Gillam, Manitoba

Gillam
Town
Welcome sign at Gillam
Gillam Gillam in Manitoba
Coordinates: 56°20′50″N 94°42′28″W / 56.34722°N 94.70778°W / 56.34722; -94.70778Coordinates: 56°20′50″N 94°42′28″W / 56.34722°N 94.70778°W / 56.34722; -94.70778
Country	Canada
Province	Manitoba
Region	Northern
Census division	23
Government
• Type	Town Council
• Mayor	Tom Zelenesky
Area
• Total	1,996.34 km2 (770.79 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,281
• Density	0.6/km2 (2/sq mi)
Time zone	CST (UTC−6)
• Summer (DST)	DST (UTC−5)

Gillam is a town on the Nelson River in northern Manitoba, Canada. It is situated between Thompson and Churchill on the Hudson Bay Railway line. Gillam receives limited VIA rail passenger service at the Gillam railway station. Manitoba Provincial Road 280 links Gillam to the rest of Manitoba, making it one of the northernmost communities in the province accessible by year-round road. To go beyond towards Churchill only a rail route is available year-round.

Many residents of Gillam are employed by Manitoba Hydro at three of Manitoba's largest hydro dams—Kettle Generating Station, Long Spruce Generating Station, and Limestone Generating Station— located within Gillam's boundaries.

The large Gillam Local Government District (56°27′30″N 94°12′30″W / 56.45833°N 94.20833°W / 56.45833; -94.20833) was established by the Manitoba government in the mid-1960s to facilitate development of hydroelectricity on the lower Nelson River. At 1,996.346 square kilometres (770.793 sq mi), Gillam is considered to be the 9th largest city or town in Canada by area, although the majority of the encompassing area of the District is largely uninhabited and undeveloped, but filled with many lakes, rivers and large forests of pine trees. It is the largest town in Manitoba, and one of four extremely large "towns" (the other three are Leaf Rapids, Snow Lake, and Lynn Lake) in northern Manitoba that, although technically towns, are mostly rural and are the size of most typical counties in the United States or eastern Canada.