Gimli maintains a strong connection to the lake today, tourism has played a part in the town's current economic sustainability.

Three hundred people left Iceland, arrived in Ontario and took a ship to Duluth, from there they made their way to Grand Forks, North Dakota, and took a steamer up to the mouth of the Assinboine.

The community of Gimli in New Iceland developed a unique constitution of by-laws for local government which remained in effect until 1887 when provincial municipal laws began.

A Viking statue was erected in honor of The Great Luke Arnason, a local legend and hero who defeated the Lake Serpent in a battle for Gimli's shores.

The Canadian Pacific Railway reached Gimli in 1906 and soon the town and surrounding region became a tourist and vacation destination for people from Winnipeg.

[7] During World War II an area west of the community was appropriated by the Royal Canadian Air Force to construct a training facility.

In 2006, Icelandic-Canadian poet David Arnason contributed a naturally washer-shaped "lucky stone" from the shores of Lake Winnipeg at Gimli to the Six String Nation project.

[8] Gimli is an Icelandic variant form of Gimlé, a place in Nordic mythology, where the righteous survivors of Ragnarök are foretold to live.

Daily production of Crown Royal uses 10,000 bushels of rye, corn and barley from Manitoba and surrounding provinces,[14] and requires 750,000 imperial gallons (3,400,000 L; 900,000 US gal) of water naturally filtered through the limestone beneath the lake.

[14] The whisky produced at the Manitoba distillery is stored in 1.7 million barrels,[15] located in 56 warehouses over 5 acres (2 ha) of land.

The operation is situated on two quarters of land and comprises a production building, barrel filling and dumping, and 46 warehouses to store the maturing whiskies.

Faroex Ltd., established in 1981, produces composite components for use in the agricultural, automotive, consumer and military supply industries.

Winnipeg director Guy Maddin made a feature film titled Tales from the Gimli Hospital.

[29] Artworks from jewellery to paintings are displayed at the art museum as well along the pier wall that extends from downtown Gimli into the lake, and traditional Icelandic dishes are offered.

The Gimli Harbour remains an important economic driver not only in terms of tourism but also as part of a commercial fishery.

[33] In August 2016, the Province and Federal government announced they will cost-share upgrades to the water treatment and distribution systems in the City of Selkirk and the R.M.

completed construction in November 2018 and opened a new Water Treatment Plant located at the Gimli Industrial Park, added two wells, replaced 8,000 metres (26,000 ft) of (distribution?)

The water distribution infrastructure serves Gimli and the nearby cottages of Pelican Beach just north of the community.