The changing faces of Brandon

The amazing part of Brandon’s influx is how many immigrant families have put down roots after arriving on work visas Colin Corneau/Brandon Sun

An amazing demographic shift began with a plant to ‘disassemble' hogs

Jeffrey Simpson

Published on Thursday, Mar. 11, 2010 6:55PM EST Last updated on Friday, Mar. 12, 2010 3:16AM EST

To the uninitiated, the Brandon art gallery might seem to be an unlikely place to hear Spanish. But the other day, three young women were studying a painting and chattering in Spanish.

Hang around Brandon for a little while, and you'll see signs in Mandarin and Ukrainian, too, because a demographic shift has hit this Manitoba city of 45,000 people.

English, Spanish, Mandarin and Ukrainian are the “official languagesâ€