Our province is blessed so many natural wonders, they’re hard to count! From its water resources to the magnificent animals that live here, we are surrounded by so much beauty and blessed with natural riches. Here are some of them:

Land of 100, 000 lakes

Manitoba is home to over 100,000 lakes, covering more than 900 kilometres of the province. In fact, it has so many lakes that only 10% have have a name! You can find Lake Winnipeg here, which is the fifth largest freshwater lake in Canada (and 10th largest in the world by surface area).

Our scenic lakes and rivers also create vast hydroelectric power resources. Meanwhile, lakes, rivers, streams and marshes are home to important fish habitat for sport and commercial fisheries.

Manitoba has the biggest and most outstanding colour-changing lake in the world

Little Limestone Lake is a vast marl lake located 450 km north of Winnipeg, along the highway to Thompson. Marl is created when calcite, a constituent of limestone, is precipitated from warm water and mixes with clay particles. When hit by light, this material causes the dramatic shifts of colour that we see. The colour of the water changes from transparent to various shades of blue throughout the day, depending on the weather. In summer, you can see it turn an otherworldly turquoise blue. It’s like having a piece of the Caribbean right here in the prairies!

It is home to 93 provincial parks and two national parks

Manitoba’s parks occupy more than four million hectares of beautiful land and water. This includes an amazing variety of lush boreal forests, prairie parklands, historic sites, sandy beaches, pristine lakes, and crystal streams. Some of the province’s most popular parks include Whiteshell Provincial Park in eastern Manitoba, where you will also find West Hawk Lake, and Falcon Lake. Meanwhile, Riding Mountain National Park offers rolling hills and lakes. You can find Clear Lake there, as well as the historic town of Wassagaming.

Just this year, Pemmican Island on Lake Winnipegosis was officially designated as Manitoba’s 93rd provincial park. The island is located in the north basin of Lake Winnipegosis, approximately 175 kilometres north of Dauphin.

Vast forest cover

More than three-quarters of Manitoba is boreal forest, which is part of the 1.2 billion hectare Canadian Boreal (the largest forest ecosystem left remaining on the planet). The boreal covers 140 million acres (56 million hectares) in Manitoba. In addition, no other area in Canada has the four major boreal ecozones – Boreal Plains, Boreal Shield, Hudson Plains, and Taiga Shield.

Amazing biodiversity

Manitoba’s rich natural landscapes including grasslands, wetlands, boreal forest, and sub-arctic, make it the perfect home to a variety of wildlife, both big and small. The province has polar bears and whales, the largest freshwater fish (sturgeon), snakes (the largest congregation of red-sided garter snakes happen in Manitoba in summer), bison, several varieties of geese, more than 300 bird species, and many more!

Isn’t our province amazing?