The city of Estevan, the eleventh-largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada, is located approximately 16 km north of the Canada–United States border. The city is nestled by the Souris River and is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Estevan No. 5. The first settlers arrived in Estevan in 1892, coinciding with the expansion of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The city was incorporated as a village in 1899, became a town in 1906, and finally acquired the status of a city on March 1, 1957. The name Estevan is attributed to George Stephen's registered telegraphic address. Stephen was the first President of the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1881 to 1888.
On December 22, 1915, the 152nd (Weyburn-Estevan) Battalion, CEF was authorised and recruited men from the area before departing to Great Britain on October 3, 1916.
Estevan was the site of the notorious Estevan riot in 1931. Although most of the strikers were from nearby Bienfait, the strike is associated with Estevan because it was in this city the demonstrators were met by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The riot lasted 45 minutes, leaving three strikers dead. It was later proven the three miners had been killed by the RCMP. The miners had been organised by the Workers' Unity League.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Estevan had a population of 10,851 living in 4,584 of its 5,368 total private dwellings, a change of -5.5% from its 2016 population of 11,483. With a land area of 18.3 km2, it had a population density of 593.0/km2 in 2021.
Estevan is home to two museums, one of which is primarily a gallery. The Estevan Art Gallery and Museum, formerly the Estevan National Exhibition Centre, was founded in 1978. The Gallery's permanent collection includes woodblock-print works by Andrew King. The Souris Valley Museum, SVM, is a local and regional history museum focused on human development and daily life within south-east Saskatchewan. It was founded in 2001, primarily from the collection of Stan Durr.
The Estevan Arts Council, founded in 1967, is a non-profit organisation that offers art classes and workshops, adjudicates art shows, hosts concerts, and provides a youth art scholarships through the work of volunteers and community donations and grants.
Estevan has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) It falls into the NRC Plant Hardiness Zone 4a. The city is characterized by cold, long, and dry winters with warm, short and, relatively humid summers. The mean temperature in January, the coldest month, is −13.9 °C (7.0 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Estevan was 43.3 °C (110 °F) on 5 July 1936, and 5 July 1937. The coldest temperature ever recorded was −46.7 °C (−52 °F) on 11 January 1916, and 16 February 1936. Estevan is the sunniest city year-round in Canada, and it is also the city with the clearest skies year round in Canada.
