Winnipeg Canadian Pacific Railway Station located at the intersection of Higgins Avenue and Maple Street is a Manitoba Provincial Heritage Site. The station was designed by the renowned Montreal firm of Edward and W.S. Maxwell in 1904. Today, the station is not in use and is owned by the Aboriginal Centre of Winnipeg since 1993.

This, the fourth railway station on the site, was erected in 1904-1905 as part of a new administrative, hotel, and passenger complex for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Designed by the prominent Montreal architectural firm of Edward and W.S. Maxwell, and enlarged in 1915, it continued in use as a rail passenger terminal until 1978. Its monumental Beaux-Arts façade, elaborate Tyndall stone decoration and extensive facilities reflected both the aspirations of the railway and Winnipeg’s place as the centre of transportation and commerce in early 20th century Western Canada.

History of CPR

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was built for the purpose of making money for the shareholders and for no other purpose. Once the line was completed, the CPR hired teams of writers, marketers and immigration promoters to sell Europe’s poor on the idea of immigrating to the Canadian West and the wealthy of Europe and the United States on the idea of holidaying in the Canadian Eden. It built luxury hotels, created a global steamship line to bring people and goods to the country, and sent lecturers and exhibition vans to tour Europe with pamphlets, photographs and the new technology of moving pictures, including 13 dramatic films made by the Edison Company in the early 1900s featuring dramatic plots set against the impressive backdrop of the Rocky Mountains. Read more »

Related CPR history: Othello Tunnels, Kettle Valley, Last Spike

Historic Photos of Winnipeg CPR Station

A collection of historic pictures of Winnipeg CPR Station can be viewed at University of Manitoba Architecture/Fine Arts Library.

Map & Driving Direction

Exact location of Winnipeg CPR Station is indicated by Green Arrow on the following map. Train station address: 181 Higgins Avenue, Winnipeg.

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