Historical page
This page reproduces what a municipal website said at the time. It is not an official City of Dauphin page, and the plans and programs may have changed or ended.
If you have ever driven north-west from Winnipeg into the Parkland, you may know Dauphin. For most of the 2010s, sayyestodauphin.ca was the city's pitch to entrepreneurs, developers and newcomers. It was run by Dauphin Economic Development & Tourism (DED&T), and its name was an invitation.
The town, as the site described it
The economic development page opened with a boast. In March 2007 Explore magazine had named Dauphin one of Canada's top ten adventure towns, “where the grass really is greener”. The site described a town surrounded by rich farmland and natural beauty in the heart of the Parkland, about 300 km from Winnipeg or roughly 35 minutes by daily scheduled flight.
Beyond tourism, it listed manufacturing, education and a growing business community, and described Dauphin as a regional centre for health care and retail. It claimed a trading area of more than 56,000 people, drawn from the Parkland and the northern Interlake for education, health care, recreation, services and shopping. The town's volunteers were called one of its richest resources, because they made possible Canada's National Ukrainian Festival, Dauphin's Countryfest and major sporting events.
“A place where people choose to live, work, invest and visit.”
Vision statement, “Our Plan” page, 2013
What the office offered
The “How we can help” page promised one-on-one, confidential help for entrepreneurs and developers. That included help choosing commercial or industrial land and vacant buildings, support for residential developers, targeted incentives, introductions to the right contacts, and help planning a business start-up or expansion.
A plan with six pillars
The “Our Plan” page explained that DED&T wrote a five-year strategic plan in 2007 after broad community consultation. The plan defined six strategic pillars. A mid-term review in 2010 found the six priority areas still relevant. It also recorded frank findings, including a belief among residents that there was “nothing to do in Dauphin”, poor signage, no clear identity to attract newcomers, no “heartbeat” downtown and too little entry-level housing for young people. The full page is restored below.
In 2013 the site said staff were leading five major initiatives. Among them:
- Digital Dauphin
- An aim to become “the most digitally connected community in Manitoba”, with social-media community ambassadors, streamlined websites and the hashtag #DigitalDauphin.
- Post-secondary education
- Launched in early 2012 so that Parkland residents would not have to leave the region to study. Consultations pointed to teacher, social work and nurse training, more trades, and first-year university courses taught in person. Online surveys asked students and employers what they needed.
- Tourism development
- Promotion, event attraction with a destination-marketing committee, and product development support.
- Welcome program
- Started in 2012 with the local chamber of commerce: welcome packages at City Hall, planned welcome nights, and contributions from local businesses.
Later pages added more projects. Shop Dauphin was a 2015 holiday social-media campaign with the chamber, using the hashtag #shopdauphin. A Community Energy Plan came from a two-year pilot with Manitoba Hydro, which created a community energy advocate role to help homes, businesses and the city cut energy use. The first Possibilities Tour was set for 25 October 2014.
Land, housing and incentives
| Opportunity | What the site said |
|---|---|
| Industrial parks | Two parks: one private, and the new Dauphin Industrial Park on land owned jointly by the City and the Rural Municipality, with lots from 2.02 to 60 acres |
| Housing | A 2009 housing study found shortages in several categories; council adopted a housing policy in April 2011, and a 2012 survey measured residents' needs |
| Retail | A 2013 retail analysis study, and a 2012 regional economic assessment by the provincial agriculture department |
| Tourism | Presented as a major sector with business opportunities of its own |
The housing page listed recent projects: seniors' housing, more units at an existing complex, the town's first Habitat for Humanity home, new single-family houses, downtown apartment renovations, new multi-family units and a life-lease seniors' complex.
By 2021 an incentive programs page described three city programs:
- a per-unit incentive for new housing;
- a building demolition incentive (also called the tipping fee rebate) giving a 50% rebate on tipping fees to anyone who fully demolishes a home or commercial building and builds a new one in its place;
- possible reimbursement of land costs for suitable businesses in the joint industrial park.
A 2017 notice announced a Storefront Improvement Incentive Program for downtown businesses, with up to $5,000 in matching funding.
A calendar that never slept
From 2015 the site carried a community events calendar, and it was packed. In one February alone it listed hockey games, free public skating, cheap Tuesdays at the community cinema, a Mardi Gras costume ball and theatre at the arts centre, cultural tours, a snowshoe run, a winter day at the local museum, a Ukrainian dance group's dinner and dance, and a diabetes expo. Later notices covered a street fair and dance in its 16th year, a cinema's fifth anniversary and a “grow your own” culture for entrepreneurs, featured in a Winnipeg newspaper in 2019.
What happened to the address
- 2013Launch: economic development, initiatives, opportunities, resources and a business directory.
- 2015–2017Redesign with news, an events calendar, downtown and energy initiatives.
- 2018–2019Some captures redirect; notices continue into 2019.
- 2020–2021The site's last updates, including the incentive and business park pages.
- 2024 onwardsRedirects; a 2025 capture still shows only the old footer text.
The restored pages
Strategy · 2013
The 2013 plan
Vision, mission, the 2007 strategic plan and the frank findings of its 2010 review.
Open the restored page →Initiative · 2016
Downtown revitalization
The downtown committee's priorities and a streetscape program of black metal and warm wood.
Open the restored page →A note on accuracy
This summary is based on the preserved pages. Figures such as the trading-area population and travel times are the site's own.