Town of Nipawin | |
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 NASA satellite image of Tobin Lake | |
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  Town of Nipawin Location of Nipawin Show map of Saskatchewan Town of Nipawin Town of Nipawin (Canada) Show map of Canada | |
| Coordinates:53°21′26″N104°01′01″W / 53.35722°N 104.01694°W /53.35722; -104.01694 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Saskatchewan |
| Census division | No. 14 |
| Rural Municipality | Nipawin |
| Settled | 1910 |
| Incorporated (town) | 1937 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Marlon Zacharias[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 8.71 km2 (3.36 sq mi) |
| Population (2016) | |
• Total | 4,401 |
| • Density | 505/km2 (1,310/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC−06:00 (CST) |
| Postal code | S0E 1E0 |
| Area code | 306 |
| Waterways | Saskatchewan River |
| Website | www |
| [2][3] | |
Nipawin (/ˈnɪpəwɪn/) is a town inSaskatchewan, Canada, on theSaskatchewan River portion ofTobin Lake. The town lies betweenCodette Lake, created by theFrancois-Finlay Dam (built in 1986) and Tobin Lake, created by theE.B. Campbell Dam built in 1963, renamed from Squaw Rapids. The construction of Francois-Finlay Dam earned Nipawin thenickname the "Town of Two Lakes".
Nipawin is bordered by theRural Municipality of Nipawin No. 487 and theRural Municipality of Torch River No. 488 (the latter across the Saskatchewan River).
Highway 35 andHighway 55 intersect in Nipawin. TheNipawin Airport and theNipawin Water Aerodrome also serve the community.
Nipawin is aCree word meaning "stand up" which referred to a low-lying area along the river now flooded by Codette Lake whereFirst Nations women and children would camp and wait for the men to arrive.[4]
The first permanent settlement of Nipawin occurred in 1910 with the establishment of a trading post. In 1924 a branch-line of theCanadian Pacific Railway passed nearby, crossing the North Saskatchewan River over theCrooked Bridge, and the settlement was moved, building by building, to its current location alongside the railway line.[5][6]
The Nipawin Historical Society's publication,Bridging the years : Nipawin, Saskatchewan, published in 1988, presents the settlement's early history.[6]
In 1751, a group ofNew France soldiers commanded byJoseph Boucher de Niverville may have built a short-lived fort,Fort La Jonquière, near the site of Nipawin.[7]
Severalfur trading posts may have operated at various times in the area, but they are poorly documented.[8] In 1763Joseph Smith reached the area fromYork Factory. In 1768 James Finlay from Montreal built a post. François le Blanc, apparently the man known as "Saswe", had a post by that year or the next. In 1790 William Thorburn built there then moved toHungry Hall the following year.
In 1795 two posts operated in the area, one run by A. N. McLeod for theNorth West Company and another run by James Porter working for David Grant.
On April 18, 2008, a downtown meat shop exploded, destroying three buildings as well as damaging several more. The explosion killed two and injured five. The explosion is suspected to have been caused by a backhoe that snagged and sheared a natural gas riser from the main line. The explosion prompted the implementation of a state of emergency by the mayor. The explosion received extensive national news coverage.[9]
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Nipawin had a population of4,570 living in1,921 of its2,091 total private dwellings, a change of3.8% from its 2016 population of4,401. With a land area of 8.93 km2 (3.45 sq mi), it had a population density of511.8/km2 (1,325.4/sq mi) in 2021.[10]
| 2021 | 2016 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 4,570 (+3.8% from 2016) | 4,401 (+3.2% from 2011) | 4,265 (+4.6% from 2006) |
| Land area | 8.93 km2 (3.45 sq mi) | 8.71 km2 (3.36 sq mi) | 8.71 km2 (3.36 sq mi) |
| Population density | 512/km2 (1,330/sq mi) | 505.0/km2 (1,308/sq mi) | 489.4/km2 (1,268/sq mi) |
| Median age | 41.2 (M: 39.2, F: 43.2) | 43.1 (M: 40.0, F: 45.5) | |
| Private dwellings | 1,920 (total) | 2,042 (total) | 1,977 (total) |
| Median household income |
Nipawin Experiences aHumid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb) bordering on asubarctic climate (Dfc), with long, extremely cold winters and short, warm summers. The highest temperature ever recorded in Nipawin was 42.2 °C (108 °F) on July 19, 1941.[14] The coldest temperature ever recorded was −48.3 °C (−55 °F) on January 8, 1930.[15]
| Climate data forNipawin Airport, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1927–present[a] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 11.1 (52.0) | 11.1 (52.0) | 16.8 (62.2) | 31.1 (88.0) | 36.7 (98.1) | 38.2 (100.8) | 42.2 (108.0) | 37.2 (99.0) | 37.2 (99.0) | 31.1 (88.0) | 17.0 (62.6) | 8.0 (46.4) | 42.2 (108.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −13.3 (8.1) | −9.1 (15.6) | −2.2 (28.0) | 8.5 (47.3) | 17.2 (63.0) | 21.6 (70.9) | 23.9 (75.0) | 23.7 (74.7) | 17.0 (62.6) | 8.3 (46.9) | −3.3 (26.1) | −10.9 (12.4) | 6.8 (44.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −18.7 (−1.7) | −14.7 (5.5) | −7.9 (17.8) | 2.6 (36.7) | 10.1 (50.2) | 15.2 (59.4) | 17.6 (63.7) | 16.8 (62.2) | 10.6 (51.1) | 2.7 (36.9) | −7.8 (18.0) | −16 (3) | 0.9 (33.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −24.2 (−11.6) | −20.3 (−4.5) | −13.5 (7.7) | −3.4 (25.9) | 2.9 (37.2) | 8.7 (47.7) | 11.2 (52.2) | 9.7 (49.5) | 4.2 (39.6) | −2.9 (26.8) | −12.2 (10.0) | −21 (−6) | −5.1 (22.8) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −48.3 (−54.9) | −45 (−49) | −40.2 (−40.4) | −33.6 (−28.5) | −11.9 (10.6) | −7.8 (18.0) | −1.1 (30.0) | −1.7 (28.9) | −10 (14) | −24.4 (−11.9) | −37.4 (−35.3) | −47.2 (−53.0) | −48.3 (−54.9) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 15.2 (0.60) | 11.6 (0.46) | 14.8 (0.58) | 25.2 (0.99) | 43.3 (1.70) | 74.4 (2.93) | 82.7 (3.26) | 57.2 (2.25) | 40.8 (1.61) | 27.7 (1.09) | 16.1 (0.63) | 18.2 (0.72) | 427.3 (16.82) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 0.4 (0.02) | 0.6 (0.02) | 1.6 (0.06) | 12.7 (0.50) | 40.6 (1.60) | 74.3 (2.93) | 82.7 (3.26) | 57.2 (2.25) | 39.4 (1.55) | 14.8 (0.58) | 2.0 (0.08) | 0.5 (0.02) | 326.8 (12.87) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 22.3 (8.8) | 16.8 (6.6) | 17.1 (6.7) | 14.9 (5.9) | 2.9 (1.1) | 0.1 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.4 (0.6) | 14.9 (5.9) | 19.3 (7.6) | 24.7 (9.7) | 134.4 (52.9) |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 101.1 | 128.8 | 177.8 | 233.4 | 267.2 | 282.2 | 311.8 | 281.3 | 178.0 | 136.5 | 88.3 | 80.0 | 2,266.3 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 40.1 | 46.5 | 48.5 | 55.7 | 54.4 | 55.7 | 61.2 | 61.4 | 46.6 | 41.5 | 33.9 | 33.9 | 48.3 |
| Source:Environment Canada[16][17] | |||||||||||||
Nipawin is near theFort à la Corne Provincial Forest, location of the world's largest diamond bearingkimberlites and intensive diamond exploration activity. Other industries in the area include: agriculture, tourism,canola oil processing, honey production, forestry, and commercialization of second-generation biofuels.
This resort community has become a destination for fishing, camping, boating, golfing, hunting, and outdoor recreation.
Nipawin has three public schools: Central Park Elementary School, Wagner Elementary School, andL.P. Miller Comprehensive School.
The town is home to the Nipawin Campus ofCumberland College with 360 students andNipawin Bible College with 48 students.
Places adjacent to Nipawin | |
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53°21′26″N104°01′09″W / 53.35722°N 104.01917°W /53.35722; -104.01917
