| Estevan | |
| Official Name: | City of Estevan |
| Nickname: | The Energy City |
| Seal Size: | 220px |
| Pushpin Map: | Canada Saskatchewan |
| Pushpin Label Position: | top |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Estevan in Saskatchewan |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Saskatchewan |
| Subdivision Type2: | Rural municipality |
| Subdivision Name2: | Estevan |
| Government Type: | Mayor–council government |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Roy Ludwig |
| Established Title: | First settler |
| Established Date: | 1892 |
| Established Title1: | Village |
| Established Date1: | 1899 |
| Established Title2: | Town |
| Established Date2: | 1906 |
| Established Title3: | City |
| Established Date3: | March 1, 1957 |
| Area Land Km2: | 9.16 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Total: | 10,851[1] |
| Population Density Km2: | 1,228.9 |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Coordinates: | 49.1392°N -102.9861°W |
| Postal Code Type: | Forward sortation area |
| Postal Code: | S4A |
Estevan is the eleventh-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is approximately 16km (10miles) north of the Canada–United States border. The Souris River runs by the city. This city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5.
The first settlers in what was to become Estevan arrived in 1892, along with the expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was incorporated as a village in 1899, and later became a town in 1906. On March 1, 1957, Estevan acquired the status of a city, which, in Saskatchewan terms, is any community of 5,000 or more.[2]
The name origin is attributed to George Stephen's registered telegraphic address, Estevan.[3] George Stephen was the first President of the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1881 to 1888.
On December 22, 1915, the 152nd (Weyburn-Estevan) Battalion, CEF was authorised and recruited men from the area before departing to Great Britain on October 3, 1916.
Estevan was the site of the notorious Estevan riot in 1931. Although most of the strikers were from nearby Bienfait, the strike is associated with Estevan because it was in this city the demonstrators were met by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. After the subsequent riot, which lasted 45 minutes, three strikers lay dead. It was later proven the three miners had been killed by the RCMP. The miners had been organised by the Workers' Unity League.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Estevan had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 18.3km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[4]
| 2021[5] | 2016[6] | 2011[7] | 2006[8] | 2001[9] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European | 8,485 | 9,100 | 9,850 | 9,410 | 9,605 | ||||||
| Southeast Asian | 1,015 | 985 | 195 | 15 | 35 | ||||||
| Indigenous | 560 | 630 | 475 | 345 | 335 | ||||||
| South Asian | 170 | 250 | 85 | 30 | 10 | ||||||
| East Asian | 170 | 80 | 85 | 20 | 85 | ||||||
| African | 140 | 125 | 70 | 60 | 0 | ||||||
| Middle Eastern | 30 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Latin American | 10 | 30 | 0 | 40 | 0 | ||||||
| Other/multiracial | 45 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| Total responses | 10,630 | 11,260 | 10,840 | 9,925 | 10,075 | ||||||
| Total population | 10,851 | 11,483 | 11,054 | 10,084 | 10,242 | ||||||
The major industries in Estevan are coal mining, power generation at nearby Boundary Dam Power Station and Shand Power Station,[10] oil and gas, and agriculture.
The city of Estevan has two museums, one of which is primarily a gallery.
The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, formerly the Estevan National Exhibition Centre, was founded in 1978.[11] The Estevan Art Gallery is a free public gallery that showcases contemporary art. The Gallery's permanent collection includes woodblock-print works by Andrew King.[12] The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, EAGM, also features the North-West Mounted Police Wood End Post Historical Site, NWMP Museum. This museum is in a house which is the oldest-known North-West Mounted Police Detachment Post in Saskatchewan and holds a collection related to the North-West Mounted Police and the 1874 March West from Roche Percee to Estevan.[13]
The Souris Valley Museum, SVM, is a local and regional history museum focused on human development and daily life within south-east Saskatchewan. It was founded in 2001, primarily from the collection of Stan Durr. The museum provides an engaging depiction of the social and cultural influences and economic development of south-east Saskatchewan. The collection includes the Schneller Schoolhouse, a Threshing Cook Car, a Homesteader Shack, two of Estevan's original Firetrucks, and a Heritage Mining Display.[14]
The Estevan Arts Council, founded in 1967, is a non-profit organisation that offers art classes and workshops, adjudicates art shows, hosts concerts, and provides a youth art scholarships through the work of volunteers and community donations and grants.[15]
Affinity Place[16] is a 2,650 seat Multi-Purpose Entertainment and Sports Facility that was built to supplement the two other ageing ice surfaces in Estevan, the Civic Auditorium and Lignite Miners Centre. It opened on 15 April 2011. Affinity Place is home to the Estevan Bruins, a junior ice hockey team playing in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL),[17] and the Midget AAA Estevan Bears.[18] Affinity Place also has a Racquetball court, swimming pool, and a gym. Right next to Affinity Place is the Estevan Curling Club.[19]
The nine-team Saskota Baseball League has two teams in Estevan, the Southeast Diamondbacks and the Estevan Tap House Wolves.[20]
A former Estevan team, the Estevan Bears, played in the Big 6 Hockey League. They won the Lincoln Trophy three straight years from 1985 to 1987. CJSL AM 1150 broadcasts many Big 6 hockey games.
The Estevan Motor Speedway hosts regular stock car races in the summer. It’s the only racetrack in Canada certified by the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA).
Estevan has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) It falls into the NRC Plant Hardiness Zone 4a.[21]
Estevan's climate is characterized by cold, long, and dry winters with warm, short and, relatively humid summers. The mean temperature in January, the coldest month, is . The precipitation in winter[22] is chiefly snow, averaging 56cm (22inches). The spring is a short transitional season, with a mean temperature of and 107.3mm of precipitation, with significant snowfall in April. The summer is usually warm (the mean average high temperature is (average high in July, the warmest month, is and humid (190.8mm of total precipitation). Autumn, as spring, is transitional, being warm in September and cooler in October and November. At this time of the year, the average temperature is and the total precipitation is 85.9mm. Estevan is the sunniest city year-round in Canada, and it is also the city with the clearest skies year round in Canada.[23]
The highest temperature ever recorded in Estevan was 43.3C on 5 July 1936,[24] and 5 July 1937.[25] The coldest temperature ever recorded was -46.7C on 11 January 1916,[26] and 16 February 1936.[27]