Berens River is a community in

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

, Canada, along the eastern shore of

Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg () is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Its southern end is about north of the city of Winnipeg. Lake Winnipeg is Canada's sixth-largest freshwater lake and the third- ...

, at the mouth of the Berens River, which flows west from the

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

headwaters. Together with the adjacent Berens River 13 reserve, it forms one a population centre collectively called Berens River. Both are served by the Berens River Airport. Prior to 2017, the community was accessible only by

winter road A winter road is a seasonal road only usable during the winter, i.e. it has to be re-built every year. This road typically runs over land and over frozen lakes, rivers, swamps, and sea ice. Segments of a winter road that cross an expanse of flo ...

, boat, or airplane. Road construction of an all-weather road from Bloodvein, connecting Berens River to the provincial road system, was completed in December 2017, linking the two communities to Provincial Road 304. The First Nation and fur trade community there was officially started in the 19th century, but the spot was a traditional hunting and fishing area for thousands of years.

History

The first

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

(HBC) fur-trade post at the mouth of the Berens River was established in the winter of 1814, which was named after Joseph Berens, HBC governor from 1812 to 1822 (it was also spelled as Beren's River and Berings River). This post lasted only 2 years. It was reestablished as an outpost of the HBC post at the Pigeon River in 1821. In the fall of 1824, it became a full post again. In 1842, a new warehouse was built and the post served as a

transshipment Transshipment, trans-shipment or transhipment is the shipment of goods or containers to an intermediate destination, then to another destination. One possible reason for transshipment is to change the means of transport during the journey (e.g. ...

point and to protect the trade at Little Grand Rapids, located about upstream of the Berens River. In the 1930s, the Berens River Post operated an outpost at Poplar River. In 1959, the post became part of the HBC Northern Stores Department. HBC divested this department in 1987 to The North West Company, which still operates a Northern Store in Berens River First Nation.

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; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Berens River had a population of 71 living in 21 of its 47 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 135. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. According to the 2011 Canada Census, the bordering Berens River 13 reserve of the Berens River First Nation had a population of 1,028.

Climate

Berens River experiences a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(''Dfb''). The highest temperature ever recorded in Berens River was on 11 July 1936. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 28 December 1933.

References

{{Authority control Designated places in Manitoba Northern communities in Manitoba Hudson's Bay Company trading posts in Manitoba