Minnedosa
Town
The Minnedosa Dominion Post Office in downtown Minnedosa
Town boundaries
Minnedosa Location of Minnedosa inManitoba
Coordinates:50°14′43″N99°50′34″W / 50.24528°N 99.84278°W /50.24528; -99.84278
Country	Canada
Province	Manitoba
Region	Westman
Incorporated	March 2, 1883 (town)
Government
• Mayor	Ken Cameron[1]
• MLA	Greg Nesbitt
Area
• Total	15.2 km2 (5.9 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Total	2,741
• Density	161.1/km2 (417/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Website	www.minnedosa.com

Minnedosa is atown in the southwestern part of theCanadian province ofManitoba situated 50 kilometres (32 mi) north ofBrandon, Manitoba on theLittle Saskatchewan River. The town's name means "flowing water" in theDakota language. The population of Minnedosa reported in the2021 Canadian Census was 2,741.^[2] The town is surrounded by theRural Municipality of Minto – Odanah.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the area of Minnedosa, the land was primarily travelled and used by the nomadicOjibway,Cree,Assiniboine, andSioux peoples.^[3] John Tanner was the grandson ofJohn Tanner who had been raised by anOdawa. He was an American settler who arrived in the area in 1869.^[3] The younger Tanner was the firstMétis settler in the area and ran a ferry service across the Little Saskatchewan River. When a bridge was built in 1879, the ferry became obsolete and at the same time, a small town, Tanner's Crossing, was started nearby. John Armitage moved to the area around this time in 1877, and began to build asawmill andgristmill. He joined together with Tanner to lay out a new town site and eventually Armitage had accumulated 3,800 acres (15 km²) of property.^[3] Tanner named the new town Minnedosa, from the Dakota wordmní dúza meaning "flowing water".^[3]

Although Minnedosa once hoped to be a site of a river crossing for theCanadian Pacific Railway'stranscontinental railway, the honour was initially given toRapid City, while the actual site of the railway was later settled on a site much further south creating the city ofBrandon.^[4] In 1883 Minnedosa was incorporated as a town, it had experienced a period of growth from settlement schemes put forth by the Canadian government.^[3] As Minnedosa became a town, this coincided with the actual arrival of the railway in 1883, bringing about more growth for the now quickly growing settlement.

A dam was proposed in 1907 and approved in December of the same year by the Government of Canada. It was built on theLittle Saskatchewan River near the town. After several delays, the dam was completed in 1912, creatingMinnedosa Lake. Water first flowed over the spillway on April 10, 1912. Minnedosa was the second community in the Province of Manitoba to generate its ownhydroelectric power.^[3] An earlier project in 1900 was also on the Minnedosa River and supplied power to the town ofBrandon, Manitoba. Initially privately owned, the generation plant was taken over by theManitoba Power Commission in 1920 and replaced by a diesel generation plant and by 1930, power from the provincial grid. The lake was used as a source of water for the town, for recreation, and for supplying the engines of theCanadian Pacific Railway.^[3] On May 4, 1948, thespillway of the dam failed due to erosion of structure, and the resulting flood damaged many homes and businesses in the town. The spillway was not repaired until 1950 by thePrairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration.^[5]

Since 1981 theMinnedosa Ethanol Plant has been producing ethanol to be blended into gasoline, as of late 2007 it has been expanded into one of the largest ethanol facilities in Canada. This plant is owned and operated byHusky Energy.^[6]

Minnedosa has ahumid continental climate (Köppendfb) typical of southern Manitoba. As a result of its far inland position at a relatively high latitude, winters are extremely cold with a January mean of below −17 °C (1 °F). In the relatively short summers Minnedosa experiences warm and sometimes hot temperatures due to warmer continental air masses. It is prone to cold nights year-round, with every calendar month having recordedair frost.

In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Minnedosa had a population of 2,741 living in 1,210 of its 1,398 total private dwellings, a change of11.9% from its 2016 population of 2,449. With a land area of 14.95 km² (5.77 sq mi), it had a population density of183.3/km² (474.9/sq mi) in 2021.^[12]

• Minnedosa Civic Center – The large clock tower located downtown
• Buffalo Park – located south of the Minnedosa Dam on PTH 262
• Train Park located on the east side of Main Street Minnedosa
• Nature Trail – 20 minute walk through wooded area adjacent to Buffalo Compound. Has a swinging bridge as well as a viewing tower
• Heritage Park – A complex containing several buildings relating to the history of Minnedosa and its surrounding area
• Lookout Tower – Approximately 40-foot (12 m) tower on top of a steep hill. Overlooks entire valley
• Trout Pond – Fishing spot stocked with many trout. Located at Heritage Village
• Minnedosa is also the site of an annual event, calledRockin' the Fields of Minnedosa
• Minnedosa Paddling Club, part of Manitoba Paddling Association
• Minnedosa Lake

• There is a high school called Minnedosa Collegiate Institute, often called M.C.I.,^[13] and there is an elementary school called Tanner's Crossing School (T.C.S.).^[14] Both schools are part of the Rolling River School Division,^[15] which has its main bus dispatch and administration offices in town.

• Minnedosa Tribune

• Izzy Asper, founder ofCanWest Global Communications Corp
• Ron Chipperfield, professional hockey player
• Frances Gertrude McGill (1882–1959),forensic pathologist and criminologist
• Maxine Miller, actress
• Isabela Onyshko, 2016 Olympic gymnast
• Kyle Parrott, 2010 Olympic speed skater
• Colin Pearson, Baron Pearson, Britishlaw lord
• Kate Rice, prospector, adventurer and writer died here
• Curt Ridley, professional hockey player
• Ken Watson, 3-time Brier-winning curler
• William Henry Atkinson, flying ace fighter

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMinnedosa, Manitoba.

• Official website
• "Minnedosa" .New International Encyclopedia. 1905.

• Towns in Manitoba
• Urban municipalities in Westman Region, Manitoba
• Dakota toponyms
• 1883 establishments in Manitoba

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Use Canadian English from December 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in Canadian English
• Use mdy dates from April 2022
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the New International Encyclopedia