If you are considering moving to Manitoba, there are several myths we need to bust and several truths we need to tell about the province.
First, Manitoba is far from flat prairie. Certainly, we have stretches, particularly between Winnipeg and Brandon, that seem to have endless sky and fields, but we have forests, lakes, and even what some call mountains.
Riding Mountain National Park is one such area. There are the Duck Mountains, Turtle Mountains and Porcupine Mountains, none of which rival the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia.
What we have an abundance of are lakes and forests. The boreal forest east of Lake Winnipeg is currently under evaluation as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Forests abound in the northwestern part of the province, in the southwest and in the east. https://pimaki.ca/
We are known as the province of 100,000 lakes, for good reason. Lake Winnipeg (5th largest freshwater lake in Canada), Lake Winnipegosis and Lake Manitoba all are remnants of a retreating Lake Agassiz, formed as the last of the glaciers retreated from the plains 10,000 years ago.
We also have an abundance of wildlife, from polar, black and brown bears to cougars, bobcat and lynx, along with wolves, coyotes, moose, deer and elk. With all our lakes and rivers, we also have incredible fishing and hordes of waterfowl.
Now, as to our weather. Yes, we can have brutally cold weather, with Winnipeg temperatures reaching -35C every winter, and Churchill experiencing prolonged extreme cold. But we also have summers that reach +35C. And we, tough as we are, celebrate every day outdoors. https://weatherspark.com/countries/CA/03
Manitoba has only a couple of true cities, larger than 30,000 people: Winnipeg and Brandon. The remainder of our “cities” often are only 10,000 or so, with a couple hitting 25,000. These include Morden, Steinbach, Selkirk, Thompson, The Pas, Portage la Prairie, Dauphin and maybe Neepawa. The rest of the province is dotted with scores of small towns, interconnected with two-lane paved roads.
But, with our diverse geography, we have diversity in almost every facet of life. We are a true multi-cultural mosaic, a completely mixed farming economy, huge hydro-electric generating stations and windmill farms and multi-pronged economy, built on a variety of foundations including transportation to technology.
Our housing costs are among the lowest in the country, our health care is as good as any province and far more inclusive than the US system, our food costs typically middle of the pack in terms of cost and our education system comparable to the rest of Canada. https://www.crea.ca/housing-market-stats/canadian-housing-market-stats/national-price-map/ https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1810024502 https://madeinca.ca/health-care-system-statistics-canada/ https://www.theaudit.ca/p/ranking-public-education-efficiency https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810038601
Our current government focuses on environmental stewardship and our urban air quality index is almost always above acceptable levels (except during wildfire season!). https://www.gov.mb.ca/index.html
In summary, like our geographic location in the centre of the country, we are mostly middle of the road in everything, resulting in a very stress-free lifestyle. If you are considering a move to Manitoba, we invite you to check out the links in this article for more information.