One of Saskatchewan’s fastest growing communities celebrates 10 years as a city

The city of Warman, Sask., is celebrating its 10-year anniversary as a city.

“It’s exciting for us. To see the continued growth from when we were first a city 10 years ago,” Mayor Gary Philipchuk told Global News.

Warman was the 16th municipality in the province to reach city status, a designation officially recognized on Oct. 24, 2012.

Established in 1905 and formerly named Diamond, the city states it achieved its current success based on its formative years as a town and village.

Although celebrations and festivities took place over the summer, marking Oct. 24 was just as special.

“A lot has happened over those 10 years with sustained growth,” Philipchuk said. “It’s a lot of pride to see people are choosing Warman.”

According to Statistics Canada, the population of Warman in 2011 hit just over 7,000. That figure jumped to nearly 11,000 by 2016, representing an increase of 55.5 per cent.

In 2021, the population had grown to more than 12,000 with another 13 per cent increase.

Clothing Obsession, a clothing store in Warman, has become a staple in the community.

Since operating in 2008, owner Jenn Martin is grateful to her municipality.

“We have the same customers that originally started with us on our first couple of days back 14 years ago that still come in on a weekly basis,” Martin said.

“It’s been rewarding,” she added.

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Philipchuk said he’s proud to see the growth of the city, but notes it comes with some challenges.

“One of our challenges right now is health care and having services in Warman,” he mentioned.

“Our recreational complexes are full so we’re looking at how do we add to those complexes. Our schools are also hitting their capacities right now so we’re already talking about future schools in Warman,” he explained.

Darryl Bazylak, director of education at Prairie Spirit School Division which oversees Warman schools, said they’ve been analyzing projections for all their schools and were aware to plan for an increase in enrollment.

“It’s a welcoming problem or situation. It is exciting to add more students into our population when those students are coming to Warman,” Bazylak said.

The school division said they’ve experienced a growth of 670 students in the last decade, during which two schools were built to meet the enrolment needs.