Thompson, Manitoba

Thompson is a city in north-central Manitoba, Canada, the largest city and most populated municipality in Northern Manitoba.

Situated along the Burntwood River, Thompson is located north of Lake Winnipeg and north of the City of Winnipeg. Originally founded in 1956 as a mining town, it is one of the largest fully planned communities in Canada. It now primarily serves as the "Hub of the North", The largest marina in Manitoba is south in Paint Lake Provincial Park. The lack of light pollution and Thompson's northern latitude allows for occasional viewing of the northern lights, even within the city limits.

History

The Thompson area, located on the south side of the Burntwood River, was first inhabited by nomadic Paleo-Indian hunters around 6000 BC, sometime after the collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.

Founding

For a 10-year period beginning in 1946, Inco Limited explored Northern Manitoba for nickel deposits; on February 4, 1956, a major ore body was discovered southwest of Moak Lake, and the modern history of Thompson began. The town was founded in 1957, and was named after Dr. John F. Thompson (1881–1968), Inco's chairman at the time.

New mines were opened during the 1960s, and the population topped 20,000, despite the townsite being designed for 8,000 to 12,000.

The community was initially planned for a population of 8000, However, major layoffs at Inco Limited in 1971 and 1977 led to Thompson's population declining to 14,288 by the 1981 Census.

Thompson's rapid boom and bust was attributed to changes in the nickel market; during the 1960s, following large increases in the demand for nickel, 6 additional mines (Birchtree, Soab North, Soab South, Pipe Number 1, Pipe Number 2, and Pipe Open Pit) were constructed near Thompson.

After the Soviet Union gained access to the world nickel market in 1970, world supply of nickel exceeded world demand;

In 1977, when nickel prices declined substantially, a fifth mine (Birchtree) was put on care and maintenance and an additional 650 Inco employees in Thompson were laid off. to around 850 in 2018, the economic driver of Thompson shifted to providing goods and services (e.g., retail, healthcare, social services) to the surrounding communities, earning Thompson the nickname, "The Hub of the North".

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Economy

thumb|City of Thompson, looking West. The Burntwood River is visible at the edge of town.

The economy of Thompson is centred around nickel mining, and provides goods and services to the surrounding communities in both Census Division No. 22 (in which Thompson is located) and Census Division No. 23; these two Census Divisions have a combined population of 51,136, which includes over 38,000 First Nations people. Thompson is by far the largest community in either of these Census Divisions, with the next largest community being Norway House Cree Nation (population 4927).

As is common in resource-based communities, Thompson has experienced above-average employment income and significant swings in mining-sector employment throughout its history.

The median employment income in 2015 for full-year full-time workers in Thompson was $65,262; this was 22% higher than the Canadian median of $53,431.

mining (1255 employees)
health care and social assistance (1100 employees)
accommodation and food services (710 employees)
educational services (710 employees)
retail trade (670 employees)

Mining

thumb|View of Thompson's mining operations. The (now decommissioned) smelter and refinery is visible in the middle of the image.

Vale Limited is the owner and operator of Thompson's mining operations, which involves the mining, milling, and concentrating of nickel; the concentrated nickel slurry is then shipped (for final processing) to Vale Limited's operations in Long Harbour and Sudbury.

Founded on a large and high-grade deposit of nickel, Thompson accounted for 11% of the world's finished nickel production in 1962, having produced over 40,800 metric tonnes of nickel that year; Thompson's nickel production peaked in 1970 and 1971 at over 60,000 metric tonnes (per year) and has since declined to 23,000 metric tonnes in 2017.

Despite the fact that Vale Limited's placed their nearby Birchtree Mine on care and maintenance (suspending nickel extraction at the mine for the time being), Thompson may be particularly well positioned for future growth in nickel mining industry: Vale recently invested over $100 million in the concentrate load out facility and Vale's North Atlantic mining operations director Alistair Ross recently stated that, "If you were to look across the world for an area that had nickel that could be invested in on a standalone nickel basis, there isn’t a better place [than Thompson]".

Between the 2016 Census and 2018, approximately 400 job losses have occurred in the mining industry.

Thompson's retail trade is centered mostly in several malls, including:

City Centre Mall, which includes a Wal-Mart, Safeway, TD Canada, and Tim Hortons.
Burntwood Plaza, which includes Shoppers Drug Mart and RBC Financial.
Plaza Shopping Centre, which includes a Canadian Tire and Family Foods.
Westwood Mall, which includes a Giant Tiger.

First Nations organizations

Thompson has several advocacy, non-profit, and administrative organizations focused around First Nations people, including Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Inc. (MKO), Awasis Agency of Northern Manitoba, Keewatin Tribal Council, and Ma-Mow-We-Tak Friendship Centre.

Twenty-four governments, businesses, and non-profit organizations are partners to the Thompson Aboriginal Accord, originally signed in 2009, outlining a common understanding towards equitable economic development and reconciliation.

Amenities

Thompson primarily serves as the "Hub of the North",

The Northern Regional Health Authority (Eastern Campus) provides health care services to most of the communities in Census Division No. 22 and Census Division No. 23; Thompson-based facilities include the Thompson General Hospital, Northern Spirit Manor (personal care home), the Thompson Clinic, and Hope North (centre for youth in crisis).

Addictions Foundation of Manitoba also has a facility located in Thompson.

Education

The School District of Mystery Lake provides K–12 education in Thompson, operating six elementary schools (Deerwood School, Burntwood School, Westwood School, École Riverside School, Juniper School, Wapanohk Community School) and one high school (R. D. Parker Collegiate). While primarily English, the district also offers a K–12 French immersion program, as well as a K–8 language education program in the Cree language at the Wapanohk Community School. Students can continue the French program at the high school, where there are also basic Cree courses in grades 9–12.

Since September 2009, the Franco-Manitoban School Division (DSFM), which services communities across Manitoba, has expanded to include one K–12 elementary school in Thompson, École Communautaire La Voie du Nord. Located on Weir Road near the site of the Norplex Pool Recreation Centre, the district allows children to receive instruction in French with peers in a Francophone culture.

The Frontier School Division, the largest school division in Canada by geographical area, has an area office in Thompson as well.

For post-secondary education, Thompson is home to one of the two main campuses of the University College of the North, as well as the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Social Work branch in the region.

The Northern Manitoba Sector Council provides essential skills and employment skills training to Northern Manitobans.

Attractions

The lack of light pollution and Thompson's northern latitude allows for occasional viewing of the northern lights, even within the city limits.

Recreational services in the city are mainly provided by the Thompson Regional Community Centre, which contains two indoor skating rinks, a large 6-sheet curling rink called the Burntwood Curling Club, a multi-sport gym, exercise facilities, and an indoor walking track. The two ice arenas attached to the community centre are:

the CA Nesbitt Arena, the larger arena, which is home of the U18 Norman Northstars and the U15 Norman Northstars
the Gordon Beard Arena

thumb|Start of the downtown section of Spirit Way, with 4 of the 56 Spirit Way Wolf statues.Spirit Way is a walking and biking pathway with 16 points of interest that highlight Thompson's art, heritage, culture, industry, geology, and scenery; the pathway includes the largest photo-real mural in Canada and 56 painted wolf statues.

The Heritage North Museum offers the opportunity to see animals native to the area, a boreal forest diorama, First Nation and fur trade artifacts (including an authentic caribou hide tipi), fossils, and mining artifacts. The Museum consists of two log structures, an open-air blacksmith shop, Institutional Archives, and visitor information booth.

The Millennium Trail is a hike and bike loop around the city with sections that pass through the boreal forest. The crushed rock trail is open year-round to non-motorized travel. Walking, hiking and mountain biking are popular in the summer while walking and cross country skiing are winter favourites.

The city boasts at least two big festivals: Nickel Days, a large weekend festival held in June every year that includes concerts, family games, and a parade; and Winterfest, an annual multi-day celebration of northern culture and activities that is held in February.

Nearby attractions

thumb|View of Grass River while hiking the [[Pisew Falls Provincial Park|Pisew Falls to Kwasitchewan Falls Trail]]Paint Lake Provincial Park, located south of Thompson on Highway 6, spans over of Precambrian boreal forest, and houses the largest marina in Manitoba. The park has dozens of campsites and cabins for rent, and features boat launches, beaches, playgrounds, a volleyball court, baseball diamond, and fitness trail. In the winter, there are groomed snowmobile trails, ice skating, toboggan runs, ice fishing, and ice fishing derbies.

Pisew Falls Provincial Park, located south of Thompson on Highway 6, offers the chance to view Manitoba's 2 highest waterfalls. Pisew falls is viewable after taking a short trail that leads to a viewing platform (for taking pictures) of the , year-round falls. Kwasitchewan Falls, Manitoba's highest waterfall, is viewable after hiking an trail; this trail is a difficult back-country trail, recommended for experienced hikers only.

Sasagiu Rapids Provincial Park, located south of Thompson on Highway 6, is the site of scenic rapids, where visitors can rent off-road equipment (e.g., Ski-Doo, Sea-Doo), as well as campers and sites.

Mystery Mountain Winter Park, located north of Thompson on Provincial Road 280, offers downhill skiing, snowboarding, and cross-country skiing trails.

Sports

Thompson is home to the Norman Northstars hockey team, who play in the Manitoba U-18 'AAA' Hockey League. The city's minor hockey team is the Thompson King Miners.

The high school teams are called the R. D. Parker Collegiate Trojans, whose rivals are the Hapnot Kopper Kings from Flin Flon and the MBCI Spartans from The Pas.

Every year in April, students from the six elementary schools in grades 3–8 compete in the Knights of Columbus Track Meet.

Media

The Thompson Citizen (covering Thompson) and the Nickel Belt News (covering the area around Thompson) are the only local newspapers.

There are five radio stations: AM 610: CHTM (adult contemporary), FM 102.9: CHTM (adult contemporary), FM 96.3: CINC-FM (NCI), FM 99.9: CKSB-5 (Première Chaîne; repeats CKSB Winnipeg), and FM 100.9: CBWK (CBC Radio One).

Shaw Communications is the local cable television provider serving Thompson, and operates the local Shaw TV channel on cable channel 11.