Winkler is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

with a population of 13,745, making it the 4th largest city in Manitoba, as of the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sl ...

. It is located in southern Manitoba, surrounded by the

Rural Municipality of Stanley Stanley is a rural municipality (RM) in the province of Manitoba in Western Canada. It is located in the southern part of the province, along its border with the state of North Dakota in the United States. Since 1876, the area made up part of the ...

, about one hundred kilometres southwest of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

and thirteen kilometres east of its "twin city"

Morden Morden is a district and town in south London, England, within the London Borough of Merton, in the ceremonial county of Greater London. It adjoins Merton Park and Wimbledon to the north, Mitcham to the east, Sutton to the south and Worcester ...

. As the largest city in the Pembina Valley, it serves as a regional hub for commerce, agriculture and industry. Winkler is the third-fastest growing city in the province after

and Steinbach.

History

Pre-European settlement

The land in southeast Manitoba upon which Winkler sits, was the traditional lands of the nomadic

Ojibway The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

-speaking

Anishinabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...

people. They used their lands for hunting, fishing, and trapping. The Anishinabe knew no borders at the time and their land ranged both north and south of the US–Canada border, and both east and west of the Red River. On 3 August 1871 the Anishinabe people signed

Treaty 1 ''Treaty 1'' (also known as the "Stone Fort Treaty") is an agreement established on August 3, 1871, between the Imperial Crown of Great Britain and Ireland and the Anishinabe and Swampy Cree nations. The first of a series of treaties called the ...

and moved onto reserves.

Early history

European settlement in the Winkler area history dates back to 1876 when Plautdietsch-speaking

Mennonites Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

began settling in the area known as the

West Reserve The West Reserve was a block settlement plot of land in Manitoba set aside by the Government of Canada exclusively for settlement by Russian Mennonite settlers in 1876. After signing Treaty 1 with the Anishinabe and Swampy Cree First Nations, the C ...

, which had been set aside exclusively for the

Russian Mennonite The Russian Mennonites (german: Russlandmennoniten it. "Russia Mennonites", i.e., Mennonites of or from the Russian Empire occasionally Ukrainian Mennonites) are a group of Mennonites who are descendants of Dutch Anabaptists who settled for abo ...

s. The West Reserve as established two years after an earlier Mennonite Reserve called the

East Reserve The East Reserve was a block settlement in Manitoba set aside by the Government of Canada exclusively for settlement by Russian Mennonite settlers in 1873 (although settlement did not occur until 1874). Most of the East Reserve's earliest settl ...

was founded east of the Red River. Many of Winkler-area's first settlers moved from the East Reserve. The first official Mennonite Brethren congregation was founded in Burwalde, near Winkler in 1888. In 1892,

Valentine Winkler Valentine Winkler (March 18, 1864 – June 7, 1920) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as a Liberal for Rhineland from 1892 to 1900, and again from 1900 to 1920. Winkler was a cabinet m ...

, a lumber entrepreneur and politician who owned and operated his own lumber business in nearby

founded the village of Winkler. Because Winkler's many customers from the Mennonite settlement wanted him to build a market in their vicinity, he persuaded the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

to build a

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the ...

on the northeastern edge of the settlement where Winkler had been established.

Incorporation as a village

Winkler was incorporated as a village on May 9, 1906.Winkler Incorporation
/ref> By that time, the flourishing village had become home to a number of German, Jewish and English merchants. The Mennonites began moving into the village soon after and by World War I, they outnumbered all other groups. Winkler experienced significant floods in 1916, 1917, 1933 and 1966. On Tuesday, March 22, 1966, several merchants in Winkler closed down their shops for the day when they found the street flooded and water up to their doorsteps. Most of the business section was covered with two feet of water. Shopkeepers sandbagged their store front entrances while homeowners had flooded basements. A spokesman for the Emergency Measures Organization, said that about two-thirds of the town was under water. A

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...

and accompanying cloudburst passed a mile west of Winkler on May 23, 1933, resulting in the worst flooding that locals could recall. The twister struck late in the afternoon, and on May 24, the whole town was flooded.

Incorporation as a town

During the early 1900s, a large number of Jewish and German merchants emigrated from Winkler, causing a decline in population. However, the village's population increased after World War II, and on April 7, 1954, Winkler was incorporated as a town. In 1985, the

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a C ...

movement spread to Canada with the first Canadian build in Winkler.

Winkler becomes a city

Following a halt in growth during the 1960s, the town's rapid growth in population resumed and continued into the 1990s. On April 7, 2002, Winkler was officially granted city status. The city celebrated its centennial anniversary in the summer of 2006.

Geography and climate

Located on the western edge of the

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

, Winkler is located at the corner of provincial highways 14 and 32. It is northwest of a 24-hour

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: ...

crossing at Emerson, and about north of the Canada–United States border crossing at

Walhalla, North Dakota Walhalla is a city in Pembina County, North Dakota, United States. It sits on the banks of the Pembina River, five miles (8 km) from the border with Manitoba ( Canada) and approximately from the border with Minnesota. The population was 893 at ...

. Winkler is situated on the

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The us ...

beaches of

Lake Agassiz Lake Agassiz was a large glacial lake in central North America. Fed by glacial meltwater at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined. First postulated in 1823 by William H. Keating, i ...

. The lake's shores were formed over 10,000 years ago by the

Pembina Escarpment The Pembina Escarpment is a scarp that runs from South Dakota to Manitoba, and forms the western wall of the Red River Valley. The height of the escarpment above the river valley is . Geology The escarpment was originally formed by the undercut ...

, located a few kilometres west of Winkler. A secondary beach known as the Emerado Beach lies to the west of Winkler. This gentle rise in

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

was formed thousands of years ago when the draining of Lake Agassiz temporarily stalled. The rich soils of the area are separated by the Emerado Beach. Coarser textured

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand ( particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...

y sand soils, located to the west, are suitable for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

and produce potato,

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

and bean crops. To the east, finer textured

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

soils produce

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet ('' Beta vulgaris''). Together ...

s, beans,

canola Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, ...

, corn and small

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

s. Winkler's

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologi ...

is typically continental, resulting in dry cold winters and hot, frequently dry summers. Summer temperatures typically range from , while winter temperatures average between . The Winkler area obtains the most heat units for crop production in Manitoba. Winkler receives an annual average of of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

(most of which falls during the spring and summer months) and of snow. Winkler's average frost-free period is 125 days.

Economy

Valley Fiber head office and data center

Winkler is the economic hub of southern Manitoba. The retail trading area serves an estimated 17,000 households. 4,380 people are employed in Winkler. Approximately 30% of the work force is employed in the industrial sector. The city's second-largest employer, employing 20% of the work force, is the

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

sector. A number of industries have grown and developed in Winkler throughout the years. One of Winkler's largest employers is Triple E Recreational Vehicles, a

recreational vehicle A recreational vehicle, often abbreviated as RV, is a motor vehicle or trailer that includes living quarters designed for accommodation. Types of RVs include motorhomes, campervans, coaches, caravans (also known as travel trailers and campe ...

manufacturer. Other products manufactured in Winkler include

mobile home A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). U ...

houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. Ho ...

s, farm equipment, windows and doors. Two foundries, a straw fibre plant and a

tire recycling Tire recycling, or rubber recycling, is the process of recycling waste tires that are no longer suitable for use on vehicles due to wear or irreparable damage. These tires are a challenging source of waste, due to the large volume produced, t ...

plant are also located in Winkler. Winkler's agricultural sector is one of the most productive and diversified in Manitoba. The area surrounding Winkler is home to rich, fertile soils which are especially suited to growing potatoes. However, many other crops are grown in the area, including

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, canola, corn and beans. The area's livestock operations also continue to grow; hogs and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ...

are raised, while dairy farms contribute to the making of

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...

. Business development in Winkler has boomed in the years since incorporation. On average, the city becomes home to 10-20 new businesses per year. In 2002, 55 new businesses were established in Winkler. The increase in new businesses can be attributed to low taxes, reasonably priced

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

and cooperation between the city and entrepreneurs. One example of this is the recently established

Incubator An incubator is anything that performs or facilitates various forms of incubation, and may refer to: Biology and medicine * Incubator (culture), a device used to grow and maintain microbiological cultures or cell cultures * Incubator (egg), a de ...

Mall, a city-owned, five office facility that gives new businesses the opportunity to rent office space at moderate rates. Once those businesses outgrow the space, they relocate, making room for new startups. A recent development is the rise of and competition in the

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scien ...

industry in Winkler with startup

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise priva ...

Valley Fiber and

Bell MTS Bell MTS Inc. (formerly Manitoba Telecom Services) is a subsidiary of BCE Inc. that operates telecommunications services in Manitoba. Originally established as Manitoba Government Telephones after the Government of Manitoba purchased the Manito ...

installing

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...

cabling ( fibre to the home) throughout the city.

Government and politics

Winkler is governed by a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

and six

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s who are elected by residents. The current mayor of Winkler is Henry Siemens. The current Winkler city councillors are Marvin Plett, Peter Froese, Andrew Froese, Michael Grenier, Don Friesen and Don Fehr.City Council
/ref> Winkler is represented in the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gen ...

(as part of the Morden-Winkler riding) by Progressive Conservative MLA,

Cameron Friesen Cameron Scott Friesen, MLA is a Canadian politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Morden-Winkler, currently serving as the Manitoba Minister of Finance. A member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, he w ...

, and in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Commo ...

(as part of the

Portage—Lisgar Portage—Lisgar is a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Demographics Portage—Lisgar is the riding with the highest percentage of native German speakers ( ...

riding) by

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MP,

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for her portrayal of the title character on the CBS sitcom ''Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also kno ...

Transport

Winkler's chief transport connection to other communities is the highway system.

is accessible from Winkler either via PTH 14 and PTH 3 or via PR 428 or PTH 23 and PTH 75 or PTH 14 and PTH 75. PTH 32 leads directly to the Winkler Port of Entry on the Canada–United States border. A 4-lane

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

connects Winkler and the other major city of the region, Morden. Winkler Airport (CKZ7, ) is located in the city's

industrial park An industrial park (also known as industrial estate, trading estate) is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more "heavyweight" version of a business park or office park ...

. It has two runways: an turf/paved runway (09/27), and a turf runway (17/35). Aircraft which need a longer runway are advised to use the Morden Regional Aerodrome which is located from Winkler. The city has one taxi service, Pembina Valley Taxi.

has a

spur line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industr ...

going into Winkler's industrial park that connects to the La Riviere subdivision, a secondary feeder line on the CPR network.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, Winkler had a population of 13,745 living in 5,089 of its 5,239 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 12,660. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. The most common ancestries in Winkler (as of 1996) are

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

(65.2%),

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

(

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

) (24.7%), Canadian (23.0%), Russian (10.0%),

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

(2.1%),

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

(1.5%), Aboriginal (1.2%), Scottish (1.0%), Irish (0.9%), Polish (0.8%) and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

ic (0.2%). Most Winklerites are of Mennonite descent, which would most accurately be described as Dutch. The racial makeup of the city (as of 2001) is 98.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 0.4% Chinese, 0.38% Aboriginal, 0.1%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

, 0.1%

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

n and 0.1%

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

n. There are 2,885 households, out of which 36.2% are married couples living together with children, 30.8% are married couples living together without children, 25.5% are one-person households and 7.6% are multiple-family households,

single parent A single parent is a person who has a child or children but does not have a spouse or live-in partner to assist in the upbringing or support of the child. Reasons for becoming a single parent include divorce, break-up, abandonment, becoming wid ...

family households or non-family households other than one-person households. 90.2% of Winkler's 2,135 families are married couple families, while 1.4% are common-law couple families and 8.2% are single parent families. The average household size is 3.0 and the average family size is 3.3. In the city the population is spread out, with 21.6% under the age of 15, 8.5% from 15 to 19, 8.1% from 20 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 12.1% from 45 to 54, 7.1% from 55 to 64 and 17.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The

median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic f ...

age is 34.3 years. For every 100 females there are 94.8 males.2001 Community Profile - Winkler
/ref> The average income for a family in the city is $44,227. The average income for all workers is $22,423, with males earning an average income of $27,787 and females earning an average income of $16,061. The average income for full-time, full-year workers is $30,779. Males who work full-time for a full year earn an average of $34,326 while females who work full-time for a full year earn an average of $23,546. 15.9% of Winkler's population is foreign-born. 1,832 immigrants settled in Winkler from 1999 to 2004, with 465 arriving in 2004 alone. Due to the city's cultural roots, most recent immigrants to Winkler are ethnic Germans from the former Soviet Union, Germans originating from Germany, or returning

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle ...

from

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

. According to Statistics Canada's 2006 census data for Winkler residents over the age of 25, 66% have high school diplomas, of which 9% also hold university certificates, diplomas or degrees. According to the 2011 National Household Survey, 93.4% of the Winkler population report being of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

faith, 6.3% report no religious affiliation, and 0.3% report being religious but of non-Christian faith.

Culture

P W Enns Centenial Concert Hall in Winkler Manitoba

The Pembina Thresherman's Museum is situated on Highway 3 between Winkler and Morden. It includes a number of historical buildings in a village setting and a collection of agricultural machinery, tools and household items, as well as a meeting hall. Winkler's main festival is the Harvest Festival and Exhibition. Held at the Winkler Parkland in mid-August, it features a parade, midway, live stage entertainment, fireworks,

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaq ...

and more.

Canada Day Canada Day (french: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 18 ...

celebrations are held at the Winkler Parkland on July 1. The Cripple Creek Music Festival takes place on the fourth Sunday in July.

Education

Garden Valley Collegiate in Winkler Manitoba

Winkler's public school system is the

Garden Valley School Division A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

, which consists of five elementary schools - Winkler Elementary School, Parkland Elementary School, J.R. Walkof School, Emerado Centennial School, Pine Ridge Elementary School and two

high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, Garden Valley Collegiate and Northlands Parkway Collegiate, which opened in September 2013. As of July 2005, Garden Valley School Division had a total enrollment of 4,121 students. There are no

private schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British En ...

operating within the city. Garden Valley Technical School is the new vocational campus that has opened in Winkler. Red River College also operates a regional campus in Winkler, serving 1,500 students each year.

Media

Radio

Winkler is home to two radio stations, both of which are owned and operated by Altona-based

Golden West Broadcasting Golden West Broadcasting Ltd. is a Canadian radio and digital media company based in Altona, Manitoba. It is the largest independent radio broadcaster in Canada. The company primarily operates small-market radio stations and internet portals in ...

. COUNTRY 88, a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

station, was established in 1980 on the AM dial at 1530 kHz, then moved to 1570 kHz in 1987, and since 2013, broadcasts on the FM dial at 88.9 MHz. CJEL-FM, an

adult contemporary music Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, qu ...

station branded as The Eagle 93.5, launched in 2000.

Newspapers

''The Winkler-Morden Voice'' is published weekly and distributed by mail to households in both Winkler and Morden and many surrounding smaller communities. A former paper, ''The Winkler Times'' newspaper ceased publication in 2020.The Winkler Times
/ref>

Sports

Centenial Arena and adjacent Curling Rink in Winkler

The

Winkler Flyers The Winkler Flyers are a Manitoba Junior Hockey League team playing out of the Winkler Arena in Winkler, Manitoba, Canada. The Flyers entered the MJHL as an expansion team for the 1980-81 season and have won three Turnbull Cup Championships as ...

compete in the

Manitoba Junior Hockey League The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirteen teams all based ...

and play their home games at the Winkler Arena. Perhaps the best known alumnus of the team is

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame (french: Temple de la renommée du hockey) is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) rec ...

inductee

Ed Belfour Edward John Belfour (born April 21, 1965) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender. Belfour was born in Carman, Manitoba and grew up playing hockey. He played junior hockey for the Winkler Flyers before going to the University of ...

. There is also a minor league hockey in Winkler. The two local high schools have multiple sports teams under the names Zodiacs and Nighthawks. Winkler also has two men's soccer teams called the Winkler Storm, and the Riots. The women's soccer team is called the Hurricanes. Winkler was selected as host city for the 2008 edition of CBC Sports' day-long '' Hockey Day in Canada'', which took place on February 9, 2008.

Notable people

Di Brandt Di Brandt (born 31 January 1952) (née Janzen) often stylized as di brandt, is a Canadian poet and scholar from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She became Winnipeg's first Poet Laureate in 2018. Life and career Brandt grew up in Reinland, a Mennonite farmin ...

, poet and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. ...

* Arnold Brown, politician * Benjamin De Fehr, soldier executed during World War I * Karen Doell, softball player * Howard Dyck, conductor and broadcaster * Larry Dyck, hockey player *

Peter Dyck Peter George Dyck (November 22, 1946 – January 5, 2020) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Manitoba legislature from 1995 to 2011. Before entering provincial politics, Dyck was a public school music teacher (one of ...

, politician *

David Elias David Elias (born 1949) is a Canadian writer from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Career Elias was born in Winkler, Manitoba in 1949 in a Mennonite home, a topic that often is addressed in his writing. He later moved to Winnipeg where he completed a degree ...

, writer *

Justin Falk Justin Falk (born October 11, 1988) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He last played with the Belleville Senators in the American Hockey League (AHL). He made his National Hockey League debut in the 2009–10 season with ...

, NHL player for the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, alon ...

Eric Fehr Eric Fehr (born September 7, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played under contract with Ak Bars Kazan in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He was drafted in th ...

, NHL player for the

Minnesota Wild The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Wild competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and play their home games at the Xcel Ener ...

* Byron Froese, NHL player for the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play ...

Jacob Froese Jacob M. Froese (November 28, 1917 – June 14, 2003) was a politician in the Canadian province of Manitoba. He was the province's only Social Credit MLA between 1959 and 1973, and was the party's leader for most if not all of the period from 1959 ...

, politician * Peter J. Hooge, politician * Ray Neufeld, former NHL player * Jordan Peters, curler *

Dustin Penner Dustin Penner (born September 28, 1982) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Anaheim Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals. Undrafted by any N ...

, former NHL player * John Sawatsky, award-winning author and journalist * George Sawatzky, physicist, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada *

Cornelius Wiebe Cornelius W. Wiebe, (February 18, 1893 – July 12, 1999) was a Canadian physician and politician. Early life & education Wiebe was born to a Mennonite family in Altona, Manitoba. He was educated at Wesley College, the University of Manit ...

, physician and politician *

, town founder

References

Sources

*City of Winkler (2003). https://web.archive.org/web/20050112163540/http://www.cityofwinkler.ca/demographics.html. Retrieved October 6, 2019. *Province of Manitoba (2000)
Community Profile: City of Winkler
Retrieved October 6, 2019. *Statistics Canada (2004)
2001 Community Profile - Winkler
Retrieved August 11, 2005. *Statistics Canada (2016)
2016 Community Profile - Winkler
Retrieved January 1, 2022. *Winkler Chamber of Commerce (2004). http://www.winklerchamber.com/. Retrieved August 11, 2005.

External links

* {{Authority control 1874 establishments in Manitoba Cities in Manitoba German-Russian diaspora in Canada Historic Jewish communities in Canada Mennonitism in Manitoba Pembina Valley Region Populated places established in 1874