Dauphin is a city in Manitoba, Canada, with a population of 8,368 as of the 2021 Canadian Census. The community is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Dauphin. The city takes its name from Lake Dauphin and Fort Dauphin (first built 1741), which were named by explorer Pierre Gaultier de La Vérendrye in honour of the Dauphin of France, the heir to the French throne. Dauphin is Manitoba's ninth largest community and serves as a hub to the province's Parkland Region. Dauphin plays host to several summer festivals, including Dauphin's Countryfest and Canada's National Ukrainian Festival. Dauphin is served by Provincial Trunk Highways 5, 10 and 20.

Location

Dauphin is in western Manitoba near Duck Mountain Provincial Park and Riding Mountain National Park, just west of Lake Manitoba and Dauphin Lake and south of Lake Winnipegosis.

History

The nearby lake was given the name "Dauphin" by the explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye in 1741 in honour of the heir to the French throne. Settlers began arriving in the area in 1883 and two early settlements, Gartmore and "Old Dauphin" were established. With the coming of the railway in 1896 – the line ran roughly halfway between the two villages – settlement shifted to the present site. This coincided with the beginning of Ukrainian settlement in the area: previously most arrivals had been of British extraction. Dauphin was granted a village charter on 11 July 1898, with George Barker as first mayor. In 1901 Dauphin was incorporated as a town, with George King as mayor. Dauphin became an important centre for the transportation of grain. Farming still plays a central role in the economy of the area, but its role has been greatly reduced. From 1974 to 1979, a federally funded pilot project called Mincome provided a Basic income guarantee to residents of Dauphin. Dauphin was incorporated as a city in 1998.

Healthcare

Dauphin is a regional healthcare hub, part of the Prairie Mountain Health authority. The Dauphin General Hospital (now the Dauphin Regional Health Centre) was established in 1901. The Dauphin Medical Clinic provides access to family physicians and specialists, while providing a walk-in clinic and acute care.

Economy

As the largest city within the Parkland, Dauphin has a trading area of over 50,000 people. A large part of Dauphin's economy is based on agriculture, with farms in this area of the province producing grains, oilseeds, honey and livestock. Dauphin is the home to various industries including manufacturing, health care, education, recreation/tourism and retail. The Canadian distribution centre for Norwex is also located in the city.

Education

The first school building was erected in Dauphin in 1903, a frame building on the present Mackenzie School site. The original Whitmore School was built on Fifth Ave. SW in 1907, followed by the Smith-Jackson School on Main Street South in 1922. Today, the Mountain View School Division oversees K-12 education in Dauphin. The City of Dauphin has 7 schools including the Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School, Mackenzie Middle School, Henderson Elementary School, Lt. Colonel Barker VC School, École Macneill (French Immersion), Whitmore School and Smith-Jackson Ukrainian Bilingual School. The Assiniboine Community College Parkland Campus, located in Dauphin, provides post-secondary programming in the Parkland. Programs include business, agriculture, applied counseling, nursing and a range of apprenticeship courses.

Transportation

Ground

The city is served by Manitoba Provincial Trunk Highways:

Air

Lt. Col W.G. (Billy) Barker VC Airport serves the area, however no scheduled flights are operated from the airport.

Rail

Dauphin railway station is served by Via Rail's Winnipeg–Churchill train. The rail line is owned by Canadian National (CN) which also operates freight trains through the town.

Sports

Dauphin is a hockey community. The Credit Union Place recreation complex was built in 2006. It is the home of the Dauphin Kings, an MJHL Junior A hockey team, Turnbull Memorial Trophy winners in 1969, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1983, 1993, and 2010 and Anavet Cup winners of 2010. Formerly, the team played in the Dauphin Memorial Community Centre (D.M.C.C.) arena that was built after the Second World War. Dauphin and the Kings hosted the Royal Bank Cup in 2010, the Canadian National Championship for Junior A Hockey. The 1953–54 Dauphin Kings were inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame for winning the team's second Western Canadian Intermediate Championship in a decade and capturing the Edmonton Journal trophy. Dauphin has a history of title-winning baseball teams. Both the Dauphin Redbirds and later the Dauphin Brewers have claimed numerous provincial titles. Dauphin high schoolers play a big part of the athletics of Dauphin. They have won many awards and medals in volleyball, track and field, basketball, broomball, curling, football, and hockey. A Dauphin rink composed of curlers Ab Gowanlock, Jim Williams, Art Pollon and Russ Jackman won the Brier, the Canadian men's curling championship, in 1953. Dauphin has been called the "horseshoe capital of Canada," in large part due to the efforts of Bert Snart (1912–1988), president of the Dauphin Horseshoe Club for 32 years. In 1976 he was inducted into the Horseshoe Hall of Fame in Levittown, Pennsylvania.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Dauphin had a population of 8,368 living in 3,779 of its 4,048 total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of 8,369. With a land area of 12.67 km2, it had a population density of in 2021. The median household income in 2005 was $35,527, below the Manitoba provincial average of $47,875.

Ethnicity

According to the 2021 Canadian census, Ukrainians constitute the largest ethnic group in the City of Dauphin, with 29.99% of the population. 5.7% of the population can speak Ukrainian. 18.8% of the residents have English ancestry, 15.3% Scottish ancestry, and 14.07% Irish ancestry, and 27.54% are of Aboriginal origin.

Climate

Dauphin has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with cold winters and warm summers. The highest temperature ever recorded in Dauphin was 43.3 C on June 25, 1919. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -44.4 C on 25 February 1890 and 18 February 1966.

Local media

Newspapers Radio Television Dauphin was formerly served by a local newscast, which aired on the city's now-defunct retransmitter of CBWT Winnipeg but was produced by Craig Media instead of by CBC Television.

Notable people