International Education, Manitoba Lifestyle

Facts

Manitoba is a prairie province located in the heart of Canada. Founded in 1870, Manitoba means “where the spirit lives” in the languages of the Indigenous people who first lived in the region.

Commonly referred to as ‘Friendly Manitoba’, the province’s urban and rural communities are diverse and welcoming.

Quick facts about Manitoba:

  • Population: 1.2 million
  • Area: 649,947 km2 in the center of Canada
  • Capital City: Winnipeg
  • Form of Government: Parliamentary Democracy
  • Climate: Four distinct seasons – cold, dry winter; hot, dry summer; moderate, cool spring and fall
  • Terrain: Prairie grasslands in the south and west; Canadian Shield lakes and forests in the east and north; arctic tundra in the far north
  • Natural Resources: Abundant fresh water lakes and rivers, hydroelectricity, base metals (ex: nickel, copper, zinc), fishing, forestry, gold, oil, and agriculture
  • Major Exports: Farm products, metals and minerals, processed foods, vehicles and transportation equipment, machinery, electricity, medicines, chemicals, plastics, and paper
  • Major Agricultural Commodities: Canola, wheat, hogs, cattle, dairy products, oats, poultry, barley, flaxseed, eggs
  • Manitoba Employment Rate: 94.7 per cent in 2012
  • Manitoba’s Advantages:
    • Manitoba's Strategic Advantagesexternal website
    • Hydroelectric rates among the lowest in North America
    • Mid-continent transportation gateway- CentrePort Canada
    • Central time zone for North America
    • Skilled, multi-cultural workforce
    • Diverse, stable economy
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Did you know?

  • Winnipeg is home to the Canadian Museum of Human Rightsexternal website, the first national museum outside of Canada’s capital, Ottawa.
  • Our provincial animal is the bison. Hundreds of thousands of wild bison once covered Manitoba’s open plains.
  • The best place in the world to see the aurora borealis (northern lights) is in the town of Churchill, on the edge of the Hudson Bay. It is also the polar bear capital of the world.
  • The town of Gimli has the largest Icelandic community outside of Iceland.
  • Winnie-the-Pooh, from the stories by A.A. Milne, was based on a bear cub adopted by a Winnipeg soldier. The bear was named “Winnipeg” (shortened to Winnie) after the soldier’s hometown. Winnie was donated to the London Zoo in 1916.
  • Winnipeg was the first in the world to develop the 911 emergency phone number.
  • The newly renovated Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport is the only 24-hour airport in Western Canada.
  • The Assiniboine Park is one of North America’s largest urban parks, boasting restaurants, sculpture garden, theatre, Assiniboine Park Zooexternal website and Journey to Churchillexternal website – a northern species interpretive centre.

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