Flin Flon : a single enterprise community, 1927-1946

Abstract

The study, "Flin Flon; A Single Enterprise Community", was undertaken to illustrate the development of an urban society in Manitoba's northern frontier, in the years 1927-1946. In doing so, the thesis portrays the growth of Flin Flon from a primitive mining camp into a booming industrial town of approximately seven thousand inhabitants. The underlying theme of the study is to present Flin Flon as representative of urban expansion in the region beyond the limits of the southern population belt. In this manner, it is possible to describe the community as a model of Canadian, resource-based, communities. It is, as a consequence, one of many communities that have encouraged the settlement of the frontier regions of the country... Flin Flon is representative of the extractive type of resource oriented, single enterprise community. As such, it is the most common form of resource-based single enterprise community... The study of Flin Flon as an example of the expansion of the Canadian urban frontier is presented in the text of the thesis in a chronological manner... The evaluation of Flin Flon as a single enterprise community is concluded with a comparative study of characteristics generally accepted as traditional within the single enterprise community. On this basis, it is finally possible to determine the level of Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company's involvement in the growth of the community. This thesis, then, depicts the development of Flin Flon, as an example of urban growth within Canada's northern frontier. As a contribution to the study of Canadian single enterprise communities, it hopefully helps to illuminate the phenomenon of urban expansion as well as encourage the continued investigation of the process.