Moose Jaw facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Moose Jaw
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City
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| City of Moose Jaw | |
City Hall
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| Nickname(s):
"The Jaw", "Band City", "Little Chicago"
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 Moose Jaw
Location in Saskatchewan
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| Country | Canada |
| Province | Saskatchewan |
| Rural municipality | Moose Jaw |
| Area | |
| • Total | 46.82 km2 (18.08 sq mi) |
| Population
(2016)
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| • Total | 33,890 |
| • Density | 710.7/km2 (1,841/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Moose Javian |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (CST) |
| Forward sortation area |
S6H–S6K
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| Area code(s) | 306 and 639 |
Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, 77 km (48 mi) west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Moose Jaw No. 161.
Moose Jaw is an industrial centre and important railway junction for the area's agricultural produce. CFB Moose Jaw is a NATO flight training school, and is home to the Snowbirds, Canada's military aerobatic air show flight demonstration team. Moose Jaw also has a casino and geothermal spa.
Contents
History
Cree and Assiniboine people used the Moose Jaw area as a winter encampment. The Missouri Coteau sheltered the valley and gave it warm breezes. The narrow river crossing and abundance of water and game made it a good location for settlement. Traditional native fur traders and Métis buffalo hunters created the first permanent settlement at a place called "the turn", at present-day Kingways Park.
The confluence of the Moose Jaw River and Thunder Creek was chosen and registered in 1881 as a site for a division point for the Canadian Pacific Railway, whose construction was significant in Confederation of Canada. The water supply there was significant for steam locomotives. Settlement began there in 1882 and the city was incorporated in 1903. The railways played an important role in the early development of Moose Jaw, with the city having both a Canadian Pacific Railway Station and a Canadian National Railway Station. A dam was built on the river in 1883 to create a year-round water supply.
Marked on a map as Moose Jaw Bone Creek in an 1857 survey by surveyor John Palliser, two theories exist as to how the city got its name. The first is it comes from the Plains Cree name moscâstani-sîpiy meaning "a warm place by the river", indicative of the protection from the weather the Coteau range provides to the river valley containing the city and also the Plains Cree word moose gaw, meaning warm breezes. The other is on the map of the city, the Moose Jaw River is shaped like a moose's jaw.
Military presence
The area surrounding Moose Jaw has a high number of cloudless days, making it a good site for training pilots. The Royal Canadian Air Force under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan established RCAF Station Moose Jaw in 1940. Following the war, the RCAF remained in the community and used the facility for training pilots through the Cold War. The facility changed its name to CFB Moose Jaw in 1968 and it is currently Canada's primary military flight training centre and the home of 431 (Air Demonstration) Squadron (aka the "Snowbirds").
CFB Moose Jaw's primary lodger unit is "15 Wing". In the Canadian Forces Air Command, the lodger unit is frequently referred to as 15 Wing Moose Jaw. The base usually holds an Armed Forces Day each year.
The Saskatchewan Dragoons are a reserve armoured regiment with an armoury in the city's north end.
Royal presence
Moose Jaw has been visited by many members of the Royal Family. Edward, Prince of Wales, who owned a ranch in Pekisko, Alberta, visited in 1919, 1924, and 1927. Prince Albert, future king and father of Queen Elizabeth II, paid a visit in 1926. King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth (later known as Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother) visited during the Royal tour in 1939. Queen Elizabeth II first visited in 1959, and has come to the city a few times since.
The Earl of Wessex (Prince Edward) became Colonel-in-Chief of the Saskatchewan Dragoons of Moose Jaw on visiting Saskatchewan in 2003, when he congratulated the regiment on its "contribution to Canada's proud tradition of citizen-soldiers in the community." Involved in peacekeeping operations in Cyprus, the Golan Heights, Bosnia and Croatia, the regiment has also provided aid during floods and forest fires in the prairies. The Prince returned to visit his regiment in 2006.
The Earl of Wessex also inaugurated the Queen's Jubilee Rose Garden in Moose Jaw on his visit in 2003. Other royal connections to the city include King George School and Prince Arthur Community School, both named for members of the royal family. Before it shut down and became the separate Cornerstone Christian School, the South Hill school was formerly named King Edward Elementary School.
Climate
Moose Jaw's climate is transitional between semiarid and humid continental (Köppen BSk and Dfb, respectively) Moose Jaw's winters are long, cold and dry, while its summers are short, but very warm and relatively wet. The coldest month is January, with a mean temperature of -12.3 °C, while the warmest is July, with a mean temperature of 19.3 °C. The driest month is February, in which an average of 11.1 mm of precipitation falls, while the wettest month is July, which brings an average of 63 mm. Annual average precipitation is 365 mm.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Moose Jaw was 43.3 °C (110 °F) on 5 July 1937. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −47.8 °C (−54 °F) on 4 February 1907.
| Climate data for CFB Moose Jaw, 1981−2010 normals, extremes 1894–present | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 13.9 (57.0) |
17.8 (64.0) |
25.6 (78.1) |
33.3 (91.9) |
38.6 (101.5) |
41.2 (106.2) |
43.3 (109.9) |
41.7 (107.1) |
38.9 (102.0) |
32.8 (91.0) |
23.1 (73.6) |
19.4 (66.9) |
43.3 (109.9) |
| Average high °C (°F) | −6.9 (19.6) |
−4.0 (24.8) |
2.7 (36.9) |
12.1 (53.8) |
19.0 (66.2) |
23.9 (75.0) |
26.2 (79.2) |
26.1 (79.0) |
19.2 (66.6) |
12.0 (53.6) |
0.7 (33.3) |
−6.3 (20.7) |
10.4 (50.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −12.3 (9.9) |
−9.1 (15.6) |
−2.6 (27.3) |
5.2 (41.4) |
12.1 (53.8) |
17.2 (63.0) |
19.3 (66.7) |
18.9 (66.0) |
12.4 (54.3) |
5.6 (42.1) |
−4.3 (24.3) |
−11.5 (11.3) |
4.2 (39.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −17.7 (0.1) |
−14.2 (6.4) |
−7.9 (17.8) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
5.1 (41.2) |
10.4 (50.7) |
12.3 (54.1) |
11.6 (52.9) |
5.6 (42.1) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
−9.4 (15.1) |
−16.6 (2.1) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −47.2 (−53.0) |
−47.8 (−54.0) |
−44.4 (−47.9) |
−28.9 (−20.0) |
−12.8 (9.0) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
0.0 (32.0) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
−12.8 (9.0) |
−25.0 (−13.0) |
−41.1 (−42.0) |
−40.7 (−41.3) |
−47.8 (−54.0) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 16.8 (0.66) |
11.1 (0.44) |
19.7 (0.78) |
17.6 (0.69) |
48.0 (1.89) |
58.8 (2.31) |
63.0 (2.48) |
39.1 (1.54) |
37.7 (1.48) |
19.6 (0.77) |
17.3 (0.68) |
16.5 (0.65) |
365.3 (14.38) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 0.4 (0.02) |
0.5 (0.02) |
3.0 (0.12) |
13.0 (0.51) |
44.7 (1.76) |
58.7 (2.31) |
63.0 (2.48) |
39.1 (1.54) |
36.0 (1.42) |
13.2 (0.52) |
2.3 (0.09) |
0.2 (0.01) |
274.1 (10.79) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 21.2 (8.3) |
12.7 (5.0) |
20.0 (7.9) |
5.0 (2.0) |
2.9 (1.1) |
0.1 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
1.5 (0.6) |
6.9 (2.7) |
17.7 (7.0) |
21.1 (8.3) |
109.2 (43.0) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 9.9 | 7.8 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 10.5 | 12.4 | 10.4 | 9.2 | 7.9 | 6.8 | 8.5 | 10.4 | 110.2 |
| Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 0.75 | 0.76 | 2.3 | 5.6 | 10.2 | 12.4 | 10.4 | 9.2 | 7.7 | 4.8 | 1.9 | 0.69 | 66.7 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 9.8 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 2.9 | 0.88 | 0.06 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.71 | 2.5 | 7.4 | 10.9 | 50.1 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 106.1 | 141.4 | 164.4 | 229.5 | 262.6 | 289.1 | 331.8 | 301.2 | 194.0 | 168.8 | 102.0 | 86.2 | 2,377 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 40.0 | 49.9 | 44.7 | 55.6 | 54.9 | 59.0 | 67.2 | 67.0 | 51.1 | 50.6 | 37.5 | 34.2 | 51.0 |
| Source: Environment Canada | |||||||||||||
Neighbourhoods
- Caribou Heights
- Churchill Park
- City View
- Crescent View
- Earnscliffe
- Fairview
- Grand View
- Hill Crest
- Kingsway Park
- Lynbrook Heights
- Mooscana
- Morningside
- Mosaic Place
- New Currie
- Palliser Heights
- Parkdale Boulevard
- Pleasant View
- Prairie Heights
- Regal Heights
- River Park
- River View
- Ross Park
- Rothesay Park
- Slater
- Sunningdale
- Sunnyside
- Tapley
- University
- University Heights
- Victoria Heights
- Wellesley Park
- WestHeath
- Westmore
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Moose Jaw had a population of 33,665 living in 14,719 of its 16,143 total private dwellings, a change of -0.7% from its 2016 population of 33,910. With a land area of 65.81 km2 (25.41 sq mi), it had a population density of 511.5/km2 (1,325/sq mi) in 2021.
| Historical populations | ||
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| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1901 | 1,558 | — |
| 1911 | 13,823 | +787.2% |
| 1921 | 19,285 | +39.5% |
| 1931 | 21,299 | +10.4% |
| 1941 | 20,496 | −3.8% |
| 1951 | 24,355 | +18.8% |
| 1961 | 33,206 | +36.3% |
| 1971 | 31,854 | −4.1% |
| 1981 | 33,941 | +6.6% |
| 1991 | 33,593 | −1.0% |
| 1996 | 32,973 | −1.8% |
| 2001 | 32,131 | −2.6% |
| 2006 | 32,132 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 33,274 | +3.6% |
| Canada census – Moose Jaw community profile | |||
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| 2011 | 2006 | ||
| Population: | 33,274 (3.6% from 2006) | 32,132 (0.0% from 2001) | |
| Land area: | 50.68 km2 (19.57 sq mi) | 46.82 km2 (18.08 sq mi) | |
| Population density: | 656.5/km2 (1,700/sq mi) | 686.3/km2 (1,778/sq mi) | |
| Median age: | 41.6 (M: 39.9, F: 43.1) | ||
| Total private dwellings: | 15,370 | 14,691 | |
| Median household income: | $45,299 | ||
| References: 2011 2006 earlier | |||
| Population by ethnic origin, 2011 | ||
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| Ethnic group | Population | Percent |
| European | 26,100 | 80.7% |
| Other North American | 9,200 | 28.4% |
| Asian | 1,150 | 3.6% |
| Métis | 905 | 2.8% |
| First Nations | 825 | 2.6% |
| African | 420 | 1.3% |
| Latin, Central and South American | 140 | 0.4% |
| Oceania | 105 | 0.3% |
| Caribbean | 90 | 0.3% |
| Total respondent population | 32345 | 100% |
Arts and culture
Visual Arts
The Moose Jaw Art Guild is a community arts association made up of local artists dedicated to exhibiting, educating and fostering appreciation for visual arts.
Museums
Moose Jaw is home to one of four Saskatchewan Western Development Museums. The Moose Jaw SWDM museum specializes in the history of transportation and has a Snowbirds gallery.
The Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum is south of Moose Jaw on Sk Hwy 2. The car club at Moose Jaw agreed to the restoration of Tom Sukanen's ship at their museum site. Tom Sukanen was a Finnish homesteader who settled near Birsay and hoped to travel home again on his ship he assembled near the South Saskatchewan River. The Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum features a typical village replete with pioneer artifacts and tractors, cars and trucks restored by the Moose Jaw car club, and is run by volunteers.
Attractions
Tourist attractions include the Tunnels of Moose Jaw, The Moose Jaw Trolley, the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa Resort, Captain Jacks River Boat Tour, The Western Development Museum, Casino Moose Jaw and the Murals of Moose Jaw. Every July, the four-day Saskatchewan Festival of Words showcases top Canadian writers in a wide variety of genres. The Snowbirds flight demonstration team is based at CFB Moose Jaw, south of Moose Jaw in Bushell Park, where the now defunct airshow was performed from every summer.
There are many parks in Moose Jaw. Crescent Park is located downtown and features a creek, picnic tables, library, art museum, playground, outdoor swimming pool, water park, gymnasium, tennis court, lawn bowling field and an amphitheatre. Casino Moose Jaw and Temple Gardens Mineral Spa are across Fairford St. E. and 1st Ave. NE. from Crescent Park. "Wakamow Park" follows the Moose Jaw River and features both natural and maintained areas. There are many trails throughout the park for hiking and cycling as well as picnic tables, barbecues, a burger restaurant and two playgrounds. There is also an RV park, known as River Park Campground, which was founded in 1927 and is the longest running campground in North America. Canoe and kayak rentals are available across the road from the campground.
Old Wives Lake, a saline lake is 30 km southwest of the city on Highway 363. Buffalo Pound Lake a eutrophic prairie lake is 28 km north on Highway 2 and is the city's water supply. Buffalo Pound Provincial Park is on the south shore and can be accessed by Highway 202 and Highway 301.
Tunnels of Moose Jaw
A network of underground tunnels connecting buildings in downtown Moose Jaw was constructed beginning around 1908. They were originally built as an underground steam system that was abandoned.
Sports and recreation
As in most Canadian cities, hockey has played a large part in Moose Jaw's sporting culture. Baseball has also been an important part of Moose Jaw since its first days; the city won the territorial championship in 1895. Most recently, the 2004 Junior All-Star team (age 13/14) won the Canadian Championship and became the first team from Saskatchewan to win a game at the Little League World Series.
Notable Moose Jaw teams include:
- Moose Jaw Warriors, Western Hockey League team
- Moose Jaw Storm, Division 2 Soccer team
- Moose Jaw Miller Express, Western Major Baseball League team
- Moose Jaw Mustangs, Prairie Gold Lacrosse League team
- Moose Jaw Rotary Track Club, Track and Field and cross country club
- Lil Chicago Roller Derby's Moose Jaw Jaw Breakers - Women's Flat Track Roller Derby
- Moose Jaw Chiefs, Prairie Gold Lacrosse League Senior team
Defunct sports teams
- Moose Jaw Robin Hoods, senior hockey team and Western Canada League baseball team (1909–21)
- Moose Jaw Maple Leafs, senior hockey team (1919–1923)
- Moose Jaw Maroons, Prairie Hockey League team (1926–28)
- Moose Jaw Canucks, Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team (1935–1984)
- Moose Jaw Generals, senior hockey team, winner of the Hardy Cup in 1985
- Moose Jaw Diamond Dogs, Prairie League baseball team (1995–1997)
- Moose Jaw Millers, Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union (Canadian football) team (? – c. 1941)
In popular culture
In the fictional Harry Potter universe, Moose Jaw is the hometown of the professional Quidditch team the Moose Jaw Meteorites, which are considered one of the most accomplished Quidditch teams in the world. However, in the 1970s they were threatened with disbandment due to trailing fiery sparks from the end of their brooms during victory flights. Today, their games are considered a popular wizard tourist attraction.
In the 1977 movie Slap Shot, Guido Tenesi's character Billy Charlebois comes from Moose Jaw.
In the 1980 movie Atlantic City, Susan Sarandon's character Sally says her late husband's family is "in Moose Jaw, near Medicine Hat."
In the 1980 movie The Apple, the protagonists, Alphie and Bibi, hail from Moose Jaw.
In the television show "The Simpsons" S10E11, Springfield's baseball team the Isotopes threaten to move to Moose Jaw after lack of fan support.
In season 5, episode 2, of the Canadian Show Heartland - Jack and Tim go to visit Tim's son in Moose Jaw.
Economy
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Moose Jaw is a city of 33,000 at the intersection of the Trans Canada Highway and Highway 2. A Snowbird aerobatic jet and Mac the Moose are large roadside attractions on the No. 1 highway at the tourist info center. Moose Jaw Trolley Company (1912) offers trolley tours of Moose Jaw. Temple Garden's Mineral Spa, Tunnels of Moose Jaw, and History of Transportation Western Development Museum. are major sites of interest. The juncture of Moose Jaw and Thunder Creek produced the best source of water for steam engines, and Moose Jaw became the CPR divisional point. Large-capacity concrete grain terminals are replacing the smaller grain elevators that were numerous along the highway, sentinels of most communities along the route. Improved technology for harvest, transport and road construction have made the large inland terminals more viable economically. The rural governing body around Moose Jaw is Moose Jaw No. 161, which serves 1,228 residents (2006 census) and includes the Moose Jaw Canadian Forces Base. Meat-processing plants, salt, potash, urea fertilizer, anhydrous ammonia and ethanol producers abound in this area with easy transport access to the Trans–Canada Highway.
In 1917 a group of local residents banded together to purchase enough automobile parts to build 25 cars. These were to be manufactured under the name Moose Jaw Standard. Each member of the group received a car, but no further buyers were found, and production did not continue.
Education
Local institutions include five high schools and 15 elementary schools. The schools are in the Prairie South School Division and the Holy Trinity Catholic Schools.
École Ducharme offers preschool to grade 12 and is Moose Jaw's only Francophone school. École fransaskoise de Moose Jaw offers French Immersion from preschool to grade 9.
Moose Jaw is also home to a campus of Saskatchewan Polytechnic.
Infrastructure
Security
The Moose Jaw Fire Department (est. 1906) is a 57-member fire and rescue service that provides fire suppression to the city and CFB Moose Jaw. It has two stations, North Hill Fire Station (Headquarters) and South Hill Fire Station. It is also contracted out to CFB Moose Jaw to provide structural fire suppression services.
Ambulatory (EMS) services is provided by Five Hills Health Region, which operates an EMS station in Moose Jaw; non-emergency services are provided by St. John Ambulance.
The Moose Jaw Police Service provide policing with 54 sworn members for the city and hold both municipal and provincial jurisdiction, in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Transportation
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| Founded | 1957 |
| Headquarters | 1010 High Street West |
| Locale | Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan |
| Service area | urban area |
| Service type | bus service |
| Fleet | 7 |
| Web site | Transit Division |
Moose Jaw Transit provides local bus service to urban areas of the city. This small system operates four routes from a downtown hub on weekdays between 7:15 am and 9:45 pm and on Saturdays from 7:15 am to 6:15 pm, with no Sunday or holiday service.
The bus fleet was replaced in 2008 by new low-floor accessible vehicles, under the federal government's one-time public transit capital funding program.
Moose Jaw Municipal Airport is 7 nautical miles (13 km; 8.1 mi) east-northeast of Moose Jaw. CFB Moose Jaw's airfield is also used by civilian aircraft, with civilian operations at the base referring to the facility as Moose Jaw/Air Vice Marshal C.M. McEwen Airport.
Moose Jaw has four photo radar cameras, including two which operate on the TransCanada Highway passing through the city.
Notable people
- Siera Bearchell, Miss Universe Canada 2016 Born and raised in Moose Jaw.
- J.G. Ballard, English novelist and short story writer
- Randy Black, drummer for Primal Fear
- Mike Blaisdell, former National Hockey League player
- Ray Boughen, former mayor, former Member of Parliament for the riding of Palliser
- Lorne Calvert, Premier of Saskatchewan (2001–2007)
- Earl Cameron (broadcaster)
- Roger Carter, former Dean of the University of Saskatchewan College of Law; born in Moose Jaw.
- Dana Claxton (filmmaker, photographer, performance artist)
- Reggie Cleveland, World Series-starting baseball pitcher
- Ben Coakwell, Canadian Olympic bobsledder
- Burton Cummings, musician
- Bill Davies, former MLA for Moose Jaw, member of the Order of Canada
- Scott Deibert, former Canadian football player
- Phyllis Dewar, Olympic swimmer
- Ken Doraty, former National Hockey League player
- Emile Francis, former National Hockey League player and coach
- Lisa Franks, Paralympic athlete
- Clark Gillies, former National Hockey League player
- Peter Gzowski resided in Moose Jaw in 1957
- Adam Hadwin, professional golfer
- Roy Kiyooka, Canadian Poet
- Joy Kogawa, author and poet
- Art Linkletter, radio and television host of Art Linkletter's House Party
- Reed Low, former National Hockey League player
- Bud McCaig, co-owner of the Calgary Flames
- Mike Mintenko, Olympic swimmer
- David Mitchell, National Lacrosse League player
- Ken Mitchell, author, member of the Order of Canada
- Scott Munroe, American Hockey League player
- Fergie Olver, Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster
- Jack Reddick, Canadian Light Heavyweight Champion boxer
- Chico Resch, former National Hockey League goalie
- Arthur Slade, Governor General's Award-winning author
- Doug Smail, former National Hockey League player
- Levi Steinhauer, CFL player
- George Swarbrick, former National Hockey League player
- Ross Thatcher, former Premier Province of Saskatchewan (1964–1971).
- Geoffrey Ursell, writer
- Glen Sonmor, former NHL coach.
Images for kids
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See also
In Spanish: Moose Jaw para niños
