Situated on a flat, treeless plain in southern Saskatchewan, Regina is the provincial capital and the second-largest city in the province, after Saskatoon. The city is encircled by the Rural Municipality of Sherwood No. 159 and functions as a major commercial centre for the southern half of the province. According to the 2021 census, Regina’s city population stood at 226,404, with the broader metropolitan area reaching 249,217 residents. The city is governed by Regina City Council.
From Buffalo Bones to Provincial Capital
The land where Regina now stands was originally known as Wascana, a name drawn from the Cree word Oskana, meaning “Buffalo Bones.” In 1882, the settlement was renamed Regina, the Latin word for “queen,” in honour of Queen Victoria. The new name was proposed by Victoria’s daughter, Princess Louise, who was married to the Governor General of Canada, the Marquess of Lorne. Before Saskatchewan achieved provincial status, Regina had already been the seat of government for the North-West Territories, which encompassed the District of Assiniboia as well as the territories that would become Saskatchewan and Alberta. When the federal government established Saskatchewan as a province in 1905, Regina was confirmed as its capital, cementing the city’s administrative importance.
Turbulent History and Political Significance
Regina’s past includes some dramatic and consequential events. In 1912, the Regina Cyclone caused widespread destruction across much of the city. The hardships of the 1930s drought and the Great Depression fell heavily on the Canadian Prairies, and Regina became the site of the Regina Riot, an episode that drew national attention to the suffering of unemployed men during that period. Out of those difficult years also came lasting political change: the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, known today as the NDP, drafted its foundational Regina Manifesto in the city in 1933. Regina became closely associated with political activism, the co-operative movement, and early experiments in public healthcare as residents adapted to the economic pressures of the era.
Wascana Centre and City Neighbourhoods
Because the city sits on a largely featureless plain, early planners worked with what little geography was available. Wascana Creek, a small spring run-off stream, was dammed to create Wascana Lake, a decorative body of water to the south of the central business district. The lake became the focal point of Wascana Centre, which now contains the Provincial Legislative Building, both campuses of the University of Regina, the First Nations University of Canada, the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, the Regina Conservatory housed in the original Regina College buildings, the Saskatchewan Science Centre, the MacKenzie Art Gallery, and the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts. The lake is crossed by the 260-metre Albert Street Bridge. Residential areas of note include Lakeview and The Crescents, both located directly south of downtown, while the old warehouse district immediately north of the central business district has increasingly attracted shops, nightclubs, and new residential development. The city’s outer edges follow a pattern common across western North American cities, with shopping malls and big box retail concentrated along the periphery.