The Pas

History

The area's original inhabitants are the Swampy Cree.

The first European recorded to encounter the Cree was Henry Kelsey, an employee of the Hudson's Bay Company. He travelled through the area between 1690 and 1692 on his way to the Canadian prairies.

During the years of New France, La Vérendrye, the first western military commander, directed the construction of Fort Paskoya near here. It was named after the people of the Pasquia River. For years the settlement was called Pascoyac, sometimes shortened to Le Pas.

In 1904, The Pas Indian Band set up a sawmill on Mission Island in the Saskatchewan River. Soon after, the band was forced to surrender their reserve lands south of the river, including the areas around the site of the Hudson's Bay Company trading post and the Anglican Church Mission, to make way for the Hudson Bay Railway and development of the Town of The Pas.

By 1908, the band reopened their sawmill north of the river, and in 1912, the Town of The Pas was incorporated and The Pas Indian Band changed its name to Opaskwayak Cree Nation.

Between 1906 and 1910, Herman Finger set up the Finger Lumber Company in the area, and created a village called Fingerville for the company's workers. When the Town of The Pas was created in 1912, Fingerville was absorbed into The Pas, and Herman Finger became The Pas's first mayor.

Also in 1912, the community was transferred from Keewatin (a district of the Northwest Territories) to Manitoba as part of the Manitoba Boundaries Extension Act.

The area today is composed of three distinct communities: the Town of The Pas, the Opaskwayak Cree Nation, and the Rural Municipality of Kelsey.

The history of the town and the region may be seen at the Sam Waller Museum, in the old courthouse in downtown The Pas.

Demographics

|1921|1858 |1931|4030 |1941|3181 |1951|3376 |1961|4671 |1981|6390 |1986|6283 |1991|6166 |1996|5945 |2001|5795 |2006|5589 |2011|5513 |2016|5369 |2021|5639

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, The Pas had a population of 5,639 living in 2,150 of its 2,365 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 5,369. With a land area of 44.69 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Most of the residents are Canadian citizens (99.3%).

The median age in The Pas is 34.1 years old. Age groups are: 9 and younger (16.2%), 10 to 19 (14.7%), 20s (13.6%), 30s (13.6%), 40s (13.1%), 50 to 64 (18.5%), and more than 65 (10.2%).

The unemployment rate in The Pas (in 2011) was 7.3%.

Educational attainment (in 2011): No certificate 30.2%; High school certificate 22.4%; College 21.6%; Apprenticeship 10.6%; University certificate 10.6%; University certificate (below bachelor) 4.5%.

The marital status of those aged over 15 is: married or living with common-law partner (52.9%); never been married (32.3%); divorced or separated (8.8%); widowed (5.7%).

There are 2,324 private dwellings in The Pas, most of them being occupied (94.1%). The average number of people per household is 2.5.

Ethnicity

According to the 2011 National Household Survey, the composition of its population was Aboriginals (46.2%): First Nations (26.4%) and Metis (19.8%); and white (51.3%). The visible minority population was 2.1%

Religion

The religious makeup of The Pas is Christian (67.2%), non-religious (30.2%), and the remaining 2.6% fall into another religion.

Language

Among residents of The Pas, 93.6% speak only English, while 6.2% report knowledge of both English and French. Among non-official languages, Indigenous languages are the most commonly spoken, representing 5.6% of the population.

Culture

Farley Mowat's Lost in the Barrens, published in 1956, is the first of two children/young adults novels that are set in The Pas. The story begins at a remote trapping lodge, and then moves into the Canadian "barren lands" further north. The Pas is the main trading centre to which the book's protagonists travel to stock up on provisions and supplies to take back to their homes in the bush. The book's sequel, Curse of the Viking Grave, makes mention of The Pas.

The Pas is the site of the Northern Manitoba Trappers' Festival, which is Manitoba's oldest festival and one of Canada's oldest winter festivals. It has been held every year since 1948 and features winter activities including ice fishing, muskrat skinning, and an annual sled dog race, which is part of the International Federation of Sleddog Sports.

A 1991 CBC movie, Conspiracy of Silence, is based on the 1971 murder of Helen Betty Osborne in The Pas.

Climate

The Pas experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), closely bordering on a subarctic climate (Dfc), with long, bitterly cold winters and short warm summers. The seasonal temperature range is between -19.1 and, resulting in an amplitude of 37.2 C-change.

The highest temperature ever recorded in The Pas was 37.8 C on 19 July 1941. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -49.4 C on 18 February 1966.

|Jan record high C = 9.4 |Feb record high C = 10.6 |Mar record high C = 15.6 |Apr record high C = 30.6 |May record high C = 33.9 |Jun record high C = 37.6 |Jul record high C = 37.8 |Aug record high C = 35.6 |Sep record high C = 33.9 |Oct record high C = 26.7 |Nov record high C = 18.4 |Dec record high C = 8.9 |year record high C = 37.8 |Jan record low C = −47.8 |Feb record low C = −49.4 |Mar record low C = −41.7 |Apr record low C = −30.0 |May record low C = −12.8 |Jun record low C = −3.9 |Jul record low C = 1.4 |Aug record low C = −5.6 |Sep record low C = −9.4 |Oct record low C = −23.9 |Nov record low C = −36.1 |Dec record low C = −46.1 |year record low C = −49.4 | access-date = May 7, 2014}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}{{cite web | access-date = 21 July 2016}}

Sports

The OCN Blizzard, hockey team, competes in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League. The Pas is also home to the OCN Storm of the Keystone Junior Hockey League, the Huskies minor hockey league, and the MBCI Spartans who compete in Zone 11 of the MHSAA. The Intermediate 'A' version of The Pas Huskies won the 1968-69 Manitoba championship.

The son of former Husky star defenceman Jack Giles, Curt Giles, had a career in the NHL with New York Rangers, St. Louis, and Minnesota. The Pas native Murray Anderson was the first known locally born player to make the NHL, with Washington Capitals in the 1970s. Warren Harrison, younger brother of ex-Husky Roger Harrison, was drafted 53rd overall by the Oakland Seals in the 1969 NHL amateur draft.

The Pas Teepees were baseball champions in the Polar League in 1959. The team included several members of the Huskies, and were inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.

Government

The Pas is governed by a mayor and six councilors who are elected by residents. The mayor is Andre Murphy.

The region is represented in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba as part of The Pas-Kameesak riding. Its current provincial representative is New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of the Legislative Assembly Amanda Lathlin. She is the daughter of Oscar Lathlin, who had represented the riding from 1990 until his death in November 2008. Amanda Lathlin has served as an MLA since a by-election on April 22, 2015, for The Pas; she is the first First Nations woman ever elected to the Manitoba legislature.

In the House of Commons of Canada, The Pas is part of the Churchill—Keewatinook Aski riding. Its current federal representative is Liberal Member of Parliament Rebecca Chartrand. She has served as MP since the 2025 Canadian federal election.

Education

The Pas' public school system is the Kelsey School Division, which consists of two elementary schools (Kelsey Community School and Opasquia School), one middle school (Scott Bateman Middle School), one alternate program and adult learning Centre (Mary Duncan School) and one high school (Margaret Barbour Collegiate Institute)

There is also a K–6 school (Joe A. Ross) and a junior high/high school (Oscar Lathlin Collegiate) on the Opaskwayak Cree Nation.

The town hosts the main campus of the University College of the North.

Media

;Radio

• AM 1240: CJAR, adult contemporary
• FM 92.7: CITP-FM, First Nations community radio
• FM 93.7: CKSB-3-FM, Première Chaîne (repeats CKSB Winnipeg)
• FM 94.5: CBWJ-FM, CBC Radio One (repeats CBWK-FM Thompson)

;Television

CBWIT first went on the air in June, 1962 as CBWBT-1. The station broadcast kinescope recordings sent to the transmitter from CBWT. On March 1, 1969, the province-wide microwave system replaced the kinescope recordings, and The Pas has enjoyed live television since then.

All stations serving The Pas are repeaters of Winnipeg-based stations.

• CBWFT-1 Channel 6 (Radio-Canada)
• CBWIT Channel 7 (CBC)
• CKYP-TV Channel 12 (CTV)

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

;Newspapers

• Opasquia Times

Notable people

• Henry Budd, Anglican priest
• Parker Burrell, politician
• Albert Campbell, dog sleder
• Pat Carey, musician
• John Carroll, politician
• Ovide Charlebois, vicar
• Connor Dewar, hockey player
• Herman Finger, politician
• Curt Giles, hockey player
• Brian Goudie, hockey player
• Glen Gulutzan, hockey coach
• Owen Hughes, politician
• John Ingebrigtson, politician
• Amanda Lathlin, politician
• Oscar Lathlin, politician
• Bif Naked, musician
• Robert Orok, politician
• Helen Betty Osborne, murder victim
• Walt Peacosh, hockey player
• Roddy Piper, wrestler
• Emile St. Godard, dog sleder
• W. B. Scarth, politician
• James Settee, Anglican priest
• Ernest J. Smith, architect
• Chelsea Stewart, soccer player
• Bernard Munroe Stitt, politician

Notes

References

References

1. (January 7, 2016). "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2011 and 2006 censuses (Manitoba)". [[Statistics Canada]].
2. (January 7, 2016). "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and population centres, 2011 and 2006 censuses (Manitoba)". [[Statistics Canada]].
3. Nicholson, Karen. (February 2000). "The Lumber Industry in Manitoba".
4. "Memorable Manitobans: Herman Finger (1856-1929)".
5. Canada, Statistics. (31 March 2008). "Canada Year Book (CYB) Historical Collection".
6. Canada, Statistics. (31 March 2008). "Canada Year Book (CYB) Historical Collection".
7. Canada, Statistics. (31 March 2008). "Canada Year Book (CYB) Historical Collection".
8. "File not found".
9. "File not found".
10. (February 9, 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), Manitoba". [[Statistics Canada]].
11. (November 27, 2015). "NHS Profile, The Pas, T, Manitoba, 2011". [[Statistics Canada]].
12. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2022-10-26). "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population".
13. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2021-10-27). "Census Profile, 2016 Census".
14. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2015-11-27). "NHS Profile".
15. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2019-08-20). "2006 Community Profiles".
16. Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2019-07-02). "2001 Community Profiles".
17. (April 29, 1969). "Microwave Hook-Up Gives North Live TV". Winnipeg Free Press.