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Bienfait, Saskatchewan
Town
Main Street
Location of Bienfait in SaskatchewanShow map of SaskatchewanBienfait (Canada)Show map of Canada
Coordinates: 49°08′47″N 102°47′44″W / 49.1465°N 102.7956°W / 49.1465; -102.7956
Country	Canada
Province	Saskatchewan
Census division	1
Post office established	1893
Village	Apr 16, 1912
Town	March 1, 1957
Government
• Mayor	Ken Bonokoski
Area
• Total	3.09 km (1.19 sq mi)
Population
• Total	780
• Density	252.4/km (654/sq mi)
Postal code	S0C 0M0
Area code	306

Bienfait /ˈbiːnfeɪt/ is a town in Saskatchewan on Highway 18 that is 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) east of Estevan. It is surrounded by the RM of Coalfields.

For services, Bienfait has one school, a gas station, a curling rink and an ice rink, which is where the Bienfait Coalers of the Big 6 Hockey League play. The Coalers have won the Lincoln Trophy 15 times, which is the most of any team.

The Bienfait Museum is in the old CPR Station on the east end of town. The original location for the station was on the CPR line on the north side of town.

History

Bienfait was incorporated as the Village of Bienfait on April 16, 1912. It became a town on March 1, 1957, and was named by the Canadian Pacific Railway after Antoine Charles Bienfait, a banker with Adolphe Boissevain & Company of Amsterdam since the firm had been involved in the sale of Canadian Pacific shares in Europe.

In 1931, striking coal miners marched from Bienfait to nearby Estevan, which resulted in the Estevan Riot.

Train / Caboose Lot

On the north side of town on Railway Avenue at the head of Main Street, sits a Manitoba & Saskatchewan Coal Company (M&S) Locomotive #3522, which is on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. The M & S Locomotive was built in 1907 and used to transport coal from the mines to Bienfait to market until 1968. It was one of the last commercially-functioning steam engines in Canada.

The town of Bienfait acquired the locomotive in 1968 and the caboose in 2000. The caboose is an old Canadian National Railway caboose. This site was added to the list of historic places in Saskatchewan on March 28, 2002.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Bienfait had a population of 668 living in 284 of its 355 total private dwellings, a change of -12.3% from its 2016 population of 762. With a land area of 3.05 km (1.18 sq mi), it had a population density of 219.0/km (567.2/sq mi) in 2021.

Gallery

• M&S Locomotive in Bienfait
• Main Street Bienfait, looking north with the locomotive at the end of the road
• M&S Locomotive plaque

Notable people

• Andy Shauf — Singer-songwriter and guitarist

See also

• List of communities in Saskatchewan
• List of towns in Saskatchewan
• Coal mining in Saskatchewan

References

1. National Archives, Archivia Net. "Post Offices and Postmasters". Archived from the original on October 6, 2006. Retrieved September 6, 2009.
2. Government of Saskatchewan, MRD Home. "Municipal Directory System". Archived from the original on January 15, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
3. The Canadian Press (2017), The Canadian Press Stylebook (18th ed.), Toronto: The Canadian Press
4. "▷ BIENFAIT CURLING RINK ✔ All the information about BIENFAIT CURLING RINK ✔ BIENFAIT". www.saskatchewan-businessdirectory.com.
5. "DiscoverEstevan".
6. "Bienfait Coalers at eliteprospects.com". www.eliteprospects.com.
7. "Big Six Hockey League". big six hockey. Big Six Hockey League. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
8. "Bienfait Coalfields Historical Society Museum | Tourism Saskatchewan". www.tourismsaskatchewan.com.
9. "HistoricPlaces.ca - HistoricPlaces.ca".
10. "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Saskatchewan". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
11. "2021 Community Profiles". 2021 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. February 4, 2022. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
12. "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. March 21, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2012.
13. "2006 Community Profiles". 2006 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. August 20, 2019.
14. "2001 Community Profiles". 2001 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. July 18, 2021.

• Endicott, Stephen (2002). Bienfait: The Saskatchewan Miners' Struggle of '31. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-8452-4.

v t e Places adjacent to Bienfait
Lampman Estevan Bienfait Frobisher Roche Percee

v t e Division No. 1, Saskatchewan
Cities	Estevan
Towns	Alameda Arcola Bienfait Carlyle Carnduff Lampman Oxbow Redvers Stoughton Wawota
Villages	Alida Carievale Fairlight Forget Frobisher Gainsborough Glen Ewen Heward Kennedy Kenosee Lake Kisbey Manor Maryfield North Portal Roche Percee Storthoaks
Rural municipalities	Antler 61 Argyle 1 Benson 35 Brock 64 Browning 34 Coalfields 4 Enniskillen 3 Estevan 5 Golden West 95 Hazelwood 94 Maryfield 91 Moose Creek 33 Moose Mountain 63 Mount Pleasant 2 Reciprocity 32 Storthoaks 31 Tecumseh 65 Walpole 92 Wawken 93
First Nations	Ocean Man Pheasant Rump Nakota White Bear
Indian reserves	Ocean Man 69 69A 69B 69C 69D 69E 69F 69G 69H 69I Pheasant Rump 68 White Bear 70
Unincorporated communities	Organized hamlets Bellegarde Cannington Lake Corning Special service areas Antler Bekevar Benson Bryant Carlyle Lake Resort Coalfields Cowper Cullen Deborah Fertile Fremantle Fry's Gapview Glen Adelaide Handsworth Hirsch Kelso Mair Northgate Nottingham Parkman Pinto Riga Service Steppes Taylorton Walpole Warmley Wauchope Winlaw Woodley Wordsworth Workman
See also: Municipalities in Saskatchewan Census divisions of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities

49°09′00″N 102°48′00″W / 49.150°N 102.800°W / 49.150; -102.800

• Coalfields No. 4, Saskatchewan
• Towns in Saskatchewan
• Division No. 1, Saskatchewan