Watrous Saskatchewan Grain Elevator 2010

Watrous is a town in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

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 ...

. It is east of

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

and has an economy that is based on agriculture and tourism because of its proximity to Manitou Beach, home of the Mineral Spa and Danceland dance Hall (known as the "Home of the World Famous Dance Floor Built on Horsehair"). Watrous was named after Frank Watrous Morse. The town has several restaurants, a hospital, medical clinic, elementary school, high school, community college, bowling alley, RCMP detachment, banks, a grocery store, and motels. Watrous is notable for being the location of the transmitter of CBK,

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

's primary station in Saskatchewan. The transmitter was originally located at Watrous in 1939 in order to cover most of the

Prairie Provinces The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

with a strong nighttime signal (the station, then as now, is a 50,000-watt

clear-channel station A clear-channel station is a North American AM radio station that has the highest level of protection from interference from other stations, particularly from nighttime skywave signals. This classification exists to ensure the viability of cross ...

). It was also intended to serve most of the province's populated area, including Regina and Saskatoon, from one transmitter. While Watrous is the station's

city of licence In U.S., Canadian, and Mexican broadcasting, a city of license or community of license is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator. In North American broadcast ...

, its actual studios are located in Regina. The Watrous transmitter is still considered the station's primary signal, even though both of the larger urban areas are now served by separate FM rebroadcasters.

History

The All Saints Anglican church on Main Street has a stained glass window that could be over 500 years old. The window may have come from St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Latton, Wiltshire, England.

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 ...

, Watrous 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.

Transportation

The town is serviced by the Watrous Airport and

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

's ''

The Canadian ''The Canadian'' () is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Pacific introduced this serv ...

'' serves the former Watrous railway station site as a flag stop three times per week (in each direction).

Sports and recreation

The Jubilee Drive-In Theatre in Manitou Beach is open from the

Victoria Day Victoria Day () is a federal Canadian public holiday observed on the last Monday preceding May 25 to honour Queen Victoria, who is known as the "Mother of Confederation". The holiday has existed in Canada since at least 1845, originally on Vic ...

weekend until October. It is one of the few drive-ins still operating in Saskatchewan. The others include the Prairie Dog Drive-in in Carlyle, the Clearwater Drive-In in Kyle, the Moonlight Movies Drive-in in Pilot Butte, and the Twilite Drive-In Theater in Wolseley. The Watrous Winterhawks of the Long Lake Hockey League play at the Watrous Centennial Arena. Watrous also has a curling rink, bowling, golfing, swimming, ball diamonds, and a soccer pitch.

Climate

Watrous has a humid continental climate (Dfb on climate maps). It has very cold winters that give way to warm summers. The average daily mean temperature is 2.3°C while the record low is -43°C and the record high is 39.5°C.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Towns in Saskatchewan Division No. 11, Saskatchewan