Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Station

Description of the Historic Place

The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) Station is located on a one-half hectare lot in the Caswell Hill neighbourhood. The property features a grand two-storey, brick and stone railway station that was constructed between 1907 and 1908.

This historic place, located at 305 Idylwyld Drive North, was designated as a Municipal Heritage Property in 1994. The designation is limited to the building’s exterior. The property received designation as a National Historic Site in 1976, and the building was designated under the Federal Heritage Railway Stations Protection Act in 1990.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the CPR Station resides in its association with Saskatoon's emerging status as an important prairie city. By constructing a station of this size and stature, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company helped confirm Saskatoon's status in the West. Unlike the wooden structures in smaller centres and rural areas, Saskatoon's CPR station was significantly larger and built of brick - an indication of the permanent nature of the depot. Similarly, the station's chateau-style of architecture, which emulated Edmonton's grand Strathcona Station, speaks to the level of importance that the company placed on the flourishing town. Unlike other railway stations, Saskatoon's CPR depot was not built according to a typical CPR plan; rather, since it coincided with the city's building boom, the station was designed specifically to reflect the optimism of a booming prairie town.

The downtown site chosen for the CPR station was only a few blocks from the rival Canadian Northern Depot that was built in 1890. The new CPR station attested to the fact that Saskatoon was now served by the three main railway lines—the Canadian Pacific, the Canadian Northern, and the Grand Trunk—and this solidified Saskatoon's identity as a "hub city," a distribution centre to the North and the halfway point between Winnipeg and Edmonton. In its day, the CPR Station included separate waiting rooms for men and women, a telegraph office, a baggage area and a conductor’s office. 

By 1960 other modes of transport threatened rail use. The station was closed and used as an administrative centre before being privately developed in 1993. The only remaining original railway depot in Saskatoon, the CPR station continues to stand as a symbol of a city's optimism. Through the City’s Heritage Awards Program, the CPR Station received an award for the renovation of a commercial building in 1996.

Source: City of Saskatoon Bylaw No.7444 / City of Saskatoon Built Heritage Database / Canadian Register of Historic Places

Character Defining Elements

Key elements which contribute to the heritage value of this historic resource include:

• Its Chateau-style railway architecture, evident in: its steeply-pitched bell-cast roof with bay dormers, the 15 metre polygonal turret, and the large overhanging eaves supported by heavy, arched brackets;
• Its brick construction, Tyndall stone and lintels; and
• The building's massing and angular siting on its original lot.