Transportation
The city is served by road via an all-weather road, Manitoba Provincial Road 280, Manitoba Provincial Road 391, and Manitoba Highway 6; by rail via Thompson station, which is served by Via Rail's Winnipeg–Churchill train, which extends from Winnipeg, through The Pas, to Churchill; and by air via the Thompson Airport and Thompson Water Aerodrome.
The city is connected to Winnipeg via a paved highway (Highway 6), rail, and air.
Thompson Transit, the city's public transit agency, ended service in 2024.[31]
Health care and social assistance
The Northern Regional Health Authority (Eastern Campus) provides health care services to most of the communities in Census Division No. 22 and Census Division No. 23; Thompson-based facilities include the Thompson General Hospital, Northern Spirit Manor (personal care home), the Thompson Clinic, and Hope North (centre for youth in crisis).
Addictions Foundation of Manitoba also has a facility located in Thompson.
Education
The School District of Mystery Lake provides K–12 education in Thompson, operating six elementary schools (Deerwood School, Burntwood School, Westwood School, École Riverside School, Juniper School, Wapanohk Community School) and one high school (R. D. Parker Collegiate). While primarily English, the district also offers a K–12 French immersion program, as well as a K–8 language education program in the Cree language at the Wapanohk Community School. Students can continue the French program at the high school, where there are also basic Cree courses in grades 9–12.
Since September 2009, the Franco-Manitoban School Division (DSFM), which services communities across Manitoba, has expanded to include one K–12 elementary school in Thompson, École Communautaire La Voie du Nord. Located on Weir Road near the site of the Norplex Pool Recreation Centre, the district allows children to receive instruction in French with peers in a Francophone culture.[32]
The Frontier School Division, the largest school division in Canada by geographical area, has an area office in Thompson as well.
For post-secondary education, Thompson is home to one of the two main campuses of the University College of the North, as well as the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Social Work branch in the region.
The Northern Manitoba Sector Council[33]
Attractions
The lack of light pollution and Thompson's northern latitude allows for occasional viewing of the northern lights, even within the city limits.
Recreational services in the city are mainly provided by the Thompson Regional Community Centre, which contains two indoor skating rinks, a large 6-sheet curling rink called the Burntwood Curling Club, a multi-sport gym, exercise facilities, and an indoor walking track.[34] The two ice arenas attached to the community centre are:[35]
Spirit Way is a 2 km walking and biking pathway with 16 points of interest that highlight Thompson's art, heritage, culture, industry, geology, and scenery; the pathway includes the largest photo-real mural in Canada and 56 painted wolf statues.
The Heritage North Museum[36] offers the opportunity to see animals native to the area, a boreal forest diorama, First Nation and fur trade artifacts (including an authentic caribou hide tipi), fossils, and mining artifacts. The Museum consists of two log structures, an open-air blacksmith shop, Institutional Archives, and visitor information booth.
The Millennium Trail[37]
Nearby attractions
Paint Lake Provincial Park,[39] located 32 km south of Thompson on Highway 6, spans over 56000 acre of Precambrian boreal forest,[40] and houses the largest marina in Manitoba. The park has dozens of campsites and cabins for rent, and features boat launches, beaches, playgrounds, a volleyball court, baseball diamond, and fitness trail. In the winter, there are groomed snowmobile trails, ice skating, toboggan runs, ice fishing, and ice fishing derbies.[41]
Pisew Falls Provincial Park, located 74 km south of Thompson on Highway 6, offers the chance to view Manitoba's 2 highest waterfalls. Pisew falls is viewable after taking a short 0.5 km trail that leads to a viewing platform (for taking pictures) of the 13 m, year-round falls. Kwasitchewan Falls, Manitoba's highest waterfall, is viewable after hiking an 11 km trail;[42] this trail is a difficult back-country trail, recommended for experienced hikers only.[43]
Sports
Thompson is home to the Norman Northstars hockey team, who play in the Manitoba U-18 'AAA' Hockey League. The city's minor hockey team is the Thompson King Miners.
The high school teams are called the R. D. Parker Collegiate Trojans, whose rivals are the Hapnot Kopper Kings from Flin Flon and the MBCI Spartans from The Pas.
Every year in April, students from the six elementary schools in grades 3–8 compete in the Knights of Columbus Track Meet.
The Thompson Citizen (covering Thompson) and the Nickel Belt News (covering the area around Thompson) are the only local newspapers.
There are five radio stations: AM 610: CHTM (adult contemporary), FM 102.9: CHTM (adult contemporary), FM 96.3: CINC-FM (NCI), FM 99.9: CKSB-5 (Première Chaîne; repeats CKSB Winnipeg), and FM 100.9: CBWK (CBC Radio One).
Shaw Communications is the local cable television provider serving Thompson, and operates the local Shaw TV channel on cable channel 11.
