Brandon

Brandon, Manitoba

Brandon, city, southwestern Manitoba, Canada, lying on the Assiniboine River, 131 miles (211 km) west of Winnipeg. It was first settled in the late 1870s and was formally founded after the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway (1881) near the last of three Hudson’s Bay Company trading posts at this location. The last post, called Brandon House (1793–1832), had been named for Douglas, duke of Brandon. Located on the Trans-Canada Highway and two transcontinental railroads, the city is an important transportation and regional service centre. Known as the “Wheat City of Canada,” it processes flour, meat, fertilizers, chemicals, and petroleum products and also provides regional arts and cultural facilities. Brandon is the site of Brandon University (1899), Assiniboine Community College, and a federal agricultural research station. It is a tourist hub for Riding Mountain National Park to the north, Spruce Woods Provincial Park to the southeast, and Turtle Mountain Provincial Park (and the International Peace Garden, partly in the United States) to the south. Brandon is the home of the Provincial Exhibition of Manitoba, which is made up of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair, the Manitoba Summer Fair, and the Manitoba Livestock Expo. Inc. 1882. Pop. (2006) 41,511; (2011) 46,061.