Winnipeg << WIHN uh `PEHG` >> is the capital of Manitoba and one of Canada’s largest cities. It is Canada’s main grain market and one of the nation’s leading centers of culture, finance, and trade. About 835,000 people, more than half of Manitoba’s population, live in the Winnipeg metropolitan area.
Winnipeg lies about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of the Canadian-United States border and almost midway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Its central location makes it the chief transportation center linking eastern and western Canada. It is also a principal distribution point for goods traveling west from eastern Canada. The city was named after Lake Winnipeg, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) to the north. The word Winnipeg comes from the Cree term win-nipi, meaning muddy water. Winnipeg’s nickname is Gateway to the West.
The city
lies at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. Main Street, once an important settlers’ trail, is Winnipeg’s chief north-south street. Portage Avenue, the beginning of the old overland route to Edmonton, Alberta, is the main east-west street. The 42-story 300 Main building, Winnipeg’s tallest structure, rises 466 feet (142 meters) near the intersection of Main Street and Portage Avenue. The city’s chief public buildings are in the nearby Civic Centre. The Manitoba Legislative Building stands on the Mall in a park on the north bank of the Assiniboine River. Winnipeg’s metropolitan area ranks as one of Canada’s largest metropolitan areas in population.
The people.
About 75 percent of Winnipeg’s people were born in Canada. Most are of mixed European ancestry. About one-third of the city’s people have British ancestors. The next largest ethnic groups are French people, Germans, and Ukrainians. Many First Nations people and Métis (people with both First Nations and European ancestry) also live in the city. In addition, Winnipeg is home to immigrants from Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America.
Economy.
Winnipeg lies in a rich grain-growing region. The CWB (Canadian Wheat Board) and many grain companies have their main offices in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg is also an important transportation center. A number of major nationwide trucking companies have their headquarters there. Canada’s two transcontinental rail networks—the Canadian National Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway—connect Winnipeg with Canada’s other major cities and many U.S. cities. The Trans-Canada Highway and Manitoba’s main highways pass through Winnipeg. Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport is one of the busiest airports in Canada. Important products made by Winnipeg area factories include aerospace equipment, clothing, electronics, farm machinery, furniture, processed foods, and transportation equipment. The Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg supplies all Canadian coins in circulation and also coins money for foreign countries without their own mints.
Education.
Winnipeg’s public school system is split into several divisions, each supervised by a separate school board. The Manitoba provincial government oversees Winnipeg’s public schools. Local property taxes provide the chief source of revenue for public schools. The provincial government also provides some funding for the schools. The city also has a number of parochial (church-controlled) and private schools and colleges.
Winnipeg has two large English-language universities: the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba, founded in 1877. The University of St. Boniface is a French-language postsecondary school in Winnipeg.
Cultural life.
Winnipeg is one of Canada’s chief cultural centers. The world-famous Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and the Manitoba Opera perform in the Centennial Concert Hall. The hall is part of the Manitoba Centennial Centre, which also includes the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Manitoba Museum, and a planetarium. The Winnipeg Art Gallery—Qaumajuq includes a large collection of contemporary Inuit art. The city is also home to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Mennonite Heritage Centre, and the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies. Each summer, Winnipeg hosts the Winnipeg Folk Festival.
A public library system operates branches throughout the city. The Millennium Library is the main branch. The city has two daily newspapers, the Winnipeg Free Press and The Winnipeg Sun. Both French- and English-language television stations serve Winnipeg. The city also has a multilanguage radio station.
Winnipeg has numerous parks, squares, and athletic fields. Assiniboine Park, covering about 1,100 acres (450 hectares), is the largest park. It includes beautiful gardens, a zoo, and the Assiniboine Forest, a 700-acre (280-hectare) nature preserve. Winnipeg has a professional football team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League, and a professional hockey team, the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League.
Ross House, western Canada’s first post office, is in downtown Winnipeg. It opened in 1855. Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site, north of Winnipeg, has the only stone fur-trading post still standing in North America. The post dates from the 1830’s. The Exchange District in downtown Winnipeg is one of Canada’s best-preserved historic neighborhoods.
Government.
Winnipeg has a mayor-council government. The voters in each city ward (voting area) elect one councilor to the city council. The councilors serve four-year terms. The voters also elect a mayor to a four-year term as administrative head of the government. A chief administrative officer advises the council and supervises various government operations. Property taxes provide over half of Winnipeg’s revenue.
History.
Assiniboine and Cree First Nations people lived in what is now the Winnipeg area for thousands of years before the first white settlers arrived. In 1738, Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de La Vérendrye, a French-Canadian fur trader, became the first white person to reach what is now Winnipeg. He built Fort Rouge at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers and traded for furs with the First Nations people.
During the early 1800’s, the Winnipeg area became the center of fur-trade rivalry between the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1812, Scottish and Irish farmers set up the area’s first permanent settlement along the Red River (see Manitoba (The Red River Colony)). The Hudson’s Bay Company absorbed its chief rival in 1821. That year, the company enlarged Fort Gibraltar, a post at the site of present-day Winnipeg, and renamed it Fort Garry. It rebuilt the fort in 1835 and called it Upper Fort Garry. A trading post north of Winnipeg was known as Lower Fort Garry. Upper Fort Garry became the center of the Red River settlement.
In 1870, Manitoba became a province in the Dominion of Canada. The Red River settlement was renamed Winnipeg that year, and it became the capital of the new province. It was incorporated as a city in 1873. By then, it had about 1,900 people. In 1878, Manitoba’s first railroad linked Winnipeg and St. Paul, Minnesota. The Canadian Pacific Railway connected Winnipeg with eastern Canada in 1881. The government’s offer of free land in western Canada helped Winnipeg’s population grow during the late 1800’s.
During the early 1900’s, many Europeans settled in Winnipeg. Industry grew rapidly, and Winnipeg became the manufacturing center of western Canada. The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 slowed Winnipeg’s expansion. Companies in eastern Canada could now send their products to the West more cheaply by ship than by train. Winnipeg’s economy continued to suffer during the Great Depression of the 1930’s.
During World War II (1939-1945), sharp increases in the demand for livestock, lumber, metals, and wheat brought prosperity back to Winnipeg. Between 1946 and 1950, about 200 industries began in Winnipeg. The city’s population fell during the 1960’s, partly because of a trend toward suburban living.
In 1960, the Manitoba legislature established the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg to administer certain services for Winnipeg and 11 of its suburbs. These services included planning and zoning, public transportation, and water supply. Each municipality in the corporation also had its own governing council to administer local affairs. Winnipeg and the suburbs became a single municipality in 1972. The city’s area and population increased greatly.
A downtown building boom began in the 1960’s. Tall apartment and office buildings and hotels replaced many old structures. New construction included the Winnipeg Convention Centre (now called the RBC Convention Centre), opened in 1975, and a system of enclosed walkways above the streets.
In 1981, the city, provincial, and federal governments launched the Winnipeg Core Area Initiative. Through this program, the three governments provided funds to improve education, social services, and economic development in a 10-square-mile (26-square-kilometer) area of the inner city. The initiative included renovation of historic office and warehouse buildings in the downtown Exchange District, and construction of a shopping and residential complex on Portage Avenue. The three governments also formed a public corporation to develop a 56-acre (23-hectare) historic area called the Forks. This area is at the junction of the Assiniboine and Red rivers. It opened to tourists in 1990 and became a major attraction. The Forks includes many sites from Winnipeg’s early days as a fur-trading and railway center. It also includes boutiques, restaurants, museums, and a baseball park.
