Country Canada City Winnipeg | Population 61,764 (2011) Province Manitoba | |
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St. James-Assiniboia is a major district in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Located in the far western part of the city, it is bounded on the north by the Rural Municipality of Rosser and the Canadian National Railway's Oak Point line, on the south by the Assiniboine River, on the west by the Rural Municipality of Headingley, and on the east by the Canadian Pacific Railway's La Riviere line.
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Geography
St. James-Assiniboia is a large community in the western section of Winnipeg. It is most often referred to as simply "St. James" and consists of the neighbourhoods of Old St. James, Deer Lodge, Silver Heights, Birchwood, Sturgeon Creek, Woodhaven, Heritage Park, Kirkfield Park, Westwood, Crestview, St. Charles, and Brooklands.
It is primarily residential, and is mainly a middle class area but there are poorer pockets in the eastern part of St. James, in Brooklands, and in St. Charles, and wealthier areas near the St. Charles Country Club, and along the Assiniboine River. There is some industrial development in the Murray Industrial Park in the north central part of the neighbourhood and near the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport which is located in St. James. There is substantial commercial development along Portage Avenue, the area's main thoroughfare, and near the western edge of the community near the Perimeter Highway, where the Unicity Shopping Mall once stood. Although the Polo Park area is not considered part of St. James-Assiniboia for census purposes, it is considered part of the district of St. James on many maps.
History
Historically, the area was a farming community along the north bank of the Assiniboine River populated by an Anglo-Métis, or mixed Scottish/English and aboriginal population, compared to the French-speaking Métis people who settled further upriver at St. François Xavier, Manitoba and along the east banks of the Red River. The area eventually became the City of St. James, the RM of Assiniboia, and the Village of Brooklands. These communities' development as residential suburbs of Winnipeg began in the early 20th century and was greatly enhanced by the extension of streetcar service to Deer Lodge in 1903, the opening of Assiniboine Park in 1904 and its location along Portage Avenue, and proximity to Downtown Winnipeg. By 1920 the eastern area of St. James and the Deer Lodge area were fully developed. The area grew rapidly from 1945-1970 with the construction of the Silver Heights and Birchwood subdivisions in the 1940s and 1950s, and Westwood, Crestview, and St. Charles in the 1960s. The three communities, just outside the City of Winnipeg, joined together in the 1960s; Brooklands was amalgamated into St. James in 1967, then Assiniboia was merged with St James in 1969 to form the City of St. James-Assiniboia. In 1972, the City of St. James-Assiniboia formally joined Winnipeg and other municipalities to create a unicity.
As the community was developed as far as the Perimeter Highway, Winnipeg's unofficial urban limit, by the early 1970s, St. James has seen very little development since that time. From 1971 to 2001 the population declined from 66,150 to 58,590 (source Statistics Canada). The population further declined to 57,855 as of the 2006 census. However, by the 2011 census, it had increased to 61,764.
Junior hockey teams
* refers to championships won while playing in St. James
St. James Civic Centre
The St. James Civic Centre is a public recreation complex that serves the western part of Winnipeg. The complex, which was built in 1967, features an indoor ice hockey arena, swimming pool, and auditorium, and is owned and operated by the City of Winnipeg. It is home to the St. James Canucks of the Manitoba Major Junior Hockey League and previously home to the St. James Canadians and Winnipeg Saints of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.