Winnipeg or Québec - 1 Million

[someone123]

I like the seaplane in Victoria and have used it a bunch, but it has some drawbacks. It's weather dependent, can be bumpy, and can get very expensive if you don't book it well in advance. There's always the ferry, but the terminals aren't close to either city. Walk-ons are virtually always available but you often need to pre-book for vehicles. On the plus side, the ferry is very scenic and not tiring in the same way flying and airports are. I think Victoria-Vancouver, cost wise (a subjective blend of time/money/hassle) is about on par with a trip to the Okanagan, or something like Toronto-Montreal on VIA.

[Docere]

A profile of Winnipeg in the New York Times from 1986:

https://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/15/world/winnipeg-canada-s-coldest-big-city-has-diversity.html

[Pavlov]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

The problem is, as you deftly noted, you are stuck living in Cornwall. Not the worst place in the world, but it is not exactly hopping with things to see and do.

Kingston is a much better example of a well-connected small City. Less than three hours to DT Toronto. Less than three hours to DT Montreal. Two hours to downtown Ottawa. Two hours to Syracuse (when the idea of travel to the US was less nauseous). About seven hours to New York City.

And not a terrible place in its own right.

[MolsonExport]

Oh yeah, Kingston is far more appealing than Cornwall in pretty much every way (the sole exception would be proximity to Montreal, but what's an extra hour or so of driving when you've got what Kingston (vs. Cornwall) has to offer?

Cornwall has been stuck at 45K for 60+ years

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Oh yeah, Kingston is far more appealing than Cornwall in pretty much every way (the sole exception would be proximity to Montreal, but what's an extra hour or so of driving when you've got what Kingston (vs. Cornwall) has to offer?

Cornwall has been stuck at 45K for 60+ years

Growing up in the 1980s/1990s southern Ontario, it seemed like cities such as Cornwall, Welland, Belleville were all relatively stagnant.

Belleville has the nicer downtown of these cities (Welland is worse looking than Cornwall in its core) but Welland is now on a crazy growth cycle. A Longo's just opened in Welland. Not NF or St. Kitts. In Welland

Kingston, on the other hand has a really solid looking downtown, and has a lot to offer for a mid sized city in Canada

[ToxiK]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

The problem is, as you deftly noted, you are stuck living in Cornwall. Not the worst place in the world, but it is not exactly hopping with things to see and do.

Not really relevant to the conversation, but funny (in French):

https://youtu.be/7d4b6bOnga8?t=88

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by ToxiK

Not really relevant to the conversation, but funny (in French):

https://youtu.be/7d4b6bOnga8?t=88

maudite chanceuse!

[craner]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

The problem is, as you deftly noted, you are stuck living in Cornwall. Not the worst place in the world, but it is not exactly hopping with things to see and do.

So what you’re saying is Cornwall is no Okotoks.

[MolsonExport]

well there aren't a number of things to do in Cornwall.

[harls]

I wonder if Winnipeg has moved from 950k in July of last year with all this TFW culling. Same with Québec from 903K.

[Changing City]

Originally Posted by harls

I wonder if Winnipeg has moved from 950k in July of last year with all this TFW culling. Same with Québec from 903K.

For what it's worth, the monthly population estimate (aged 15+) from the Labour Force Characteristics data show Winnipeg rising from 799,800 in July 2025 to 810,200 in June 2026, going up slightly every month. Québec City has barely changed from 754,600 to 754,900 (falling every month since December 2025, when it reached 757,000).

[Docere]

Winnipeg still has an underdog/little guy persona which they often wear with a badge of pride. Take Wab Kinew's election night victory speech:

"You know, a lot of people in the big cities, they look down on us here in Manitoba. Flyover country, they said. Winterpeg, man, it's cold out, they said. But look what little old Manitoba did tonight."

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by harls

I wonder if Winnipeg has moved from 950k in July of last year with all this TFW culling. Same with Québec from 903K.

I don't have numbers handy, but from what I recall, Winnipeg had a low percentage of recent immigrants that TFWs...something like 18%

[Wpg_Guy]

With the federal reductions in foreign students, temporary foreign workers, and overall immigration levels, I’d expect Winnipeg’s population to have stagnated or grown only marginally, while Manitoba’s overall population has likely declined.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by Docere

Winnipeg still has an underdog/little guy persona which they often wear with a badge of pride. Take Wab Kinew's election night victory speech:

"You know, a lot of people in the big cities, they look down on us here in Manitoba. Flyover country, they said. Winterpeg, man, it's cold out, they said. But look what little old Manitoba did tonight."

Winnipeg’s my hometown, and I love to visit, but I don’t think I’d ever want to actually move back to the prairies and deal with winter like that again.

It’s mind blowing to see how much Winnipeg has grown since I left, and I still can’t believe the Jets came back… I might not want to move back there, but I was really lucky to grow up there, go to good schools there, and live in a city with a lot more opportunities and things to do than here in Saint John.

I think a lot of people with the strongest opinions about Winnipeg or any other city “sucking” have never even been to these places, or maybe had one very brief visit.

Wab Kinew is a great premier and Manitoba is lucky to have him… I was very proud that my home province was the first to elect a First Nations premier.

I think he could end up becoming the leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister one day, which would be pretty huge for Winnipeg and the whole prairies.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

Winnipeg’s my hometown, and I love to visit, but I don’t think I’d ever want to actually move back to the prairies and deal with winter like that again.

It’s mind blowing to see how much Winnipeg has grown since I left, and I still can’t believe the Jets came back… I might not want to move back there, but I was really lucky to grow up there, go to good schools there, and live in a city with a lot more opportunities and things to do than here in Saint John.

I think a lot of people with the strongest opinions about Winnipeg or any other city “sucking” have never even been to these places, or maybe had one very brief visit.

Is your argument Winnipeg is a great city other than the weather? That seems dubious. It has none of the neighbourhood vibes or natural features that make similary cold Edmonton, Ottawa or Calgary (class above all around obviously) decent cities. The Forks is kind of Meh. Human Rights museum maybe top 10 in Canada but probably last in terms of repeatabilty for a resident especially with kids where even the other one and done mesuems mostly have more to offer kids. Manitoba Museum is better for kids but it's pretty standard fair otherwise. Any worth having a membership for a family?

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Docere

Winnipeg still has an underdog/little guy persona which they often wear with a badge of pride. Take Wab Kinew's election night victory speech:

"You know, a lot of people in the big cities, they look down on us here in Manitoba. Flyover country, they said. Winterpeg, man, it's cold out, they said. But look what little old Manitoba did tonight."

Winnipeg, Manitoba and Manitoban people have this undeniable charm that's hard for me to put into words.

The most well rounded Canadians seem to come from here, in my humble opinion

[MolsonExport]

Winnipeg is a great city. It's been around a longish time (for Western Canada) and in recent decades, it has grown more slowly than those Alberta upstarts. This has helped give it a unique character and resilience. And of course, those great architectural layers. If the winter wasn't so harsh, I reckon it would anchor an urban area of at least 2 million by now.

[Docere]

^ If "only" it had Minneapolis weather.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Is your argument Winnipeg is a great city other than the weather? That seems dubious. It has none of the neighbourhood vibes or natural features that make similary cold Edmonton, Ottawa or Calgary (class above all around obviously) decent cities. The Forks is kind of Meh. Human Rights museum maybe top 10 in Canada but probably last in terms of repeatabilty for a resident especially with kids where even the other one and done mesuems mostly have more to offer kids. Manitoba Museum is better for kids but it's pretty standard fair otherwise. Any worth having a membership for a family?

I’m not sure I was even making an argument lol, just stating what I feel about my hometown.


The cold weather is part of what makes Winnipeg great too… Festival du Voyager, playing hockey and skating outdoors in the winter, making snow forts, etc etc. Winnipeg has really well maintained outdoor hockey rinks, and they do something really smart with them (that a lot of other cities don’t) and that’s locating them behind/beisde existing arenas, so the Zamboni from inside can resurface the outdoor ice.

I think Winnipeg is a great city, and the cold isn’t that bad… it’s just that after living in Saint John as long as I have now, I’ve become accustomed to living beside the ocean, having a long lasting fall, mild summers, and mild winters with more rain than snow and where weather below -15 is exceptionally rare.