day Winnipeg was the site of the Red River Rebellion, a conflict between the local provisional government of Métis, led by Louis Riel, and newcomers from eastern Canada. General Garnet Wolseley was sent to put down the uprising. The Manitoba Act of 1870 made Manitoba the fifth province of the three-year-old Canadian Confederation. Treaty 1, which encompassed the city and much of the surrounding area, was signed on 3 August 1871 by representatives of the Crown and local Indigenous groups, comprising the Brokenhead Ojibway, Sagkeeng, Long Plain, Peguis, Roseau River Anishinabe, Sandy Bay and Swan Lake communities. On 8 November 1873, Winnipeg was incorporated as a city, with the Selkirk settlement as its nucleus. Métis legislator and interpreter James McKay named the city. Winnipeg's mandate was to govern and provide municipal services to citizens attracted to trade expansion between Upper Fort Garry /

Lower Fort Garry Lower Fort Garry was built in 1830 by the Hudson's Bay Company on the western bank of the Red River, north of the original Fort Garry (now in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). Treaty 1 was signed there. A devastating flood destroyed Fort Garry in ...

and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Winnipeg developed rapidly after the coming of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

in 1881. The railway divided the North End, which housed mainly Eastern Europeans, from the richer Anglo-Saxon southern part of the city. It also contributed to a demographic shift beginning shortly after Confederation that saw the francophone population decrease from a majority to a small minority group. This shift resulted in Premier

Thomas Greenway Thomas Greenway (March 25, 1838 – October 30, 1908) was a Canadian politician, merchant and farmer. He served as the seventh premier of Manitoba from 1888 to 1900. A Liberal, his ministry formally ended Manitoba's non-partisan government, al ...

controversially ending legislative bilingualism and removing funding for French Catholic Schools in 1890.

Modern history (1900–present)

By 1911, Winnipeg was Canada's third-largest city. However, the city faced financial difficulty when the Panama Canal opened in 1914. The canal reduced reliance on Canada's rail system for international trade; the increase in shipping traffic helped Vancouver to surpass Winnipeg in both prosperity and population by the end of World War I. More than 30,000 workers walked off their jobs in May 1919 in what came to be known as the Winnipeg general strike. The strike was a product of postwar recession, labour conditions, the activity of union organizers and a large influx of returning World War I soldiers seeking work. After many arrests, deportations, and incidents of violence, the strike ended on 21 June 1919 when the

Riot Act The Riot Act (1 Geo.1 St.2 c.5), sometimes called the Riot Act 1714 or the Riot Act 1715, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which authorised local authorities to declare any group of 12 or more people to be unlawfully assembled and o ...

was read and a group of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers charged a group of strikers. Two strikers were killed and at least thirty others were injured on the day that became known as ''Bloody Saturday''; the event polarized the population. One of the leaders of the strike,

J. S. Woodsworth James Shaver Woodsworth (July 29, 1874 – March 21, 1942) was a pre–First World War pioneer of the Canadian Social Gospel, a Christian religious movement with social democratic values and links to organized labour. He was a long-time leader ...

, went on to found Canada's first major socialist party, the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

, which later became the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

. The Manitoba Legislative Building, constructed mainly of Tyndall stone, opened in 1920; its dome supports a bronze statue finished in gold leaf, titled "Eternal Youth and the Spirit of Enterprise" (commonly known as the " Golden Boy"). The stock market crash of 1929 and the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

resulted in widespread unemployment, worsened by drought and low agricultural prices. The Depression ended after the start of World War II in 1939. Wfp 1942

In the

Battle of Hong Kong The Battle of Hong Kong (8–25 December 1941), also known as the Defence of Hong Kong and the Fall of Hong Kong, was one of the first battles of the Pacific War in World War II. On the same morning as the attack on Pearl Harbor, forces of the ...

The Winnipeg Grenadiers , colors = , colors_label = , march = "British Grenadiers" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = Equipment ...

were among the first Canadians to engage in combat against Japan. Battalion members who survived combat were taken prisoner and endured brutal treatment in prisoner of war camps. In 1942, the Victory Loan Campaign staged a mock Nazi invasion of Winnipeg to promote awareness of the stakes of the war in Europe. When the war ended, pent-up demand generated a boom in housing development, although building activity was checked by the

1950 Red River flood The 1950 Red River flood was a devastating flood that took place along the Red River in The Dakotas and Manitoba from April 15 to June 12, 1950. Damage was particularly severe in the city of Winnipeg and its environs, which were inundated on M ...

. The federal government estimated damage at over $26 million, although the province indicated that it was at least double that. The damage caused by the flood led then-Premier

Duff Roblin Dufferin "Duff" Roblin, (June 17, 1917 – May 30, 2010) was a Canadian businessman and politician. He served as the 14th premier of Manitoba from 1958 to 1967. Roblin was appointed to the Senate of Canada on the advice of Prime Minister Pierr ...

to advocate for the construction of the Red River Floodway. Before 1972, Winnipeg was the largest of thirteen cities and towns in a metropolitan area around the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. In 1960, the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg was established to co-ordinate service delivery in the metropolitan region. A consolidated metropolitan "

unicity The amalgamation of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was the municipal incorporation of the old City of Winnipeg, 11 surrounding municipalities, and the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg (Metro) into a one Unified City of Winnipeg, or Unicity. Th ...

" government incorporating Winnipeg and its surrounding municipalities was established on 27 July 1971, taking effect in 1972. The City of Winnipeg Act incorporated the current city. In 2003, the City of Winnipeg Act was repealed and replaced with the City of Winnipeg Charter. Winnipeg experienced a severe economic downturn in advance of the early 1980s recession, during which the city incurred closures of prominent businesses, including the '' Winnipeg Tribune'', as well as the Swift's and Canada Packers meat packing plants. In 1981, Winnipeg was one of the first cities in Canada to sign a tripartite agreement with the provincial and federal governments to redevelop its downtown area, and the three levels of government contributed over $271 million to its development. In 1989, the reclamation and redevelopment of the CNR rail yards turned The Forks into Winnipeg's most popular tourist attraction. The city was threatened by the

1997 Red River flood The Red River flood of 1997 was a major flood that occurred in April and May 1997 along the Red River of the North in Minnesota, North Dakota, and southern Manitoba. It was the most severe flood of the river since 1826. The flood reached through ...

as well as further floods in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Geography

Winnipeg lies at the bottom of the

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

, a flood plain with an extremely flat topography. It is on the eastern edge of the Canadian Prairies in Western Canada and is known as the "Gateway to the West". Winnipeg is bordered by tallgrass prairie to the west and south and the aspen parkland to the northeast, although most of the native prairie grasses have been removed for agriculture and urbanization. It is relatively close to many large

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...

lakes and parks, as well as Lake Winnipeg ( the Earth's 11th largest freshwater lake). Winnipeg has North America's largest extant mature urban elm forest. The city has an area of . Winnipeg has four major rivers: the Red, Assiniboine, La Salle and

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

. The city was subject to severe flooding in the past. The Red River reached its greatest flood height in

1826 Events January–March * January 15 – The French newspaper ''Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a weekly. * January 30 – The Menai Suspension Bridge, built by engineer Thomas Telford, is opened between the island o ...

. Another large flood in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

caused millions of dollars in damage and mass evacuations. This flood prompted

's provincial government to build the Red River Floodway to protect the city. In the 1997 flood, flood control dikes were reinforced and raised using sandbags; Winnipeg suffered limited damage compared to the flood's impact on cities without such structures, such as

Grand Forks, North Dakota Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

. The generally flat terrain and the poor drainage of the Red River Valley's clay-based soil also results in many mosquitoes during wetter years.

Climate

Winnipeg's location in the Canadian Prairies gives it a warm-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen ''Dfb''), with warm, humid summers, and long, severely cold winters. Summers have a July mean average of . Winters are the coldest time of year, with the January mean average around and total winter precipitation (December through February) averaging . Temperatures occasionally drop below . On average there are 317.8 days per year with measurable sunshine, with July seeing the most on average. With 2353 hours of sunshine per year, Winnipeg is the second sunniest city in Canada. Total annual precipitation (both rain and snow) is just over . Thunderstorms are very common during summer, and sometimes severe enough to produce tornadoes. Low

wind chill Wind chill or windchill (popularly wind chill factor) is the lowering of body temperature due to the passing-flow of lower-temperature air. Wind chill numbers are always lower than the air temperature for values where the formula is valid. When ...

values are a common occurrence in the local climate. The wind chill has gone down as low as and on average there are twelve days of the year that can reach a wind chill below . The highest temperature ever recorded in Winnipeg was during the

1936 North American heat wave The 1936 North American heat wave was one of the most severe heat waves in the modern history of North America. It took place in the middle of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s and caused catastrophic human suffering and an enormous ...

. The temperature reached on 11 July 1936 while the highest daily low temperature, recorded on the following day, 12 July 1936, was . The apparent heat can be even more extreme due to bursts of humidity, and on 25 July 2007 a

humidex The humidex (short for humidity index) is an index number used by Canadian meteorologists to describe how hot the weather feels to the average person, by combining the effect of heat and humidity. The term ''humidex'' was coined in 1965. The humid ...

reading of was measured. The frost-free season is comparatively long for a location with such severe winters. The last spring frost is on average around 23 May, while the first fall frost is on 22 September.

Cityscape

There are officially 236 neighbourhoods in Winnipeg.

Downtown Winnipeg Downtown Winnipeg is an area of Winnipeg located near the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. It is the oldest urban area in Winnipeg, and is home to the city's commercial core, city hall, the seat of Manitoba's provincial government, a ...

, the city's financial heart and economic core, is centred on the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street and covers about . More than 72,000 people work downtown, and over 40,000 students attend classes at its universities and colleges. Downtown Winnipeg's

Exchange District The Exchange District is a National Historic Site of Canada in the downtown area of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Just one block north of Portage and Main, the Exchange District comprises twenty city blocks and approximately 150 heritage buildings ...

is named after the area's original grain exchange, which operated from 1880 to 1913. The 30-block district received National Historic Site of Canada status in 1997; it includes North America's most extensive collection of early 20th-century terracotta and cut stone architecture,

Stephen Juba Stephen Juba, (July 1, 1914 – May 2, 1993) was a Canadian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1953 to 1959, and served as the 37th Mayor of Winnipeg from 1957 to 1977. He was the first Ukrainian Canad ...

Park, and Old Market Square. Other major downtown areas are The Forks, Central Park, Broadway-Assiniboine and

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

. Many of Downtown Winnipeg's major buildings are linked with the

Winnipeg Walkway The Winnipeg Walkway System, also known as the Winnipeg Skywalk, is a network of pedestrian skyways and tunnels connecting a significant portion of downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. The City of Winnipeg described the Walkway as a system of 14 skyways ...

. Residential neighbourhoods surround the downtown in all directions; expansion is greatest to the south and west, although several areas remain underdeveloped. The city's largest park,

Assiniboine Park Assiniboine Park (formerly known as City Park) is a park in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, located along the Assiniboine River. The Winnipeg Public Parks Board was formed in 1893, and purchased the initial land for the park in 1904. Although in use ...

, houses the

Assiniboine Park Zoo Assiniboine Park Zoo is an zoo at the west end of Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It has been best known for decades for its polar bear exhibit, of which the old enclosure was replaced in 2013 with Journey to Churchill. Establis ...

and the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden. Other large city parks include Kildonan Park and

St. Vital Park St. Vital Park is a park in southern Winnipeg, Manitoba, located on a bend of the Red River. In winter months, a skating pond is situated near the pathways which cover the area. St. Vital Park is also a popular area chosen to have events such ...

. The city's major commercial areas are Polo Park, Kildonan Crossing, South St. Vital, Garden City (West Kildonan), Pembina Strip, Kenaston Smart Centre, Osborne Village, and the Corydon strip. The main cultural and nightlife areas are the Exchange District, The Forks, Osborne Village and Corydon Village (both in Fort Rouge), Sargent and Ellice Avenues (West End) and Old St. Boniface. Osborne Village is Winnipeg's most densely populated neighbourhood and one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in Western Canada.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

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 ...

, Winnipeg had a population of 749,607 living in 300,431 of its 315,465 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 705,244. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. As of the 2021 census, 16.6 percent of residents were 14 years old or younger, 66.4 percent were between 15 and 64 years old, and 17.0 percent were 65 or over. The average age of a Winnipegger was 40.3. At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Winnipeg CMA had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Winnipeg represents 54.9% of the population of the province of Manitoba, the highest population concentration in one city of any province in Canada. Apart from the city of Winnipeg, the Winnipeg CMA includes the rural municipalities of

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

, St. Clements, Taché,

East St. Paul East St. Paul is a List of rural municipalities in Manitoba, rural municipality (RM) in Manitoba, Canada. It is located north-east of and adjacent to the city of Winnipeg, and is part of the Winnipeg Metropolitan Area. The municipality was forme ...

, Macdonald, Ritchot, West St. Paul, Headingley, the Brokenhead 4 reserve, Rosser and St. François Xavier.

's estimate of the Winnipeg CMA population as of 1 July 2020 is 850,056, making it the 7th largest CMA in Canada. Winnipeg has a significant and increasing Indigenous population, with both the highest percentage of Indigenous peoples (12.2%) for any major Canadian city, and the highest total number of Aboriginals (84,305) for any single non-reserve municipality. The Aboriginal population grew by 22% between 2001 and 2006, compared to an increase of 3% for the city as a whole; this population tends to be younger and less wealthy than non-Aboriginal residents. Winnipeg also has the highest Métis population in both percentage (6.5%) and numbers (47,915); the growth rate for this population between 2001 and 2006 was 30%. The 2021 census reported that immigrants comprise 201,040 persons or 27.3% of the total population of Winnipeg. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were the Philippines (62,100 persons or 30.9%), India (27,605 persons or 13.7%), and China (8,900 persons or 4.4%). The city receives over 10,000 net international immigrants per year. Winnipeg has the greatest percentage of Filipino residents of any major Canadian city, although Toronto has more Filipinos by total population. As of 2021, 34% of residents were of a visible minority. Compared to similar profiles generated for other major cities. More than a hundred languages are spoken in Winnipeg, of which the most common is English: 95 percent of Winnipeggers speak English as their first language, and 2.8 percent have a first language of French (Canada's other official language). Other languages spoken as a

mother tongue A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

in Winnipeg include Tagalog (6.0%),

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

(4.1%), and

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

(1.5%). Several Indigenous languages are also spoken, such as Ojibwe (0.2%) and

(0.1%). The 2021 Census reported the religious make-up of Winnipeg as: 50.4%

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, including 24.0% Catholic, 4.0% United Church, and 2.7%

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

; 4.4%

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

; 3.3%

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

; 2.0%

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

; 1.5% Jewish; 0.9% Buddhist; 0.4% traditional (aboriginal) spirituality; 0.7% other; and 36.4% no religious affiliation.

Economy

Winnipeg is an economic base and regional centre. It has a diversified economy, with major employment in the health care and social assistance (15%), retail (11%), manufacturing (8%), and public administration (8%) sectors. There were approximately 444,000 jobs in the city as of 2016. Some of Winnipeg's largest employers are government and government-funded institutions, including the Province of Manitoba, the University of Manitoba, the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba Hydro, and Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corporation. Major private-sector employers include Canad Corporation of Manitoba,

Canada Life Assurance Company The Canada Life Assurance Company, commonly known as Canada Life, is an insurance and financial services company with its headquarters in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The current company is the result of the 2020 amalgamation of The Great-West Life Assur ...

, StandardAero, and SkipTheDishes. According to the Conference Board of Canada, Winnipeg was projected to experience a real GDP growth of 1.9 percent in 2019. Gross Domestic Product was $43.3 Billion in 2018. The city had an unemployment rate of 5.3% in 2019, compared to a national rate of 5.7%. Household income per capita was $47,824, compared to $49,744 nationally. The Royal Canadian Mint, established in 1976, produces all circulating coinage in Canada. The facility, located in southeastern Winnipeg, also produces coins for many other countries. In 2012, Winnipeg was ranked by

KPMG KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations. Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...

as the least expensive location to do business in western Canada. Like many prairie cities, Winnipeg has a relatively low cost of living. The average house price in Winnipeg was $301,518 as of 2018. As of May 2014, the

Consumer Price Index A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time. Overview A CPI is a statistica ...

was 125.8 relative to 2002 prices, reflecting consumer costs at the Canadian average.

Culture

Winnipeg was named the Cultural Capital of Canada in 2010 by Canadian Heritage. As of 2021, there are 26

National Historic Sites of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

in Winnipeg. One of these, The Forks, attracts four million visitors a year. It is home to the

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

television studio,

Manitoba Theatre for Young People Manitoba Theatre for Young People (MTYP) is a theatre for children and young adults in The Forks area of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. , MTYP's annual attendance regularly exceeds 100,000. Within the theatre complex are two performance venues: a ...

, the Winnipeg International Children's Festival, and the

Manitoba Children's Museum The Manitoba Children's Museum is a non-profit, charitable children's museum located at The Forks, Winnipeg, The Forks in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. History The museum was founded in 1983. It opened its first exhibit in a warehouse on 21 June ...

. It also features a skate plaza, a bowl complex, which features a mural of Winnipeg skateboarding pioneer Jai Pereira, the Esplanade Riel bridge, a river walkway,

Shaw Park Shaw Park (formerly CanWest Global Park) is a baseball stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is located adjacent to The Forks, near the city's downtown, and is home to the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the American Association. Features Shaw Park h ...

, and the

Canadian Museum for Human Rights The Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR; ) is a Canadian Crown corporation and national museum located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, adjacent to The Forks. The purpose of the museum is to "explore the subject of human rights with a special but not ex ...

. The

Winnipeg Public Library The Winnipeg Public Library (french: Bibliothèque publique de Winnipeg) is a public library system in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Branches provide programming for children, teens, and adults. The Library also contains an Outreach Department which works ...

is a public library network with 20 branches throughout the city, including the main Millennium Library.

Winnipeg the Bear Winnipeg (1914 – 12 May 1934), or Winnie, was the name given to a female American black bear, black bear that lived at London Zoo from 1915 until her death in 1934. Rescued by cavalry veterinarian Harry Colebourn, Winnie is best-remembered for ...

, which would become the inspiration for part of the name of Winnie-the-Pooh, was purchased in Ontario by Lieutenant

Harry Colebourn Harry D. Colebourn (April 12, 1887 – September 24, 1947) was a Canadian veterinarian and soldier with the Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps best known for donating a bear cub named "Winnie" (short for "Winnipeg") to London Zoo. Winnie later ...

of the Fort Garry Horse. He named the bear after the regiment's home town of Winnipeg. A. A. Milne later wrote a series of books featuring the fictional Winnie-the-Pooh. The series' illustrator,

Ernest H. Shepard Ernest Howard Shepard OBE Military Cross, MC (10 December 1879 – 24 March 1976) was an English artist and book illustrator. He is known especially for illustrations of the Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic animal and soft toy characters in ''Th ...

, created the only known oil painting of Winnipeg's adopted fictional bear, displayed in Assiniboine Park. The city has developed many distinct dishes and cooking styles, notably in the areas of

confectionery Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

and hot-smoked fish. Both the First Nations and more recent Eastern Canadian, European, and Asian immigrants have helped shape Winnipeg's dining scene, giving birth to dishes such as the desserts

schmoo torte Schmoo torte is a Canadian dessert. Although it is relatively popular and well-known nationwide, it is most famous in Western Canada, especially Manitoba. It is a torte with layered whipped cream, caramel, and nuts, commonly made using angel foo ...

and wafer pie. The Winnipeg Art Gallery is Western Canada's oldest public art gallery, founded in 1912. It is the sixth-largest in the country and includes the world's largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art. Since the late 1970s Winnipeg has also had an active

artist run centre An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...

culture.

Winnipeg's three largest performing arts venues, the

Centennial Concert Hall Centennial Concert Hall is a 2305-seat performing arts centre located at 555 Main Street in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, as part of the Manitoba Centennial Centre. The concert hall opened on March 25, 1968. It is the performing home of th ...

, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and the Pantages Playhouse Theatre, are downtown. The Royal Manitoba is Canada's oldest English-language regional theatre, with over 250 performances yearly. The Pantages Playhouse Theatre opened as a vaudeville house in 1913. Other city theatres include the Burton Cummings Theatre (a National Historic Site of Canada built in 1906) and

Prairie Theatre Exchange Prairie Theatre Exchange (PTE) is a professional theatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is located on the third floor of Portage Place mall in downtown Winnipeg. By the end of the 2016-17 season, PTE had presented 340 plays on its thrust stage ...

Le Cercle Molière Le Cercle Molière is a theatre company in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. History The theatre company has operated since 1925. Its activities include a four-play subscription season, a youth production that tours Manitoba schools, a high school th ...

, based in St Boniface, is Canada's oldest theatre company; it was founded in 1925.

Rainbow Stage Rainbow Stage is a not-for-profit musical theatre company and outdoor theatre operator, located in Kildonan Park in north Winnipeg, Manitoba. The covered amphitheatre seats up to 2,600 people and operates from May to September. History As urban p ...

is a musical theatre production company based in Kildonan Park that produces professional, live Broadway musical shows and is Canada's longest-surviving outdoor theatre. The

at The Forks is one of only two Theatres for Young Audiences in Canada with a permanent residence and the only Theatre for Young Audiences that offers a full season of plays for teenagers. The Winnipeg Jewish Theatre is the only professional theatre in Canada dedicated to Jewish themes.

Shakespeare in the Ruins Shakespeare in the Park is a term for outdoor festivals featuring productions of William Shakespeare's plays. The term originated with the New York Shakespeare Festival in New York City's Central Park, originally created by Joseph Papp. This conc ...

(SIR) presents adaptations of Shakespeare plays. Winnipeg has hosted numerous

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

productions: '' Shall We Dance?'' (2004), '' Capote'' (2005), '' The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'' (2007), and '' A Dog's Purpose'' (2017), among others were filmed in the city. The Winnipeg Film Group has produced numerous award-winning films. There are several TV and film production companies in Winnipeg: the most prominent are

Farpoint Films Farpoint Films is a television and film production company founded in 2000 by John Barnard and Kyle Bornais and based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They have produced more than 500 hours of national and international award winning television ...

, Frantic Films, Buffalo Gal Pictures, and

Les Productions Rivard Les Productions Rivard is an independent film and television production company based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was founded in 1995 by Louis Paquin and Charles Lavack. Together, their goal was to produce television and film productions in F ...

. Guy Maddin's '' My Winnipeg'', an independent film released in 2008, is a comedic rumination on the city's history. The_Canadian_Museum_for_Human_Rights_as_seen_from_The_Forks_Tower_02

The_Canadian_Museum_for_Human_Rights_as_seen_from_The_Forks_Tower_02

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra is the largest and oldest professional musical ensemble in Winnipeg. The

Manitoba Chamber Orchestra The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra (MCO) is a chamber orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It offers an annual subscription series at Westminster United Church, which regularly features Canada's leading soloists, such as James Ehnes and Meash ...

runs a series of chamber orchestral concerts each year.

Manitoba Opera Manitoba Opera is an opera company in Winnipeg, Manitoba that was founded in 1969. Its first production was a concert version of Giuseppe Verdi's ''Il Trovatore'' in 1972. Manitoba Opera is one of several western Canadian opera companies that f ...

is Manitoba's only full-time professional opera company. Among the most notable musical acts associated with Winnipeg are Bachman–Turner Overdrive, The Guess Who, Neil Young, The Weakerthans, the Crash Test Dummies,

Propagandhi Propagandhi is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by guitarist Chris Hannah and drummer Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and completed by bassist Todd Kowalski and guitari ...

, Bif Naked, and The Watchmen among many others. Winnipeg also has a significant place in Canadian jazz history, being the location of Canada's first jazz concert in 1914 at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet (RWB) is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. It was the first organization to be granted a

royal title Traditional rank amongst European royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to another's grand duke ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, and has included notable dancers such as Evelyn Hart and

Mikhail Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; lv, Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 28, 1948) is a Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Latvian-born R ...

. The RWB also runs a full-time classical dance school. The Manitoba Museum, the city's largest museum, depicts the history of the city and province. The full-size replica of the ship ''Nonsuch'' is the museum's showcase piece. The

is a nonprofit

children's museum Children's museums are institutions that provide exhibits and programs to stimulate informal learning experiences for children. In contrast with traditional museums that typically have a hands-off policy regarding exhibits, children's museums feat ...

at The Forks that features twelve permanent galleries. The

is the only Canadian

national museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...

for human rights and the only national museum west of Ottawa. The federal government contributed $100 million towards the estimated $311-million project. Construction of the museum began on 1 April 2008, and the museum opened to the public 27 September 2014. The

Western Canada Aviation Museum The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada (formerly the Western Canada Aviation Museum) is a museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The museum opened to the public in its new location on 21 May 2022. History The Western Canada Aviation Museum w ...

, in a hangar at Winnipeg's James Richardson International Airport, features military jets, commercial aircraft, Canada's first helicopter, the "flying saucer"

Avrocar The Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar was a VTOL aircraft developed by Avro Canada as part of a secret U.S. military project carried out in the early years of the Cold War. The Avrocar intended to exploit the Coandă effect to provide lift and thrust ...

, flight simulators, and a Black Brant rocket built in Manitoba by

Bristol Aerospace Bristol Aerospace is a Canadian aerospace firm located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and is an operating division of Magellan Aerospace. Today it is the only remaining and surviving subsidiary of Bristol Aeroplane Company. History Bristol Aerospace b ...

. The

Winnipeg Railway Museum The Winnipeg Railway Museum is a railway museum located on tracks 1 and 2 within the Via Rail-operated Union Station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Volunteers from the Midwestern Rail Association Inc., a non-profit organization founded in 1975, o ...

at Via Rail Station has a variety of locomotives, notably the ''

Countess of Dufferin The ''Countess of Dufferin'' was the first steam locomotive to operate in the Canadian prairie provinces and is named after Hariot Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, Countess of Dufferin (later Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava), the wife of the Earl of ...

'', the first

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

in Western Canada.

Festivals

Festival du Voyageur, Western Canada's largest winter festival, celebrates the early French explorers of the Red River Valley.

is the largest and longest-running cultural celebration festival in the world. The

and the Winnipeg Folk Festival both celebrate Winnipeg's music community. The Winnipeg Music Festival offers a competition venue to amateur musicians. The

is the second-largest

alternative theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...

festival in North America. The Winnipeg International Writers Festival (also called THIN AIR) brings writers to Winnipeg for workshops and readings. The LGBT community in the city is served by

Pride Winnipeg Pride Winnipeg Festival is a 10-day LGBT pride festival, held annually in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.gay pride festival and parade, and Reel Pride, a film festival of LGBT-themed films.

Sports

Winnipeg has been home to several professional hockey teams. The Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League (NHL) have called the city home since 2011. The original Winnipeg Jets, the city's former NHL team, left for Phoenix, Arizona after the 1995–96 season due to mounting financial troubles, despite a campaign effort to "Save the Jets". The Jets play at Canada Life Centre, which is ranked the world's 19th-busiest arena among non-sporting touring events, 13th-busiest among facilities in North America, and 3rd-busiest in Canada as of 2009. MTS_CENTRE_b

Past hockey teams based in Winnipeg include the Winnipeg Maroons,

Winnipeg Warriors The Winnipeg Warriors were a junior ice hockey team that played in the Western Hockey League. They were founded as an expansion team in 1980, but suffered from attendance problems competing with the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League and ...

, three time Stanley Cup Champion Winnipeg Victorias and the

Winnipeg Falcons The Winnipeg Falcons were a senior men's amateur ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Winnipeg Falcons won the 1920 Allan Cup. That team went on to represent Canada in the Ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics, 1920 Olympic games he ...

, who were the first ever Gold Medal Olympians, representing Canada in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. Another professional ice hockey team in Winnipeg is the Manitoba Moose, the American Hockey League primary affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets that are owned by the same group . On the international stage, Winnipeg has hosted national and world hockey championships on a number of occasions, most notably the 1999 World Junior Hockey Championship and 2007 Women's World Hockey Championship. In 2019, the Western Hockey League returned to Winnipeg after a long absence with the Kootenay Ice relocating as the

Winnipeg Ice The Winnipeg Ice (officially stylized as ICE) are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The team began competing in the Western Hockey League (WHL) in the 2019–20 WHL season, and plays home games at the Wayne ...

. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers play in the Canadian Football League. They are twelve-time

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

champions, their last championship in 2021. From 1953 to 2012, the Blue Bombers called Canad Inns Stadium home; they have since moved to IG Field. Due to construction delays and cost overruns, the stadium was not ready for the 2012 CFL season, instead opening in 2013. The $200-million facility is also the home to U Sports' University of Manitoba Bisons and the

Winnipeg Rifles The Winnipeg Rifles are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Rifles are members of the Canadian Junior Football League and play their home games in Maple Grove Park. History Junior football in Winnipeg dates back to the 19 ...

of the

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Major Junior Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to profess ...

. The University of Manitoba

Bisons Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Amer ...

and the University of Winnipeg Wesmen represent the city in university-level sports. In soccer, it is represented by both Valour FC in the new Canadian Premier League and

WSA Winnipeg FC Manitoba is a Canadian soccer team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system. The club was founded in 2010 as WSA Winnipeg. In 2020, the club was acquired by a n ...

in the USL League Two. Winnipeg has been home to several professional baseball teams, most recently the Winnipeg Goldeyes since 1994. The Goldeyes play at

, which was completed in 1999. The team had led the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

for ten straight years in average attendance through 2010, with more than 300,000 annual fan visits, until the league collapsed and merged into the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. Winnipeg was the first Canadian city to host the

, and the second city to host the event twice, in

and again in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

. The

Pan Am Pool The Pan Am Pool is an indoor swimming facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada built for the 1967 Pan American Games. It is located in southwest Winnipeg and consists of three pools: two are used for competitive swimming and one is a children's " ...

, built for the 1967 Pan Am Games, hosts aquatic events, including diving, speed swimming,

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

and water polo. Winnipeg co-hosted the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

Local media

Winnipeg has two daily newspapers: the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

'' and the ''

Winnipeg Sun The ''Winnipeg Sun'' is a daily tabloid newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia following its acquisition of Sun Media, and shares many characteristics typical of Sun tabloids, including an emphasis on local news sto ...

''. There are also several ethnic weekly newspapers. Radio broadcasting in Winnipeg began in 1922; by 1923, government-owned

CKY CKY may refer to: * CKY (band), American rock band, formerly "Camp Kill Yourself" ** ''CKY'' (video series), named after the band **CKY crew, people involved in the video series and related projects *CKY-DT, a television station in Winnipeg, Manito ...

held a monopoly position that lasted until after the Second World War. Winnipeg is home to 33 AM and FM radio stations, two of which are

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

stations. CBC Radio One and

CBC Radio 2 CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

broadcast local and national programming in the city. NCI is devoted to Indigenous programming. Television broadcasting in Winnipeg started in 1954. The federal government refused to license any private broadcaster until the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation had created a national network. In May 1954, CBWT went on the air with four hours of broadcasting per day. There are now five English-language stations and one French-language station based in Winnipeg. Additionally, some American network affiliates are available over-the-air.

Law and government

Since 1992, the city of Winnipeg has been represented by 15 city councillors and a mayor, both elected every four years. The present mayor, Scott Gillingham, was first elected to office in 2022. The city is a single-tier municipality, governed by a mayor-council system. The structure of the municipal government is set by the provincial legislature in the City of Winnipeg Charter Act, which replaced the old City of Winnipeg Act in 2003.The City of Winnipeg Charter Act
. S.M. 2002, c. 39. Bill 39, 3rd Session, 37th Legislature. Manitoba Laws. The mayor is elected by direct popular vote to serve as the chief executive of the city. At Council meetings, the mayor has one of 16 votes. The city governance functions off the "strong-mayor" model which allows for a "two tiered system" or voting block between the councilors who are on or not on the Executive Policy Committee. The City Council is a unicameral legislative body, representing geographical

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

throughout the city. In provincial politics, Winnipeg is represented by 32 of the 57 provincial Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in the

42nd Manitoba Legislature The 42nd Manitoba Legislature was created following a general election in 2019. The Progressive Conservative Party, led by Brian Pallister, formed a majority government after winning a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. ...

. As of 2019, Winnipeg districts are represented by 15 members of the Progressive Conservative Party, 14 by the

(NDP), and 3 by the Liberal Party. Lesislaturemb

In federal politics, as of 2019 Winnipeg is represented by eight Members of Parliament: four Liberals, two Conservatives and two New Democrat. There are five Senators representing Manitoba in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

(plus one seat vacant as of April 2021).

Crime

From 2007 to 2011, Winnipeg was the "murder capital" of Canada, with the highest per-capita rate of

homicide Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...

s; as of 2019 it is in second place, behind Thunder Bay. Winnipeg had the 13-highest violent crime index in Canada, and the highest robbery rate. Winnipeg was the "violent crime capital" of Canada in 2020 according to the Statistics Canada police-reported violent crime severity index. Despite high overall violent crime rates, crime in Winnipeg is mostly concentrated in the inner city, which makes up only 19% of the population but was the site of 86.4% of the city's shootings, 66.5% of the robberies, 63.3% of the homicides and 59.5% of the sexual assaults in 2012. From the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, Winnipeg had a significant auto-theft problem, with the rate peaking at 2,165.0 per 100,000 residents in 2006 compared to 487 auto-thefts per 100,000 residents for Canada as a whole. To combat auto theft,

Manitoba Public Insurance Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation (MPI; french: Société d'assurance publique du Manitoba) is the non-profit Crown corporation which administers public auto insurance, motor vehicle registration, and driver licensing in Manitoba. Established ...

established financial incentives for motor vehicle owners to install ignition immobilizers in their vehicles, and now requires owners of high-risk vehicles to install immobilizers. These initiatives resulted in an 80% decrease in auto thefts between 2006 and 2011. As of 2018, the

Winnipeg Police Service The Winnipeg Police Service is the police force of the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. History When Winnipeg became a city, in 1873, an election was held to select the city's new mayor and aldermen. Those appointed decided to hire city o ...

had 1,914 police officers, which is one officer per 551 city residents, and cost taxpayers $290,564,015. In November 2013, the national police union reviewed the Winnipeg Police Force and found high average response times for several categories of calls. In 2017, the city started to deal with an increasingly large

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

problem, fuelling violent crime.

Education

Winnipeg has seven school divisions:

Winnipeg School Division The Winnipeg School Division is a school division in Winnipeg, Manitoba. With 78 schools, it is the largest of six public school divisions in Winnipeg, as well as the largest and oldest school division in Manitoba. Its schools collectively tea ...

St. James-Assiniboia School Division St. James-Assiniboia School Division (SJASD) is a school division in the St. James-Assiniboia area of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Schools There are 26 schools in the division: 15 elementary, six middle, and four high schools. Six of these schools offe ...

Pembina Trails School Division Pembina Trails School Division is a school division serving the southwest communities of Winnipeg, Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of So ...

, Seven Oaks School Division, Division Scolaire Franco-Manitobaine,

River East Transcona School Division River East Transcona School Division (RETSD) is a school division located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As the second largest school division in the province, it is composed of parts of what used to be two separate divisions that merged in 2002: the urba ...

, and

Louis Riel School Division The Louis Riel School Division (LRSD; , DSL-R) is a school division in Winnipeg, Manitoba, offering English language, English-language and French immersion, French-immersion education to its students. It was broadly formed in 1998 with the volun ...

. Winnipeg also has several religious and secular private schools. The University of Manitoba is the largest university in Manitoba. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada's first university. In a typical year, the university has 26,500 undergraduate students and 3,800 graduate students. Université de Saint-Boniface is the city's only

university. The University of Winnipeg received its charter in 1967. Until 2007, it was an undergraduate institution that offered some joint graduate studies programs; it now offers independent

graduate programs Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

. The Canadian Mennonite University is a private Mennonite undergraduate university established in 1999. Winnipeg also has two independent colleges:

Red River College Polytechnic Red River College Polytechnic (RRC Polytech) is a college located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the province's largest institute of applied learning and applied research, with over 200 degree, diploma, and certificate programs, and more ...

and

Booth University College Booth University College (Booth UC or BUC)—incorporated as the Salvation Army William and Catherine Booth University College—is a private, Christian liberal arts university college located in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is affilia ...

. Red River College offers diploma, certificate, and apprenticeship programs and, starting in 2009, began offering some degree programs. Booth University College is a private Christian

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

university college established in 1982. It offers mostly arts and seminary training.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Winnipeg has had public transit since 1882, starting with horse-drawn streetcars. They were replaced by electric trolley cars. The trolley cars ran from 1892 to 1955, supplemented by motor

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es after 1918, and electric trolleybuses from 1938 to 1970. Winnipeg Transit now runs diesel buses on its routes. Union Station Winnipeg - Main St entrance

Union Station Winnipeg - Main St entrance

Winnipeg is a railway hub and is served by Via Rail at Union Station for passenger rail, and

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 ...

, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Manitoba, and the Central Manitoba Railway for

freight rail Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...

. It is the only major city between Vancouver and Thunder Bay with direct US connections by rail. Winnipeg is the largest and best connected city within Manitoba, and has highways leading in all directions from the city. To the south, Winnipeg is connected to the United States via Provincial Trunk Highway 75 (PTH 75) (a continuation of I-29 and US 75, known as Pembina Highway or Route 42 within Winnipeg). The highway runs to

Emerson, Manitoba Emerson is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district in south central Manitoba, Canada, located within the Municipality of Emerson – Franklin. It has a population of 678 as of the 2016 Canada census. Location and transpor ...

, and is the busiest

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...

crossing on the Prairies. The four-lane

Perimeter Highway Provincial Trunk Highways (PTH) 100 and 101, collectively known as the Perimeter Highway, form a beltway around the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Perimeter Highway is approximately in length and serves as a ring road around Winnipeg ...

, built in 1969, serves as a

Ring Road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop, bypass or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist i ...

, with

at-grade intersection An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections a ...

s and a few interchanges. It allows travellers on the Trans-Canada Highway to bypass the city. The Trans-Canada Highway runs east to west through the city (city route), or circles around the city on the Perimeter Highway (beltway). Some of the city's major arterial roads include Route 80 (Waverley St.), Route 155 (McGillivray Blvd), Route 165 (Bishop Grandin Blvd.), Route 17 (Chief Peguis Trail), and Route 90 (Brookside Blvd., Oak Point Hwy., King Edward St., Century St., Kenaston Blvd.). Winnipeg_International_Airport_arrivals_hall

Winnipeg_International_Airport_arrivals_hall

The

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport or Winnipeg Airport) is a Transport Canada designated international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh b ...

completed a $585-million redevelopment in October 2011. The development brought a new terminal, a four-level parking facility, and other infrastructure improvements.

Winnipeg Bus Terminal The Winnipeg Bus Terminal was an intercity bus station, located beside the Winnipeg International Airport. History Union Bus Depot The Union Bus Depot was constructed in the 1930s, opened on December 12, 1936, and operated out of 264 Har ...

, at Winnipeg International Airport, previously served by Greyhound Canada (through its subsidiary

Grey Goose Bus Lines Grey Goose Bus Lines was a subsidiary of Greyhound Canada operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba. History 1924-1934 Brown Brothers Bus Line John (Jack) Smith started a bus service between Winnipeg and Carman. 1934-1961 Grey Goose Bus L ...

), Winnipeg Shuttle Service and Brandon Air Shuttle. Since Greyhound's exit from Western Canada, very few remaining routes still serve the terminal. Approximately of land to the north and west of the airport has been designated as an inland port, CentrePort Canada, and is Canada's first

Foreign Trade Zone A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to cust ...

. It is a private sector initiative to develop the infrastructure for Manitoba's trucking, air, rail and sea industries. In 2009, construction began on a $212-million four-lane freeway to connect CentrePort with the Perimeter Highway. Named CentrePort Canada Way, it opened in November 2013. Several taxi companies serve Winnipeg, the largest being Unicity, Duffy's Taxi and Spring Taxi. Ride sharing was legalized in March 2018 and several services including TappCar and Cowboy Taxi operate in Winnipeg. Cycling is popular in Winnipeg, and there are many bicycle trails and lanes around the city. Winnipeg holds an annual

Bike-to-Work Day Bike to Work Day is an annual event that promotes the bicycle as an option for commuting to work (bicycle commuting). It is held in the Spring in a variety of locations including the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia. Bike Week is the week t ...

and Cyclovia, and bicycle commuters may be seen year-round, even in the winter. Active living infrastructure in Winnipeg includes

bike lanes Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor v ...

and

sharrows A shared lane marking, shared-lane marking, or sharrow is a street marking installed at various locations worldwide, such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Spain, and the United States. This marking is placed in the travel lane to indicate where ...

Medical centres and hospitals

Winnipeg's major hospitals include

Health Sciences Centre Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

Concordia Hospital Concordia Hospital is a regional hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba that was founded in 1928, and has a primary service area with a population exceeding 150,000. Between April 2011 and March 2012, Concordia Hospital provided 1,507 hip and knee surge ...

, Deer Lodge Centre, Grace Hospital,

Saint Boniface General Hospital Saint Boniface Hospital (french: Hôpital Saint-Boniface; also called St. B; previously called the Saint-Boniface General Hospital) is Manitoba's second-largest hospital, located in the Saint Boniface neighbourhood of Winnipeg. Founded by the Si ...

Seven Oaks General Hospital Seven Oaks General Hospital (SOGH) is a community hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was founded in 1981 by community leaders and approved by the province of Manitoba to serve the needs of the northern part of Winnipeg and surrounding a ...

Victoria General Hospital Victoria General Hospital (VGH) is an acute care facility located in View Royal, British Columbia, Canada, a western suburb of Victoria. VGH provides emergency, general surgery and medical treatment services. It is one of two acute-care hospital ...

, and The Children's Hospital of Winnipeg. The National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg is one of only a handful of biosafety level 4 microbiology laboratories in the world. The NML houses laboratories of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease collocated in the same facility. Research facilities are also operated through hospitals and private biotechnology companies in the city.

Utilities

Water and sewage services are provided by the city. The city draws its water via an aqueduct from Shoal Lake, treating and fluoridating it at the Deacon Reservoir just outside the city prior to pumping it into the Winnipeg system. The city's system has over of underground water mains, which are subject to breakage due to corrosion and pressure from extreme dry, wet, or cold soil conditions. Electricity and natural gas are provided by Manitoba Hydro, a provincial

crown corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

headquartered in the city; it uses primarily

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

power. The primary telecommunications carrier is Bell MTS, although other corporations offer telephone, cellular, television and internet services. Winnipeg contracts out several services to private companies, including garbage and recycling collection and street plowing and snow removal. This practice represents a significant budget expenditure. The services have faced numerous complaints from residents about missed service.

Military

Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg , (CFB Winnipeg) is a Royal Canadian Air Force base located within the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Co-located at the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, CFB Winnipeg is home to many flight opera ...

, co-located at the airport, is home to many flight operations support divisions and several training schools. It is also the headquarters of

1 Canadian Air Division , colors = Blue, green, yellow, and silver , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = , ...

and the Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Region, as well as the home base of 17 Wing of the Canadian Forces. The Wing comprises three squadrons and six schools; it also provides support to the Central Flying School. Excluding the three levels of government, 17 Wing is the fourth largest employer in the city. The Wing supports 113 units, stretching from Thunder Bay to the Saskatchewan– Alberta border, and from the 49th parallel to the high Arctic. 17 Wing also acts as a deployed operating base for

CF-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet (official military designation CF-188) is a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) variant of the American McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet fighter aircraft. In 1980, the F/A-18 was selected as the winner of the New ...

fighter-bombers A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, w ...

assigned to the Canadian NORAD Region. There are two squadrons based in the city. The 402 "City of Winnipeg" Squadron flies the Canadian-designed and produced de Havilland CT-142 Dash 8 navigation trainer. The 435 "Chinthe" Transport and Rescue Squadron flies the Lockheed

CC-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...

in airlift

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

roles. In addition, 435 Squadron is the only Royal Canadian Air Force squadron equipped and trained to conduct tactical

air-to-air refuelling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

. There are several units of the Canadian Army Primary Reserve based in Winnipeg. These include The Royal Winnipeg Rifles, The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, 38 Service Battalion, 38 Combat Engineer Regiment, 38 Signal Regiment, and The Fort Garry Horse.

HMCS Chippawa HMCS ''Chippawa'' is a Royal Canadian Navy Reserve Division (NRD) located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Dubbed a stone frigate, HMCS ''Chippawa'' is a land-based naval establishment for part-time sailors as well as a local recruitment centre for the R ...

is a Royal Canadian Navy reserve division in Winnipeg. For many years, Winnipeg was the home of the Second Battalion of

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI, generally referred to as the Patricia's) is one of the three Regular Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army of the Canadian Armed Forces. Formed in 1914, it is named for Princess Patrici ...

. Initially, the battalion was based at the Fort Osborne Barracks, now the location of the Rady Jewish Community Centre. They eventually moved to the Kapyong Barracks between River Heights and Tuxedo. Since 2004, the battalion has operated out of CFB Shilo near Brandon.

References

Notes

External links

* * * {{Authority control, suppress=MBAREA Cities in Manitoba District of Keewatin Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Populated places established in 1738

Etymology

History

Early history

Modern history (1900–present)

Geography

Climate

Cityscape

Demographics

Economy

Culture

Festivals

Sports

Local media

Law and government

Crime

Education

Infrastructure

Transportation

Medical centres and hospitals

Utilities

Military

See also

References

Notes

Further reading

External links