Flin Flon (pop. 5,194 in 2016 census; 4,991 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located within Manitoba. Residents thus travel southwest into Saskatchewan, and northeast into Manitoba. The city is incorporated in, and is jointly administered by both provinces.
Etymology
The town's name is taken from the lead character in a 1905 paperback novel, The Sunless City by British author J. E. Preston Muddock:
In the novel, Flonatin pilots a submarine into a bottomless lake where he sails through a hole lined with gold to enter a strange underground world. He finds a strange city ruled by women in which the local currency is tin and the streets are paved with gold. He ultimately re-emerges via a deep crater.
A copy of Muddock's 1905 book was allegedly found and read by prospector Tom Creighton. When Creighton discovered a high-grade exposure of copper, he thought of the book and referred to it as "Flin Flon's hole". The town that developed around the mine then adopted the name. Flin Flon shares the distinction of being named after a character in an adventure novel with Tarzana, California, and Le Plessis-Robinson, France.
The character of "Flinty", as he is locally known, is of such importance to the identity of the city that in 2003, the local Chamber of Commerce commissioned the minting of a $3.00 coin which was considered legal tender amongst locally participating retailers until September 2004 and a $5.00 coin which was in circulation until December 31, 2008. A statue representing Flinty was designed by cartoonist Al Capp and is one of the points of interest of the city. In 1978, the National Film Board of Canada produced the short documentary Canada Vignettes: Flin Flon about the origin of the city's name.
History Flin Flon was founded in 1927 by Hudbay (at that time called Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co.) to exploit the large local copper and zinc ore resources. In the late 1920s, HBM&S invested in a railway, mine, smelter, and a hydroelectric power plant at Island Falls, Saskatchewan. By 1928, the rail line reached the mine.
The town grew considerably during the 1930s as those impoverished by the Great Depression came to work at the mines. A significant number of farmers abandoned their farms and were among those looking for work. The municipality was incorporated on January 1, 1933, and reached city status in 1970. The city continued to be a mining centre with the development of several mines adding to its industrial base, although its population has been in decline since the 1960s. The last Flin Flon area mine, 777, was closed and decommissioned in 2022 along with the majority of the Hudbay Flin Flon operations, with many workers moving to the Lalor Mine in Snow Lake, MB.
With a scenic setting and a number of nearby lakes, Flin Flon is a popular tourist destination.
In May 2025, Flin Flon was precautionarily evacuated due to the 2025 Canadian wildfires.
Geography
Flin Flon straddles the provincial boundary of Manitoba and Saskatchewan with the majority of the city located in Manitoba. The 2016 census reported 4,982 residents in the Manitoba portion and 203 in the Saskatchewan section; the Manitoba portion has a land area of , while the Saskatchewan portion has a land area of . Due to the zig-zag nature of the Saskatchewan-Manitoba boundary correction lines, the Saskatchewan section of town lies south of the Manitoba section, not west. Main Street crosses the provincial boundary just south of its intersection with Church Street; Hudson Street crosses the provincial boundary between its intersections with 5 Ave E. and Harrison Street, adopting the new name South Hudson Street at the point of crossing; an undeveloped stretch of Channing Drive briefly crosses into Saskatchewan before reentering Manitoba just west of the city's rural Channing neighbourhood.
For Canada Post purposes, residents in the Saskatchewan portion of the city retain the local Manitoba R8A postal code, and often use a Flin Flon, MB address."For Flin Flon SK residents, there are pros and cons". The Reminder, August 4, 2016. For telephone service, however, they are located in Saskatchewan's area code 306 as part of the Creighton telephone exchange, rather than Manitoba's area code 204. However, residents in Saskatchewan may use either Saskatchewan's SaskTel or Manitoba's Bell MTS systems for cellular services. Electrical service is received from Manitoba Hydro for both the Manitoba and Saskatchewan parts of the city.
The majority of Flin Flon's surface topology is exposed Canadian Shield bedrock, hence the nickname "the city built on rock". Due to this and climatic factors, agriculture is generally not possible; however, grain farming is found southeast in The Pas, Manitoba, which is south of the Canadian Shield. The extensive bedrock exposure led to some interesting adaptations. In the northwestern areas of the city, there is often not enough overburden to bury water and sewer lines, so "sewer boxes" exist above surface to house the infrastructure. Many of these are used as ad-hoc sidewalks.
Climate Flin Flon experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb), although in recent days, the climate is noticeably hotter. There is a wide range in seasonal temperatures, with warm summers and bitterly cold winters. Temperatures in January have an average low of and an average high of . Temperatures in July have an average high of and an average low of . The highest (reliable) temperature ever recorded in Flin Flon was on July 19, 1941. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on January 15, 1930.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Manitoba portion of Flin Flon had a population of 4,940 living in 2,280 of its 2,533 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 4,991. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Also in the 2021 census, the Saskatchewan portion of Flin Flon had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
+ Panethnic groups in the City of Flin Flon (2001−2021)Panethnic group2021201620112006Flon&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=, Community Profiles from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada – Census SubdivisionFlon&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=, Community Profiles from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada – Census Subdivision , Aboriginal Peoples – Data table , Aboriginal Peoples – Data table2001 European 3,540 3,845 4,405 4,745 5,370 Indigenous 1,110 1,065 955 960 760 South Asian 155 15 30 15 15 Southeast Asian 75 65 80 30 25 African 45 20 0 10 15 Middle Eastern 25 0 0 0 10 East Asian 20 20 0 10 10 Latin American 10 20 0 0 10 Other/multiracial 10 0 0 0 0 Total responses 5,005 5,050 5,520 5,775 6,195 Total population 5,099 5,194 5,634 5,836 6,267
Transportation
Road Flin Flon is accessed by Manitoba Provincial Trunk Highway 10, Saskatchewan Highway 106 and Saskatchewan Highway 167. The city also runs a small public bus system.City of Flin Flon – Transportation
Air
The city operates Flin Flon Airport, which is located southeast of the city, immediately west of the Bakers Narrows Provincial Park. The airport has a single asphalt runway, and has regular flights to and from Winnipeg through Calm Air. There is also a gravel airstrip in nearby Channing, MB for small aircraft use with a water aerodrome adjacent to it.
Rail The Hudson Bay Railway operates railway freight service on its railway line between The Pas and Flin Flon.
The rail line to Churchill was washed out in June 2017 and remained out of service for over a year when then-owner Omnitrax refused to repair it. The City of Flin Flon purchased shares in One North, one of the partners of purchasing consortium Arctic Gateway Group Limited Partnership. The rail line was subsequently repaired by Cando Rail Services and Paradox Access Solutions.
Economy
Main employers
+ Flin Flon's five largest employer sectors (2016)ServiceNumber of employeesManufacturing1,541Retail702Healthcare and social assistance643Accommodation and food services290Mining238
Mining
The economy of Flin Flon was primarily reliant on and still remains largely dependent on base metal production (primarily copper and zinc with lesser gold and silver). Since the late 1910s, approximately 17 mines have operated in the Flin Flon vicinity. The most recent mine, the 777 Mine, closed in June 2022 with decommissioning completed shortly thereafter.
Zinc concentrate (from sphalerite) was produced and processed on-site to refined zinc while copper concentrate (from chalcopyrite) was produced and sold for external copper production. Prior to the smelter closure in 2010, the chalcopyrite concentrate was refined on location. Although processing of any sulphide material usually emits large amounts of sulfur dioxide, the Hudbay plant used a zinc pressure leaching (ZPL) process which greatly reduced emissions.
Marijuana production Flin Flon gained international notoriety in 2002 when the Government of Canada awarded a four-year contract to Saskatoon-based Prairie Plant Systems for the production of medicinal marijuana. The company set up operations in a mined-out area of the then-active Trout Lake Mine, an underground copper/zinc mine located just over northeast of Flin Flon city limits and owned by Hudbay to produce approximately of medicinal marijuana annually. The entire operation was situated approximately underground for security and climate control reasons.
In 2009, Prairie Plant Systems discontinued operation at the mine due to the expiry of their lease and the uncertainty regarding the pending closure of the mine, which occurred in 2011."Trout Lake plant potential on hold", December 18, 2009, retrieved 2022-08-17
Culture
Arts Flin Flon has an active local arts and culture scene. The Flin Flon Arts Council has been instrumental in building the local arts scene, and has also brought high-quality performers, such as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, into the community for special events. The R.H. Channing Auditorium in the Flin Flon Community Hall hosts concerts and theatrical performances, including those produced by the local theatre troupe "Ham Sandwich".
In 2010, the Northern Visual Arts Centre (or NorVA) was established as a studio and gallery space for local visual artists. NorVA frequently hosts workshops, concerts and other community arts-based events.
Every two years, the Flin Flon Community Choir performs a large musical production for the community. In 2013, the Flin Flon Community Choir presented Chicago: The Musical, to great acclaim. They presented Les Miserables in 2015, Grease in 2017, and Mamma Mia in 2019. Past performances have included Beauty and the Beast, Fiddler on the Roof, and Bombertown, among many others.
Culture Days, a national festival celebrating arts and culture, is a popular event in Flin Flon. Culture Days is held on the last weekend of September each year. In 2018, Flin Flon ranked second in the country, only following Winnipeg, for the number of free events (including concerts, workshops, artist talks and kids' activities) offered to community members and visitors. Toronto followed Flin Flon with the number of events, ranking third, down from second in 2017.
Flin Flon is the fictional home of the comic book superhero Captain Canuck.
Petting zoo The city operates the Joe Brain Petting Zoo. It is open from June through August, weather permitting. It features a picnic area, playground, basketball hoops, and a wading pool.
Sports