Yorkton is a city located in south-eastern

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

, Canada. It is about north-west of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

and south-east of

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

and is the sixth largest city in the province. Yorkton was founded in 1882 and incorporated as a city in 1928. The city is bordered by the rural municipalities of

Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...

to the north, west, and south, and

Wallace Wallace may refer to: People * Clan Wallace in Scotland * Wallace (given name) * Wallace (surname) * Wallace (footballer, born 1986), full name Wallace Fernando Pereira, Brazilian football left-back * Wallace (footballer, born 1987), full name Wa ...

on the east.

History

In 1882, a group of businessmen and investors formed the York Farmers Colonization Company. Authorized to issue up to $300,000 in

debenture In corporate finance, a debenture is a medium- to long-term debt instrument used by large companies to borrow money, at a fixed rate of interest. The legal term "debenture" originally referred to a document that either creates a debt or acknowle ...

s and lenient government credit terms on land purchases encouraged company representatives to visit the District of

Assiniboia Assiniboia District refers to two historical districts of Canada's Northwest Territories. The name is taken from the Assiniboine First Nation. Historical usage ''For more information on the history of the provisional districts, see also Distric ...

of the

North-West Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated pop ...

with the intent to view some

crown land Crown land, also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realm ...

available near the Manitoba border. They were impressed with what they saw and the group purchased portions of six

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

near the Little Whitesand River (now Yorkton Creek) for the purpose of settlement and to establish a centre for trade there. This centre would become known as York Colony. The company founded the settlers' colony on the banks of the Little Whitesand River where lots were given freely to settlers who purchased land from them. The colony remained at its site until 1889. It was originally located at PT SE 1/4 13-26-4 W2M. In 1889, the rail line was extended to the Yorkton area. It was at this time the colony townsite relocated alongside the new rail line.

Geography

Yorkton is located in the

aspen parkland Aspen parkland refers to a very large area of ecotone, transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest in two sections, namely the Peace River Country of northwestern Alberta crossing the border into British Columbia, and a much larger area ...

ecosystem. The terrain is mainly one of agriculture and there is no forestry industry. It is also in an area of black calcareous

chernozem Chernozem ( ),; also called black soil, regur soil or black cotton soil, is a black-colored soil containing a high percentage of humus (4% to 16%) and high percentages of phosphorus and ammonia compounds. Chernozem is very fertile soil and can ...

ic soils. The Yorkton area was located on the edge of an area of a maximum glacial lake. The quaternary geology has left the area as a

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

plain consisting of glacial deposits. The bedrock geology is the Pembina Member of

Vermillion River Formation The Vermillion River Formation is a geological formation in Manitoba, Canada whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Di ...

and Riding Mountain Formation. Yorkton is located in the physiographic region of the Quill Lake-Yorkton Plain region of the Saskatchewan Plains Region.

Climate

Yorkton has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

Dfb DFB may refer to: Music * Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group * Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival Sport * DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany Organisations * Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland * German Footbal ...

''), with extreme seasonal temperatures. It has warm summers and cold winters, with the average daily temperatures ranging from in January to in July. The highest temperature ever recorded in Yorkton was on 19 July 1941. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 20 January 1943.

Extreme weather events

* On the evening of July 1, 2010, Yorkton received a

severe thunderstorm warning A severe thunderstorm warning ( SAME code: SVR) is a type of public warning for severe weather that is issued by weather forecasting agencies worldwide when one or more severe thunderstorms have been detected by Doppler weather radar, observed ...

. Soon after, Yorkton was experiencing pea sized hail, strong winds, lightning, and heavy rain. The rain created a

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...

. Broadway Street received the worst of the flood with local businesses being severely damaged, with one being completely destroyed. The city of Yorkton declared a

State of Emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

and the

Canadian Red Cross The Canadian Red Cross Society ()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; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Yorkton had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Ethnicity

The first settlers to the Yorkton colony were English from Eastern Ontario and Great Britain. west were Scottish settlers at the settlement of

. A significant number of residents are also descended from immigrants from Ukraine who came in the early 20th century.

Attractions

The Yorkton Gallagher Centre is an entertainment complex constructed in 1977 by the civic government and the Yorkton Exhibition Association. The centre includes an arena, curling rink, conference rooms and an indoor swimming pool. Until 2005, the facility was called the Parkland Agriplex. In the early 1900s an older Agriplex building was located on the fair grounds adjacent to the Gallagher Centre. Yorkton is home to a branch of the

Saskatchewan Western Development Museum The Western Development Museum is a network of four museums in Saskatchewan, Canada preserving and recording the social and economic development of the province. The museum has branches in Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Saskatoon and Yorkton. Respec ...

, which houses a number of exhibits depicting pioneer life in the town and on the surrounding

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

. The museum includes an early pioneer log home and an extensive outdoor exhibit of

agricultural machinery Agricultural machinery relates to the machine (mechanical), mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are list of agricultural machinery, many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractor ...

, including early

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a Trailer (vehicle), trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or constructio ...

s and

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...

s. Located on several buildings in downtown Yorkton are murals depicting historic personalities.

Historic sites

A number of heritage buildings are located within the city. Yorkton Tower Theatre is a single screen movie theatre built in the 1950s. Army Navy and Air Force Veterans Building, Dulmage Farmstead, Hudson's Bay Company Store, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Yorkton Armoury, Yorkton Court House, 29 Myrtle Avenue, 81 Second Avenue North, Old Land Titles Building and Yorkton Organic Milling Ltd are also listed historic places.

Yorkton Film Festival

Film Festivals have been an enduring part of life in Yorkton since the projector spun to life in October 1947. At that time the Yorkton International Documentary Film Festival was born. The international component was dropped in 1977, deciding to focus on Canadian short film instead. The festival renamed itself the Yorkton Short Film Festival also in 1977. In 2009 it became the Yorkton Film Festival.

Sports

The city of Yorkton hosted the 1999 Royal Bank Cup (Junior "A"

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

National Championship), the 2006 World Junior A Challenge (an international Junior "A" ice hockey tournament) and the

2009 Canada Cup of Curling The 2009 Canada Cup of Curling was held March 18-22 at the Farrell Agencies Arena in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Men's Teams * Kevin Koe (Defending champion) * Kevin Martin (2008 Brier Champion) * Glenn Howard (2008 Player's Championship champion) ...

Teams

The

Yorkton Terriers The Yorkton Terriers are a team in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) based in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team plays their home games in the Westland Insurance Arena, which has a seating capacity of 2,300. The Terriers won th ...

are a team in the

Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. Open to North American-born players 20 years o ...

. The Yorkton Rawtec Maulers are a Midget AAA ice hockey team and they are a member of the

SMAAAHL The Saskatchewan Male U18 'AAA' Hockey League (SMAAAHL), formerly the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League,) is a U-18 'AAA' ice hockey league, with teams based in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the highest level of minor hockey in ...

. The teams play their games in the 2,300 sea
Westland Arena
in the Yorkton Gallagher Centre

Yorkton Cardinals The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league. The league is home to teams based in the Canadian Prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, and has roots dating back to 1931 in Saskatchewan's Southern Bas ...

were a

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

team playing in the

Western Canadian Baseball League The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league. The league is home to teams based in the Canadian Prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, and has roots dating back to 1931 in Saskatchewan's Southern Bas ...

. The

Yorkton Bulldogs The Yorkton Bulldogs are a Junior B box lacrosse team based out of Yorkton, Saskatchewan. They are a member of the Prairie Gold Lacrosse League. Founded in 2003, the Bulldogs gain most of their talent from Yorkton Minor Lacrosse, Whitewood and ...

are a retired box lacrosse team formed in 2003. They are a member of the

Prairie Gold Lacrosse League The Prairie Gold Lacrosse League, formally known as the Saskatchewan Major Box Lacrosse League (2001–2003), is a Junior B box lacrosse league in Saskatchewan, Canada. A formal Senior division was launched in 2005, presently with five member te ...

Government

Municipal

The current mayor as of 2024 is Aaron Kienle. He is serving with councillors Dustin Brears, Stephanie Ortynsky, Quinn Haider, Randy Goulden, Greg Litvanyi, and Darcy Zaharia.

Provincial

The city is located in the Provincial Electoral District of Yorkton. This riding is served in the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan () is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, in the ...

Saskatchewan Party The Saskatchewan Party (SP or Sask Party) is a conservative political party in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was founded in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative ...

MLA

Greg Ottenbreit Greg Ottenbreit (born November 18, 1963) is a Canadian former politician. He was first elected to represent the electoral district of Yorkton in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2007 election, and remained in office until retirin ...

Federal

The federal constituency of

Yorkton—Melville Yorkton—Melville is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography The district is in east-central Saskatchewan. History ...

is represented in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

Cathay Wagantall Cathay Wagantall (née Caswell; born March 7, 1956) is a Canadian politician who was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada to represent the federal electoral riding of Yorkton—Melville during the 2015 Canadian fe ...

of the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

. From 1968 to 1993, Yorkton was represented federally by

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

Lorne Nystrom Lorne Edmund Nystrom (born April 26, 1946) is a Canadian politician and was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1993 and again from 1997 to 2004. He is a member of the New Democratic Party. Parliamentary career Nystrom was ...

who at his first election win was the youngest person to be elected to the Canadian Parliament.

Infrastructure

Health care

Yorkton established its first hospital in 1902, and this was followed by a maternity care home which lasted a couple of decades. The original hospital was converted into a residential apartment, which in 2014 suffered a large fire which engulfed the entire building. The current hospital, the Yorkton Regional Health Centre, is located on Bradbrooke Drive and is part of the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

Transportation

Yellowhead hwy near Yorkton Saskatchewan

Air

During the Second World War an airport was built north of Yorkton for the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

's No. 11 Service Flying Training School. It is now operated as the

Yorkton Municipal Airport Yorkton Municipal Airport is located north of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. History During World War II, the airport was operated as RCAF Station Yorkton and was home to No. 23 Elementary Flying Training School and No. 11 Service Flying ...

.Aircraft Movement Statistics: Airports Without Air Traffic Control Towers (TP 577)
Movements from

Roads

Yorkton is located at the intersection of Hwy 52, Hwy 10, Hwy 9 and The Yellowhead which is part of the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...

Rail

Yorkton is served by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

(JCT Yorkton Sub, Sk. (CN)) branch line and

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

(Yorkton IMS, Sk (CPRS)) mainline track.

Transit

Yorkton Transit runs two routes, covering the majority of the city.

Education

Tertiary institutions

Parkland College Parkland College may refer to: * Parkland College (United States), an American community college in Champaign, Illinois * Parkland College (Canada), a post-secondary educational institution in Saskatchewan, Canada {{Hndis, Parkland College ...

has campuses in Yorkton.

High schools

Sacred Heart High School was founded by the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, and the school celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1991. Dream Builders is an alternative education program offering grades 6 through 12 with a work experience component.

Yorkton Regional High School Yorkton Regional High School (also known as the YRHS or The Regional) is located in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. The Regional opened its doors on November 10, 1967. As of 2022, the school had a population of 790 students. The school color is orange, ...

opened November 10, 1967 offering grades 9 to 12.

Elementary schools

There are four separate Catholic elementary schools. St. Alphonsus Elementary School provides pre-kindergarten through Grade 8. St. Mary's Elementary School offers pre-kindergarten classes to grade 8. St. Michael's Elementary School offers both English and French immersion from Kindergarten to grade 8. St. Paul's Elementary School also belongs to the Christ the Teacher Catholic School Division, and provides Kindergarten to Grade 8 classes. The public elementary schools are also four in total. Columbia Elementary School has an approximate enrolment of 340 students and offers pre-Kindergarten to Grade 8. Dr. Brass Elementary School is named after the dentist, Dr. David James Brass and offers pre-Kindergarten to Grade 8. M.C. Knoll Elementary School opened in August 1998, and is named after Milton Clifford Knoll. Yorkdale Central School is also a part of Good Spirit School Division No. 204 and offers Kindergarten to Grade 8.

Military

The 64th (Yorkton) Field Battery,

Royal Canadian Artillery The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery () is the artillery personnel branch of the Canadian Army. History Many of the units and batteries of the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery are older than the Dominion of Canada itself. The first arti ...

is garrisoned at the Yorkton Armouries. During World War II the Yorkton airport was home to No. 23 Elementary Flying Training School and No. 11 Service Flying Training School – both schools being a part of the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a large-scale multinational military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand during the Second Wo ...

. Among the present users is a Gliding Centre, operated for the

Royal Canadian Air Cadets The Royal Canadian Air Cadets () is a Canadian national youth program for young individuals aged 12 to 18. Under the authority of the National Defence Act, ''National Defence Act'', the program is administered by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) ...

. The Royal Canadian Air Force Station Yorkton (ADC ID: C-51) was a Long Range Radar (LRR) and Ground Air Transmitter Receiver (GATR) facility of the

Pinetree Line The Pinetree Line was a series of radar stations located across southern Canada at about the 50th parallel north, along with a number of other stations located on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Run by North American Aerospace Defense Comm ...

. The site was SAGE compatible from day one. The facility which was in use during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

was renamed

CFS Yorkton Royal Canadian Air Force Station Yorkton (ADC ID: C-51) was a Long Range Radar (LRR) and Ground Air Transmitter Receiver (GATR) facility of the Pinetree Line. The site was Semi Automatic Ground Environment, SAGE compatible from day one. It was ...

(Canadian Forces Station) in 1967. The station located near Yorkton was operational from 1963 to 1986.

Media

Newspapers

;Weeklies * The Yorkton News Review (defunct) * Yorkton This Week

Radio

Television

Cable television services are supplied by Access Communications. Access is a Saskatchewan-owned not-for-profit co-operative established in 1974. It also supplies home phone and Internet service to the community. SaskTel provides maxTV services on both DSL and Fiber. SaskTel is a

Crown Corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

owned by the provincial government to serve the people of Saskatchewan with telephone, Internet, and TV services. The only terrestrial television station serving Yorkton is

CICC-TV CICC-DT (channel 10) is a television station in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, it is a semi-satellite of CKCK-DT in Regina. CICC-DT's studios are located on ...

channel 10, a CTV affiliate station. Yorkton was previously served by

CKOS-TV CKOS-TV (channel 5) was a television station in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. The station was in operation from 1958 to 2002 as a private affiliate of CBC Television. It was a twinstick with the city's CTV affiliate CICC-TV. History In Mar ...

channel 5, a private

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

outlet; formerly a sister station of CICC, it became an owned-and-operated repeater of

CBKT CBKT-DT (channel 9) is a CBC Television station in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. It is part of a Duopoly (broadcasting)#Canada, twinstick with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBKFT-DT (channel 13). The two outlets share studios with sister statio ...

in 2002, before closing down with the rest of CBC's repeater network in 2012.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Saskatchewan Orkney No. 244, Saskatchewan Populated places established in 1882 Division No. 9, Saskatchewan