Estevan is the eleventh-largest city in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. It is approximately north of the

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

. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5.

History

The first settlers in what was to become Estevan arrived in 1892, along with the expansion of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

. It was incorporated as a village in 1899, and later became a town in 1906. On March 1, 1957, Estevan acquired the status of a city, which, in Saskatchewan terms, is any community of 5,000 or more. The name origin is attributed to George Stephen's registered

telegraphic address A telegraphic address or cable address was a unique identifier code for a recipient of telegraph messages. Operators of telegraph services regulated the use of telegraphic addresses to prevent duplication. Rather like a uniform resource locator ...

, ''Estevan''. George Stephen was the first President of the Canadian Pacific Railway, from 1881 to 1888.

World War I military unit

On December 22, 1915, the 152nd (Weyburn-Estevan) Battalion, CEF was authorised and recruited men from the area before departing to Great Britain on October 3, 1916.

1931 riot

Estevan was the site of the notorious Estevan riot in 1931. Although most of the strikers were from nearby Bienfait, the strike is associated with Estevan because it was in this city the demonstrators were met by members of the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

. After the subsequent riot, which lasted 45 minutes, three strikers lay dead. It was later proven the three miners had been killed by the RCMP. The miners had been organised by the Workers' Unity League.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population 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 ...

, Estevan 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.

Ethnicity

Economy

The major industries in Estevan are

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

, power generation at nearby

Boundary Dam Power Station Boundary Dam Power Station is the largest coal fired station owned by SaskPower, located near Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada. Description The Boundary Dam Power Station consists of two 62 net MW units (commissioned in 1959, shut down and decom ...

and Shand Power Station,

oil and gas A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologi ...

, and agriculture.

Arts and culture

Museums and galleries

The city of Estevan has two museums, one of which is primarily a gallery. The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, formerly the Estevan National Exhibition Centre, was founded in 1978. The Estevan Art Gallery is a free public gallery that showcases contemporary art. The Gallery's permanent collection includes woodblock-print works by Andrew King. The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, EAGM, also features the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian paramilitary police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to ...

Wood End Post Historical Site, NWMP Museum. This museum is in a house which is the oldest-known North-West Mounted Police Detachment Post in Saskatchewan and holds a collection related to the North-West Mounted Police and the 1874 March West from

Roche Percee Roche Percee (2021 Canadian census, 2021 population: ) is a village in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the RM of Coalfields No. 4 and Division No. 1, Saskatchewan, Census Division No. 1. The vi ...

to Estevan. The Souris Valley Museum, SVM, is a local and regional history museum focused on human development and daily life within south-east Saskatchewan. It was founded in 2001, primarily from the collection of Stan Durr. The museum provides an engaging depiction of the social and cultural influences and economic development of south-east Saskatchewan. The collection includes the Schneller Schoolhouse, a Threshing Cook Car, a Homesteader Shack, two of Estevan's original Firetrucks, and a Heritage Mining Display.

Arts council

The Estevan Arts Council, founded in 1967, is a non-profit organisation that offers art classes and workshops, adjudicates art shows, hosts concerts, and provides a youth art scholarships through the work of volunteers and community donations and grants.

Sports

Affinity Place is a 2,650 seat Multi-Purpose Entertainment and Sports Facility that was built to supplement the two other ageing ice surfaces in Estevan, the Civic Auditorium and Lignite Miners Centre. It opened on 15 April 2011. Affinity Place is home to the Estevan Bruins, a junior

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team playing in the

Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Open to North American-born players 20 years o ...

(SJHL), and the Midget AAA Estevan Bears. Affinity Place also has a

Racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase vel ...

court, swimming pool, and a

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

. Right next to Affinity Place is the Estevan Curling Club. The nine-team Saskota Baseball League has two teams in Estevan, the Southeast Diamondbacks and the Estevan Tap House Wolves. A former Estevan team, the Estevan Bears, played in the Big 6 Hockey League. They won the Lincoln Trophy three straight years from 1985 to 1987.

CJSL CJSL is a Canadian radio station licensed to Estevan, Saskatchewan, and serves the southeastern portion of the province. CJSL broadcasts a classic hits radio format, format. The station is currently owned by Golden West Broadcasting, which also ...

AM 1150 broadcasts many Big 6 hockey games. The Estevan Motor Speedway hosts regular stock car races in the summer. It’s the only racetrack in Canada certified by the

International Motor Contest Association The International Motor Contest Association (IMCA) was organized in 1915 by J. Alex Sloan, and is the oldest active auto racing sanctioning body in the United States. IMCA is headquartered in Vinton, Iowa, and features several classes and ...

(IMCA). The city's only high school, Estevan Comprehensive School, offers athletics in a range of sports including football, volleyball and basketball.

Climate

Estevan has 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 ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

'' Dfb'') It falls into the NRC Plant Hardiness Zone 4a. Estevan's climate is characterized by cold, long, and dry winters with warm, short and, relatively humid summers. The mean temperature in January, the coldest month, is . The precipitation in winter is chiefly snow, averaging . The spring is a short transitional season, with a mean temperature of and of precipitation, with significant snowfall in April. The summer is usually warm (the mean average high temperature is (average high in July, the warmest month, is and humid ( of total precipitation). Autumn, as spring, is transitional, being warm in September and cooler in October and November. At this time of the year, the average temperature is and the total precipitation is . Estevan is the sunniest city year-round in Canada, and it is also the city with the clearest skies year round in Canada. The highest temperature ever recorded in Estevan was on 5 July 1936, and 5 July 1937. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 11 January 1916, and 16 February 1936.

Gallery

File:Estevan City Hall.jpg, City hall File:20161210 151014 v3.jpg, A downtown street in the winter File:Estevan Court House.jpg, The law court File:DP8 6384.jpg, Highway 47 going into Estevan File:Estevan Water Tower.jpg, Water tower

Local media

Newspapers

* ''The Estevan Mercury'', the newspaper in Estevan since 1903, provided weekly distribution to every household in the city free of charge until 2025, when it ceased publication. The outlet continues to provide local information through its online affiliate
Sasktoday.ca
It also had a free TMC newspaper circulated throughout southeast Saskatchewan to over 9,000 homes; the ''Southeast Trader Express''. * ''Pipeline News, Saskatchewan Petroleum Monthly'' newspaper is also based out of Estevan. Southeast Saskatchewan has a significant amount of oil production, and the Pipeline News' main office is situated locally to report on these matters. * ''Estevan Lifestyles'' is a free circulation weekly publication that shares the stories of the people in the Estevan area and the southeast corner of Saskatchewan. The publication also publishes ''NewsBreak'', a daily coffee paper geared towards lighter reading.Estevan Lifestyles
. Sasklifestyles.com. Retrieved on 2015-12-13.

Radio

AM 1150, CHSN-FM 102.3, and CKSE-FM 106.1 all broadcast from studios on 5th Street in Estevan. *The news website DiscoverEstevan.com is also run by the radio station offering local news, weather, and sports. All are owned by

Golden West Broadcasting Golden West Broadcasting Ltd. is a Canadian radio and digital media company based in Altona, Manitoba. It is the largest independent radio broadcaster in Canada. The company primarily operates small-market radio stations and internet portals in ...

Notable residents

* Blair Atcheynum,

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) player * Dave Batters, politician * Dennis Cooley, poet * Kimbi Daniels, hockey player * Ana Egge, folk singer/songwriter * Mina Forsyth, artist * Eric Grimson, computer scientist, educator * Chris Henderson, musician * Howard Hilstrom, politician * Andrew David Irvine, playwright * Todd Kerns, musician * Ross King, author *

Bill Knight William George Knight (born October 24, 1947) is a former senior executive and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada. Knight was born in Estevan, Saskatchewan. A teacher by profession, Knight was first elected as a New D ...

, politician * Ed Komarnicki, politician * Eli Mandel, poet *

Fred Mandel Frederick Lawrence Mandel is a Canadian session musician, keyboard player and guitarist. Career Born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Mandel started playing the piano at four and picked up the guitar aged eight. Growing up in an Orthodox Jewish h ...

, session musician * Punch McLean, hockey coach * Gerald McLellan, Saskatchewan ombudsman * Al Nicholson, hockey player * Brayden Pachal, NHL player * Derrick Pouliot, NHL player * Arnold Richardson, curler * Andy Shauf, musician * Kim Thorson, lawyer and politician * Blaine Thurier, musician and film producer

References

Notes

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Saskatchewan Mining communities in Saskatchewan Populated places established in 1892 1892 establishments in the Northwest Territories