Winnipeg.html

Winnipeg (pronounced /ˈwɪnɨpɛg/) is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America,³ at the confluence of the historic Red and Assiniboine Rivers, a point now commonly known as The Forks.⁴ Winnipeg is the core cultural and economic centre of the Winnipeg Capital Region, which has a combined population of 730,305. It is Canada's 7th largest municipality with a population of 633,451; and is Western Canada's 4th largest CMA (Canada's 8th largest CMA) with a population of 694,668 (2006 Census).⁵ Winnipeg is also a cultural and commercial metropole for both Northwestern Ontario, Southern Manitoba, and the American states of North Dakota and Minnesota. A resident of Winnipeg is known as a Winnipegger.

History

Main article: History of Winnipeg

Before European exploration

Upper Fort Garry in the early 1870s

Winnipeg lies at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, known today as "the Forks", a historic focal point on canoe river routes travelled by Aboriginal peoples for thousands of years.⁶ The name Winnipeg is a transcription of a western Cree word meaning "muddy waters"; the general area was populated for thousands of years by First Nations. Through archaeology, petroglyphs, rock art, ancient artifacts, and oral history, scholars have learned that in prehistoric times, natives used the area for camps, hunting, fishing, trading, and further north, agriculture. The first farming in Manitoba appeared to have been along the Red River, near present-day Lockport, where corn and other seed crops were planted before First Nations contact with Europeans. For thousands of years there have been humans living in this region. Numerous archaeological clues have been found about their ways of life. The rivers provided transportation far and wide and linked many peoples-such as the Anishinaabe, Assiniboine, Mandan, Ojibway, Sioux, Cree, Lakota, and others—for trade and knowledge sharing. The people made mounds near the waterways, similar to those of the mound builders of the south. Lake Winnipeg was considered to be an inland sea, with important river links to the mountains in the West, the Great Lakes to the East, and the Arctic Ocean in the North. The Red River linked ancient northern peoples with those to the south along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The Ojibway made some of the first maps on birch bark, which helped fur traders find their way along the rivers and lakes.

Settlement

Suburban Rapid Transit Co. interuban in Headingley, Manitoba. Note the misspelling on the train

The first French officer arrived in the area in 1738. Sieur de la Vérendrye built the first fur trading post on the site (Fort Rouge) for the North West Company. Their traders continued there for several decades before the arrival of the Hudson's Bay Company.⁷ The French men married women from the First Nations. Their children, called Métis, hunted, traded, and lived in the general area for decades. Growing up bilingual, they often took prominent roles between cultures as settlement expanded.

Lord Selkirk was involved with the first permanent settlement (Red River Colony), purchase of land from the Hudson's Bay Company, and a survey of river lots in the early 1800s. The North West Company built Fort Gibraltar in 1809, and the Hudson's Bay Company built Fort Douglas in 1812. The two companies fought fiercely over trade in the area, and each destroyed some of the other's forts over the course of several battles. The Métis and Lord Selkirk's settlers fought a battle at the historic Seven Oaks site. In 1821, the Hudson's Bay and North West Companies ended their long rivalry with a merger. Fort Gibraltar, at the site of present-day Winnipeg, 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 flood, and it was not rebuilt until 1835. The fort was the residence of the Governor of the company for many years. It became a part of the first major colony and settlement in western Canada.

In 1869–70, 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 rebellion. This rebellion led directly to Manitoba's entry into the Canadian Confederation as Canada's fifth province in 1870. On November 8, 1873, Winnipeg was incorporated as a city. Manitoba and Northwest Territories legislator James McKay named the settlement.⁸

Late 1800s & early 1900s

Main article: Winnipeg General Strike

With the recent Canadian Pacific Railway came many travelers, settlers, and businessmen to the new city. Agriculture was a booming industry, and many made massive fortunes on the prairies. Bonanza farms were common at the time further south in the United States. Canada was also eager to settle the west before American interests and railways interfered in any way. Winnipeg's economic boom during the 1890s and early 20th century allowed it to take on its distinctive multicultural character, and the city was Canada's third largest for many years. The Manitoba Legislative Building reflects the optimism of the boom years. Built mainly of Tyndall Stone and 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"). Many new lots of land were sold, and prices increased fast due to high demand. The real estate boom eventually slowed down, and Vancouver soon became the third largest city.

The Winnipeg General Strike, June 21, 1919

Winnipeg faced financial difficulty when the Panama Canal opened in 1914. The canal reduced reliance on Canada's rail system for international trade, and the increase in ship traffic helped Vancouver surpass Winnipeg to become Canada's third-largest city in the 1960s.⁹

Following World War I, owing to a postwar recession, appalling labour conditions, and the presence of radical union organizers and a large influx of returning soldiers, 35,000 Winnipeggers walked off the job in May 1919 in what came to be known as the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. After many arrests, deportations, and incidents of violence, the strike ended on June 21, 1919, when the Riot Act was read and a group of RCMP officers charged a group of strikers. Two strikers were killed and at least thirty others were injured, resulting in the day being known as Bloody Saturday; the lasting effect was a polarized population. One of the leaders of the strike, J. S. Woodsworth, went on to found Canada's first major socialist party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), which would later become the NDP.

The stock market crash of 1929 only hastened an already steep decline in Winnipeg; the Great Depression resulted in massive unemployment, which was worsened by drought and depressed agricultural prices. The Depression ended when World War II started in 1939. In Winnipeg, the old established armouries of Minto, Tuxedo (Fort Osborne), and McGregor were so crowded that the military had to take over other buildings to increase capacity.

The end of World War II brought a new sense of optimism in Winnipeg. Pent-up demand brought a boom in housing development, but building activity came to a halt due to the 1950 Red River Flood, the largest flood to hit Winnipeg since 1861; the flood held waters above flood stage for 51 days. On May 8, 1950, eight dikes collapsed, four of the city's eleven bridges were destroyed, and nearly 100,000 people had to be evacuated, making it Canada's largest evacuation in history. The federal government estimated damages at over $26-million, although the province insisted it was at least double that.¹⁰.

Amalgamation to Present

Upper Fort Garry, today

Prior to 1972, Winnipeg was the largest of thirteen cities and towns in a metropolitan area around the Red and Assiniboine rivers. Unicity was created on July 27, 1971 and took effect with the first elections in 1972. The City of Winnipeg Act incorporated the current city of Winnipeg: the municipalities of Transcona, St. Boniface, St. Vital, West Kildonan, East Kildonan, Tuxedo, Old Kildonan, North Kildonan, Fort Garry, Charleswood, and St. James, were amalgamated with the Old City of Winnipeg.

Immediately following the 1979 energy crisis, Winnipeg experienced a severe economic downturn in advance of the early 1980s recession. Throughout the recession, the city incurred closures of prominent businesses such as the Winnipeg Tribune and the Swift's and Canada Packers meat packing plants.¹¹ In 1981, Winnipeg was one of the first cities in Canada to sign a tripartite agreement to redevelop its downtown area.¹² The three levels of government—federal, provincial and municipal—have contributed over $271-million to the development needs of downtown Winnipeg over the past 20 years. The funding was instrumental in attracting Portage Place mall, which comprises the headquarters of Investors Group, the offices of Air Canada, and several apartment complexes. In 1989, the reclamation and redevelopment of the CNR rail yards at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers turned The Forks into Winnipeg's most popular tourist attraction.¹³

The 1997 Red River Flood, (Flood of the Century) devastated communities along the Red River, from Fargo, North Dakota to Winnipeg. The floodway was pushed to its limits in 1997, which led to the Red River Floodway Expansion, set to be completed in late 2010 at a final cost of more than $665,000,000 CAD.

Geography

Main article: Geography and climate of Winnipeg

Winnipeg lies at the bottom of the valley of the Red River, in the tall grass plains of south-eastern Manitoba, in the Canadian prairies of Western Canada; near the geographical centre of North America; approximately 100 km (62 mi) north of the border with the United States; and 70 km (43 mi) south of Lake Winnipeg (the earth's 11th largest freshwater lake).¹⁴ It is situated on the flat, rich agricultural land of the Red River of the North, in an area known as the Red River Valley. The valley was formed by the ancient glacial Lake Agassiz; it has rich deposits of black soil that are ideal for growing wheat, corn, canola, sunflowers, dry beans, soy beans, potatoes, and other crops. The highest point near the city would be north east in Birds Hill Provincial Park, which was an island made by glaciers moving and depositing large volumes of sand and rocks. The city is extremely isolated: of the closest cities, Grand Forks is approximately 233 km (145 miles) south; Fargo (metro of 192,417) is approximately 350 km (217 miles) south; and Minneapolis-St. Paul (metro of 3.5 million) is approximately 700 km (430 miles) southeast. The city's four major rivers include the Red, Assiniboine, La Salle, and Seine rivers; all of which eventually flow into the Red River (a Canadian heritage river). Winnipeg has laid claim to the title of World's Longest Skating Rink, along the Red and Assiniboine rivers.¹⁵. The city's most famous intersection (Portage Avenue and Main Street), also has the reputation of being the windiest intersection in Canada. The city has a total area of 464.01 km² (179.2 sq mi), according to the Census geographic units of Canada.

Climate

Climate chart for Winnipeg

-13

-23

-9

-19

-11

-2

-0

-1

-10

-19

temperatures in °C
precipitation totals in mm
source: Environment Canada¹⁶

Imperial conversion

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
0.8 9 -9	0.6 17 -2	0.9 34 12	1.3 51 28	2.3 67 41	3.5 74 51	2.8 78 56	3 77 53	2 65 43	1.4 51 31	1 30 15	0.7 15 -2
temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

Due to its location on the Great Plains (Canadian Prairies), and its distance from both mountains and oceans, Winnipeg has an extreme continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb), USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 3a,¹⁷ in that there are great differences between summer and winter temperatures. The city enjoys four distinct seasons, with warm humid summers, highly variable spring and autumns, and long and sometimes dangerously cold winters. Because of the openness of the landscape; Winnipeg lies exposed to numerous weather systems throughout the year; including cold arctic high pressure systems from the northwest during the winter season; and hot, humid weather drawn northward from the Gulf of Mexico during the summer season.

Winnipeg is the coldest city in the world with a population greater than 500,000¹⁸. The highest temperature recorded in Winnipeg was 42.2 °C (108 °F) on July 11, 1936. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Winnipeg was −47.8 °C (−54.0 °F), on December 24, 1879.¹⁹ The coldest wind chill reading ever recorded was −57.1 °C (−70.8 °F), on February 1, 1996.¹⁶ The highest humidex reading recorded in Winnipeg was 48 °C (118 °F) on July 25, 2007, although just 64 km (40 mi) southwest of the city, in the town of Carman, Manitoba broke Canada's all time humidex record, with a high of 53 °C (127 °F), July 25, 2007.²⁰ The cities centre is usually 3-4° warmer than the airport, owing to the urban heat island effect. A typical year will see an extreme range of temperatures from -35°C (-31°F) to 35°C (95°F), though both colder and warmer temperatures have been recorded.

The city has acquired the nickname 'Winterpeg' because of the long cold snowy winters. Only once since record keeping has the city failed to witness a 'white Christmas'. From December through February the maximum daily temperature exceeds 0 °C (32 °F), on average, for only 10 days and the minimum daily temperature falls below -20 °C (-4 °F) on 49 days. The city also has 194 freezing days ²¹ (compared to Toronto's 146 freezing days²²), and is ranked fourth among Canada with 49 wind chill days at -30 °C (-22 °F) or less.²³

Its summers can be humid, annually temperatures average 45, 11 and 2 days with humidex (combined temperature & humidity index) above 30 °C (86 °F), 35 °C (95 °F) and 40 °C (104 °F) respectively.²⁴ However the city only averages 14 days a year where temperatures actually reaches 30 °C or higher.²⁵ The Red River Valley has a fairly long frost-free season, consisting of between 120 and 140 days²⁶. Winnipeg usually has 27 days with thunderstorms per year.²⁴ Some snow in spring and autumn is normal. Similarly, late heat waves as well as Indian summers are a regular feature of the climate.

Winnipeg is a sunny city with an average of 317 sunny days per year.²⁷ All seasons are characterized by an abundance of sunshine. Winnipeg is ranked 6th overall for Canada's sunniest city year round, with 2371.81 hours of bright sunshine. Winnipeg also has Canada's second-clearest skies year-round and is the second sunniest city in Canada in the spring and winter.²⁷

Destructive weather events such as tornadoes, major floods, extreme heat waves, droughts, severe hail, blizzards, freezing rain, extreme wind chills, fog, and sleet; have all occurred within or near the Winnipeg area. Like Chicago, Winnipeg is also known as a windy city; however both Regina and Hamilton are windier. The average annual wind speed is 16.9 km/h (10.5 mph), predominantly from the south.²⁸ The city has experienced wind gusts of up to 129 km/h (80 mph). Tornadoes are not uncommon in the area, particularly in the spring and summer months; the strongest tornado ever recorded in Canada (Fujita Scale F5), hit Elie, just 40 km (25 miles) west of Winnipeg.

Cityscape

See also: List of Winnipeg neighbourhoods and List of Winnipeg's 10 tallest buildings

Downtown Winnipeg panorama as seen from The Forks

Winnipeg has many distinctive neighbourhoods. Downtown Winnipeg (the financial heart of the city) includes the The Waterfront District, The Forks, Central Park, Broadway-Assiniboine, Chinatown, and the Exchange District (a national historic site). It is roughly three square kilometres and comparable to the downtowns of much larger North American cities such as Philadelphia (metro pop. 6.2 million) and San Francisco (7.0 million). The Downtown area is home to many of the city's attractions such as Canwest Park and The Forks. Much of Downtown Winnipeg is linked with the Winnipeg Walkway, which is an elevated skywalk linking such places as the MTS Centre, Millennium Library, Cityplace, and Portage Place mall. Trendy areas near the downtown core include Sargent and Ellice Avenues (West End), St. Boniface, Osborne Village, and Little Italy. The city's most densely populated neighbourhood, Osborne Village, is also Western Canada's second most densely populated neighbourhood, and was voted the Best Place to Live in Uptown Magazine's 2008 Best of List.

Economy

See also: List of corporations based in Winnipeg and List of hospitals in Manitoba

Manitoba Hydro Tower, located Downtown

Winnipeg is an important regional centre of commerce, industry, culture, finance, and government. According to the Conference Board of Canada, Winnipeg had the third-fastest growing economy among Canada's major cities in 2007, with a real GDP growth at 3.7%.²⁹

Approximately 375,000 people are employed in Winnipeg and the surrounding area. Some of Winnipeg's largest employers are either government or government-funded institutions, including: the Province of Manitoba, the City of Winnipeg, the University of Manitoba, the Health Sciences Centre, the Casinos of Winnipeg, and Manitoba Hydro. Approximately 54,000 people (14% of the work force) are employed in the public sector. Large private sector employers include: Manitoba Telecom Services, Canwest, Palliser Furniture, Great-West Life Assurance, Motor Coach Industries, Convergys Corporation, New Flyer Industries, Boeing Canada Technology, Bristol Aerospace, Nygård International, Canad Inns and Investors Group.

A number of large privately held family-owned companies operate out of Winnipeg. The most famous of these is James Richardson & Sons. The Richardson Building at Portage and Main was the first skyscraper to grace that corner. Other private companies include Ben Moss Jewellers, Frantic Films and Paterson Grain.

The Royal Canadian Mint located in eastern Winnipeg (on Route 20 (Lagimodière Blvd)) is where all circulating coinage in Canada is produced. The plant, established in 1975, also produces coins for many other countries in the world.

Winnipeg is home to several government research labs. The National Microbiology Laboratory is Canada's front line in its response to infectious diseases and one of only a handful of Biosafety level 4 microbiology laboratories in the world. The National Research Council also has the Institute for Biodiagnostics laboratory located in the downtown area.

In 2003 and 2004, Canadian Business magazine ranked Winnipeg in the top 10 cities for business. In 2006, Winnipeg was ranked by KPMG as one of the lowest cost locations to do business in Canada.³⁰ As with much of Western Canada, in 2007, Winnipeg experienced both a building and real estate boom. In May 2007, the Winnipeg Real Estate Board reported the best month in its 104-year history in terms of sales and volume.³¹

Culture

Main article: Winnipeg arts and culture

See also: List of Winnipeg musicians, List of TV and films shot in Winnipeg, and List of people from Winnipeg

Albert Street, in Exchange District

Winnipeg is well known across the prairies for its arts and culture.³²

Since 1999, Winnipeg has achieved acclaim for being the "Slurpee Capital of the World".³³

The Winnipeg Public Library is a public library network with 20 branches throughout the city, including the Millennium Library, located downtown.

Winnipeg is the only Canadian city to ever host the Pan American Games, and the second city in the world to host the event twice, once in 1967 and once in 1999.³⁴

Winnipeg is well known for its murals.³⁵ Many buildings in the downtown area and extending into some suburban areas have murals painted on the sides of buildings.³⁶ Although some are advertisements for shops and other businesses, many are historical paintings, school art projects, or downtown beautification projects. Murals can also be found on several of the downtown traffic light switch posts and fire hydrants.

Winnipeg also has a thriving film community, beginning as early as 1897 with the films of James Freer to the production of local independent films of today, such as those by Guy Maddin. It has also supported a number of Hollywood productions, including Shall We Dance? (2004), the Oscar nominated film Capote (2005), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2006), The Horsemen (2008) and X2 (2003) had parts filmed in the province. Several locally-produced and national television dramas have also been shot in Winnipeg. The National Film Board of Canada and the Winnipeg Film Group have produced numerous award-winning films.

Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg, an independent film released in 2008, is a poetic and comedic rumination on the city's history. It features archival footage and contemporary imagery blended seamlessly into an extended autobiographical goodbye letter.

There are several TV and film production companies in Winnipeg. Some of the prominent ones are Frantic Films, Buffalo Gal Pictures, Les Productions Rivard and Eagle Vision.

Winnipeg Bear, (also known as Winnie-the-Pooh) was purchased in Ontario, by Lieutenant Harry Colebourn of The Fort Garry Horse cavalry regiment en route to his embarkation point for the front lines of World War I. He named the bear after the regiment's home town of Winnipeg.

An Ernest H. Shepard painting of "Winnie the Pooh" is the only known oil painting of Winnipeg’s famous bear cub. It was purchased at an auction for $285,000 in London, England, in 2000. The painting is displayed in Assiniboine Park.

Winnipeg is also associated with various music acts. Among the most notable are Neil Young, The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Streetheart, Harlequin, Chantal Kreviazuk, Bif Naked, Comeback Kid, The Waking Eyes, Econoline Crush, Brent Fitz, Jet Set Satellite, the New Meanies, Propagandhi, The Weakerthans, The Perpetrators, Crash Test Dummies, Christine Fellows, The Wailin' Jennys and The Duhks.

Winnipeg is mentioned in the song "Anywhere Under the Moon" by Canadian folk duo Dala, on their 2007 album Who Do You Think You Are, as well as in Danny Michel's song "Into the Flame".

Winnipeg is the subject of the song "One Great City!" by The Weakerthans. The song makes allusion to the slow growth and lost industry in the town.³⁷ The title of the song is the slogan on signs welcoming visitors to Winnipeg. The city is also mentioned in Neil Young's "Don't Be Denied". Aaron Funk, a Winnipeg-based Breakcore artist better known as Venetian Snares, released a concept album in 2005 based on his hatred of Winnipeg.

Local media

Main article: Media in Winnipeg

Winnipeg has two daily newspapers, numerous ethnic weekly newspapers, six English television stations, one French television station, 24 AM and FM radio stations (2 of which are French) and a variety of regional and nationally based magazines that call the city home.

Festivals & Events

The city is home to many popular festivals and events. Popular festivals include the Canada Day Festival, Folklorama, the Jazz Winnipeg Festival, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Winnipeg Music Festival, the Red River Exhibition, Festival du Voyageur, the Winnipeg Friendship Festival, and the Winnipeg International Children's Festival.

The Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival is North America's second largest Fringe Festival, held every July. The Winnipeg International Writers Festival (THIN AIR) rivals similar festivals in Calgary and Vancouver.

Cuisine

Winnipeg has a broad selection of restaurants and specialty food stores. Many ethnic cuisines are well represented, including those of the local Ukrainian, Jewish, Mennonite, Chinese, Italian, Korean, Greek, Thai, French, Vietnamese, and Filipino populations.

Regional dishes include Winnipeg goldeye, a kind of smoked fish, fresh pickerel fillets and pickerel cheeks, and an East European style of light rye bread called Winnipeg rye. Also associated with Winnipeg are nips (hamburgers) from Salisbury House restaurant, Jeanne's cake, Russian mints from Morden's Chocolate, Old Dutch potato chips, and beer from Half Pints and Fort Garry breweries.

Sports and recreation

Main article: Sport in Winnipeg

Winnipeg has a long and storied sports history. It has been home to several professional hockey, football, baseball franchises, and dirt track stock car racing; including the Winnipeg Jets, a National Hockey League team which was lost during the 1995-96 season to Phoenix. There have also been many university and amateur athletes over the years that have left their mark. Winnipeg also has plans to replace their CFL stadium (Canad Inns Stadium).

Current professional franchises
Club	League	Venue	Established	Championships
Winnipeg Blue Bombers	Canadian Football League	Canad Inns Stadium	1930	10
Winnipeg Goldeyes	Northern League	Canwest Park	1994	1
Manitoba Moose	American Hockey League	MTS Centre	1996	0

Current amateur franchises
Club	League	Venue	Established	Championships
Winnipeg Saints	Manitoba Junior Hockey League	Dakota Community Centre	1956	4
Winnipeg South Blues	Manitoba Junior Hockey League	Century Arena	1930	9
Winnipeg Rifles	Canadian Junior Football League	Canad Inns Stadium	2002	0
Winnipeg Alliance FC	Canadian Major Indoor Soccer League	MTS Centre	2007	0

Current university franchises
Club	League	Venue	Established	Championships
Manitoba Bisons(Mens Hockey)	Canadian Interuniversity Sport	Max Bell Centre	1919	8
Manitoba Bisons (Womens Hockey)	Canadian Interuniversity Sport	Max Bell Centre	2000	0
Manitoba Bisons (Football)	Canadian Interuniversity Sport	University Stadium	1922	12

Event Hosted	Years Hosted
Pan American Games	1967, 1999
World Curling Championships	1978, 1991, 2003
CFL Grey Cup	1991, 1998, 2006
World Junior Hockey Championships	1999
IIHF World Women Championships	2007
National Aboriginal Hockey Championship	2009

Winnipeg is the only Canadian city to ever host the Pan American Games, and the second city in the world to host the event twice, once in 1967 and once in 1999.³⁴

Cat fish-fishing is popular among Winnipeggers on the Red River. The Red is home to the largest average size of channel catfish in the world.³⁸

Parks

Winnipeg is home to many large and small urban parks, pathways, and off-leash dog parks. Some large urban parks include Assiniboine Park, Central Park, Kings Park, Maple Grove Park, Kildonan Park, Kil-Cona Park, and St. Vital Park. Assiniboine Park is home to a number of attractions including the Assiniboine Park Zoo, the Assiniboine Valley Railway, a minimum gauge railway, a conservatory, and a Leo Mol sculpture garden and the Assiniboine Forest.

Winnipeg is also located only an hour or two of driving, from many large forests, lakes, beaches, parks, such as Whiteshell and Grand Beach Provincial Park.

Demographics

Ethnic Origins³⁹
	Population	Percentage
English	141,480	22.6
Scottish	114,960	18.4
German	106,260	17.0
Canadian	104,130	16.6
Ukrainian	96,255	15.4
French	87,165	13.9
Irish	86,580	13.9
Polish	50,555	8.1
Filipino	38,155	6.1
Visible minorities⁴⁰
	Population	Percentage
Total	101,910	16.3
Filipino	36,820	5.9
South Asian	15,080	2.4
Black	14,200	2.3
Chinese	12,660	2.0
Latin American	5,390	0.9
Southeast Asian	5,325	0.9
Multiple	3,060	0.5
Arab	2,115	0.3
Korean	2,065	0.3
West Asian	1,885	0.3
Japanese	1,725	0.3
Other	1,585	0.3
Aboriginal identity⁴¹
	Population	Percentage
Total	63,745	10.19
Métis	37,385	5.97
North American Indian	24,950	3.99
Inuit	280	0.04
Multiple	355	0.06
Other	770	0.12

According to the 2006 Census, there were 633,451 people residing in Winnipeg itself and a total of 694,668 inhabitants in the Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area on 16 May 2006, and 711,455 in the Winnipeg Capital Region making it Manitoba’s largest city and the eighth largest CMA in Canada.² ⁴² Of the city population, 48.3% were male and 51.7% were female. 24.3% were 19 years old or younger, people aged by 20 and 39 years accounted for 27.4%, and those between 40 and 64 made up 34.0% of the population. The average age of a Winnipegger in May 2006 was 38.7, compared to an average of 39.5 for Canada as a whole.⁴³

Between the censuses of 2001 and 2006, Winnipeg's population increased by 2.2%, compared to the average of 2.6% for Manitoba and 5.4% for Canada. The population density of the city of Winnipeg averaged 1,365.2 people per square kilometre, compared with an average of 3.5 for Manitoba.

Of Winnipeg’s total population, 61,217 citizens live in the city’s Census Metropolitan Area,⁴⁴ which apart from Winnipeg includes the Rural municipalities of East St. Paul, Headingley, Ritchot, Rosser, Springfield, St. Clements, St. François Xavier, Taché and West St. Paul, and the Aboriginal community of Brokenhead.

Ethnicity

Ethnic diversity is an important part of Winnipeg's culture. Most Winnipeggers are of European or Canadian descent. Visible minorities make up 16.3% of Winnipeg's population. Winnipeg is home to 38,155 people of Filipino descent, or roughly 6% of the total population, the highest concentration of persons of Filipino origin in Canada, and the second largest Filipino population in Canada after Toronto.³⁹⁴⁵

Language

More than 100 languages are spoken in Winnipeg; the most common is English, in which 99.0% of Winnipeggers are fluent. In terms of Canada's official languages, 88.0% of Winnipeggers speak only English, and 0.1% speak only French. 11% speak both English and French, while 0.9% speak neither English nor French. Other languages spoken in Winnipeg include German (spoken by 4.1% of the population), Tagalog (3.4%), Ukrainian (3.1%), Spanish, Chinese and Polish (all three spoken by 1.7% of the population), as well as Aboriginal languages including Ojibway (0.6%), Cree (0.5%), Inuktitut and Mi'kmaq (both less than 0.1%). Other languages spoken in Winnipeg include Portuguese, Italian, Icelandic, Punjabi, Vietnamese, Urdu, Hindi, Russian, Dutch, Non-verbal languages, Arabic, Serbian, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Creole, Danish, and Gaelic languages (all of which are spoken by roughly 1% or less of the population).⁴⁶

Religion

The 2001 census states that 21.7% of Winnipeggers do not follow a religion.⁴⁷, while 72.9% of Winnipeggers belong to a Christian denomination, 35.1% of which are Protestant, 32.6% are Roman Catholic, and 5.2% are other Christian denominations. 5.6% of the population follows a religion other than Christianity—followers of Judaism make up 2.1% of the population, followers of Buddhism and Sikhism make up 0.9% of the population each, and Muslims make up 0.8% of the population. Hindus account for 0.6% of the population, while followers of other religions make up less than 0.5% of the population.

Attractions

Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the future home of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The start of construction is contingent on continued efforts to raise money in 2008. It will be the first Canadian national museum outside of the