Manitoba in the Accord's process, and thus the Accord failed. In 2013, Manitoba was the second province to make accessibility legislation law, protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. At the 2011 census, Manitoba had a population of 1,208,268, more than half of which is in the Winnipeg Capital Region; Winnipeg is Canada's eighth-largest Census Metropolitan Area, with a population of 730,018 (2011 Census). Although initial colonization of the province revolved mostly around homesteading, the last century has seen a shift towards urbanization; Manitoba is the only Canadian province with over fifty-five percent of its population located in a single city.
Transport in Winnipeg operations and intermodal facilities inside Winnipeg. There are approximately 5,000 people employed in Winnipeg in the rail transportation industry. Via Rail operates out of Union Station, a grand neoclassical structure near The Forks in downtown Winnipeg. The station was built by the Canadian Northern Railway & National Transcontinental/Grand Trunk Pacific Railway and was designed by the same architects responsible for Grand Central Terminal in New York City. In addition to the major commercial railways, the City of Winnipeg owns and operates the Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway, which runs parallel to the city aqueduct to Shoal Lake. The Winnipeg Bus