A town is an incorporated urban municipality in the Canadian province of Manitoba.[1] Under current legislation, a community must have a minimum population of 1,000 and a minimum density of 400 people per square kilometre to incorporate as an urban municipality.[2] As an urban municipality, the community has the option to be named a town, village or urban municipality.[2] It also has the option of being named a city once it has a minimum population of 7,500 (there are no towns currently eligible for city status; the closest is Niverville, with a population of 5,947 in the Canada 2021 Census).[2]
Manitoba has 25 towns[3] that had a cumulative population of 56,946 in the 2016 census.[4] The province's largest and smallest towns by population are The Pas and Grand Rapids with populations of 5,369 and 268 respectively.[4] The province's largest and smallest towns by land area are Gillam and Lac du Bonnet with land areas of 1,996.34 km2 (770.79 sq mi) and 2.15 km2 (0.83 sq mi) respectively.[4] The province previously had 50 towns before a series of provincially mandated amalgamations took effect on January 1, 2015.
Communities meeting the population minimum are not always incorporated as urban municipalities. There are 22 unincorporated communities with a population of more than 1,000 within Manitoba's rural municipalities. The largest of these is Oakbank in the Rural Municipality of Springfield with a population of 4,604.
^ abcdefghijklmnThe towns of Altona, Arborg, Beausejour, Carberry, Carman, Lac du Bonnet, Melita, Niverville, Powerview-Pine Falls, Ste. Anne, Stonewall, Teulon, Virden and Winnipeg Beach were originally incorporated as villages.[5]
^ abcdefThe towns of Churchill, Gillam, Grand Rapids, Leaf Rapids, Lynn Lake and Snow Lake were originally incorporated as local government districts.[5]
^The Town of Powerview-Pine Falls originally incorporated under the name of the Village of Powerview. Its renaming occurred on May 1, 2005 when it simultaneously absorbed the neighbouring community of Pine Falls and changed to town status.[6]
Former towns
A list of formerly incorporated towns, excluding current and former cities that previously held town status.[a][b]
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaThe Manitoba government amalgamated 65 rural municipalities, 25 towns, and 17 villages into 47 municipalities on January 1, 2015 in order to bring these municipalities into compliance with the minimum population requirements of the Municipal Act.[2][5]
^The Town of Brooklands amalgamated with the City of St. James in 1969; part of the City of Winnipeg since January 1, 1972.[7]
^The former Town of East Selkirk was incorporated in 1883 and later dissolved in 1904.[8]
^The former Town of Emerson amalgamated with the municipality of West Lynne in 1883 and briefly held city status from 1883 to 1886.[9]
^The former Town of Shoal Lake amalgamated with the former Rural Municipality (RM) of Shoal Lake to form the now-former Municipality of Shoal Lake on January 1, 2011; part of RM of Yellowhead since January 1, 2015.[10]
^The former Town of Tuxedo and eleven other municipalities were amalgamated with the City of Winnipeg on January 1, 1972.[7]
