Welcome

We are a progressive municipality which serves a population of 1,351 people (2021 census) and includes 27 townships with a strong agricultural base.  Our boundaries begin approximately 50 km northwest of the City of Prince Albert. The Rural Municipality of Canwood No. 494 was initially incorporated as The Rural Municipality of Thompson in 1913.  The name was changed from Thompson to Canwood on May 1, 1916.

We border the Prince Albert National Park and are surrounded by many beautiful lakes. The Canwood Provincial Forest is in the southeast of the municipality, and the Big River Forest is in the northwest part of the municipality.

There are two urban centres within our municipality, the Village of Canwood and the Village of Debden. The municipal office is located in the Village of Canwood. Canwood offers a full range of services including a Pre-K to Grade 12 Public School, regional library, curling rink, skating rink, health clinic and pharmacy, special care home, and a beautiful Regional Park (Canwood) which offers a 9-hole golf course with grass greens and watered fairways.

The Village of Debden offers a dual stream school, offering French Immersion from K to Grade 8 and ELA at Grade 9-12 levels as well as the regular English Program at all grades. Debden has a regional library, curling rink, skating rink, health clinic, and a private care home. There is a beautiful Regional Park (Morin Lake) within 15 minutes of Debden for camping, fishing and swimming lessons.

Highway 55 Waste Management Corporation

At the beginning of the millennium, discussions started to take place about the future of landfills because many of the local landfills were being closed. A Committee was formed Sept 4, 2002, to undertake the responsibilities of managing the details of this large project to be known as  Highway 55 Waste Management Corporation. Highway 55 WMC is a para-municipal Corporation owned by the R.M. of Canwood No. 494 (60%), Village of Canwood (20%), and Village of Debden (20%) and is managed by a Board of Directors which includes equal representation from these municipalities. (see the link to their website)