Pinawa

Pinawa
Pinawa Dam on the Lee River
Pinawa Location of Pinawa in Manitoba
Coordinates: 50°08′56″N 95°52′50″W / 50.14889°N 95.88056°W / 50.14889; -95.88056Coordinates: 50°08′56″N 95°52′50″W / 50.14889°N 95.88056°W / 50.14889; -95.88056
Country	Canada
Province	Manitoba
Region	Eastman
Government
• MP (Provencher)	Ted Falk (CPC)
Area
• Total	1.55 km2 (0.60 sq mi)
Population (2016)
• Total	1,331
• Density	856.1/km2 (2,217/sq mi)
• Change 2011-16	0.5%
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)

Pinawa is a small Canadian community of 1,331 residents (2016 census) located in southeastern Manitoba, 110 kilometres north-east of Winnipeg. The town is situated on the Canadian Shield within the western boundary of Whiteshell Provincial Park, which lies near the Manitoba-Ontario provincial boundary. Administratively, the town includes the surrounding area, and is officially the Local Government District of Pinawa (50°09′52″N 95°57′30″W / 50.16444°N 95.95833°W / 50.16444; -95.95833). Except for a small eastern border with the unincorporated portion of Division No. 19, it is surrounded by the Rural Municipalities of Lac du Bonnet and Whitemouth, but is independent of either one. The community lies on the north bank of the Winnipeg River in the southeastern part of the Local Government District.

The community of Pinawa was originally established in 1901 to support the operation of an early hydroelectric generating station but was abandoned in 1951 when the site was shut down.

Pinawa was re-established about 10 km from the original Hydro town in 1963 when Atomic Energy of Canada Limited built the Whiteshell Laboratories nuclear research facility in the area. Pinawa was chosen as the site for the research station due to the seismic stability of the area. Pinawa was developed as a planned community which preserved many of the natural features of the site and designated all riverfront property as public reserve.