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The nickel-mining city of Thompson, Man.
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The nickel-mining city of Thompson, Man.
The nickel-mining city of Thompson, Man.

Thompson

Manitoba, Canada
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•History

News •

Groups hope Thompson, Man., point-in-time count brings more help for homeless • Oct. 19, 2026, 10:07 PM ET (CBC)
Incumbent mayor challenged by 2 councillors in Thompson, Man., election • Oct. 16, 2026, 3:00 AM ET (CBC)

Thompson, city, north-central Manitoba, Canada. It lies along the Burntwood River, in the Mystery-Moak lakes area, 130 miles (210 km) north of Lake Winnipeg. Planned in 1956 by the International Nickel Company of Canada and named for John F. Thompson, the company chairman, the city is one of the largest fully planned communities in Canada. Its construction was completed by a workforce of several thousands in 1961 to coincide with the opening of the company’s integrated nickel mining-smelting-refining plant, the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. Thompson remains largely dependent upon nickel extraction from the Thompson and Birchtree mines, which are among the most productive in Canada. The city is served by an all-weather road, by a branchline of the Canadian National Railway extending from The Pas (243 miles [391 km] southwest) to Churchill (240 miles [390 km] northeast) on Hudson Bay, and by air. Inc. 1967; city, 1970. Pop. (2006) 13,446; (2011) 12,829.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Chelsey Parrott-Sheffer.
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