Colonsay

Town, pop 426, located 55 km E of Saskatoon on Hwy 16. The community as well as many of its streets are named after islands off Scotland’s west coast. The area was settled around 1905, and the beginnings of the village date to 1907–08 with the construction of the CPR line from Lanigan to Saskatoon. By the early 1920s, the population was around 200; it remained at that level for the next few decades. With the construction of the potash mine at Colonsay in the latter years of the 1960s, the community’s numbers significantly increased: by 1971, the population had reached 526. Although employment at the mine remains highly important (about 300 people from a number of communities are employed there), agriculture also contributes significantly to the economy. A variety of crops and livestock are produced in the area. The Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (SWP) sells fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and seed products at Colonsay; however, in April 2002 Colonsay’s SWP elevator was demolished, superseded by the ever larger inland terminals established in the region. Colonsay retains a small core of essential businesses and services.

David McLennan