'Northern Ontario' is the part of the province of
Ontario which lies north of
Lake Huron (including
Georgian Bay), the
French River and
Lake Nipissing.
Northern Ontario has a land area of 802,000 km² (310,000 mi²) and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains less than 7% of the population.
In the early 20th century, Northern Ontario was often called "New Ontario", although this name fell into disuse because of its colonial connotations. (In
French, however, the region is still referred to as ''Nouvel Ontario''.)
Most of Northern Ontario is situated on the
Canadian Shield, a vast rocky plateau. The climate is characterized by extremes of temperature, extremely cold in winter and hot in summer. The principal industries are
mining,
forestry, and
hydroelectricity.
For some purposes, Northern Ontario is further subdivided into
Northeastern and
Northwestern Ontario. When the region is divided in this way, the three westernmost districts (Rainy River, Kenora and Thunder Bay) constitute "Northwestern Ontario" and the other districts constitute "Northeastern Ontario." Northeastern Ontario contains two thirds of Northern Ontario's population.
The people of Northern Ontario have a strong sense of identity separate from the rest of Ontario. There have been movements in the past for the region to separate from the rest of Ontario, all of which have failed (see below). It is economically, politically, geographically, and socially vastly different from the rest of the province. Some organizations treat it as a province - it sends its own team to
the Brier, Canada's men's
curling championship, separately from Ontario and the other provinces of Canada.
Territorial evolution
Those areas which formed part of
New France in the ''pays d'en haut'', essentially the watersheds of the
Ottawa River,
Lake Huron and
Lake Superior, had been acquired by the British by the
Treaty of Paris (1763) and became part of
Upper Canada in 1791, and then the
Province of Canada between 1840-1867.
Canadian provincial boundaries in 1867
The southernmost portions of Northern Ontario, immediately adjacent to the
Great Lakes, were part of Ontario from
Canadian Confederation in 1867. The disputed southern portions of
Northwestern Ontario were confirmed as belonging to Ontario by the decisions of the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1884 and confirmed by the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889 of the Parliament of the
United Kingdom. The northernmost portion of the province up to
Hudson's Bay was transferred to the province from the
Northwest Territories by the Parliament of Canada in the Ontario Boundaries Extension Act, 1912 which the province named the District of Patricia but which has formed part of
Kenora District since 1927.
Judicial and administrative divisions
The
Province of Canada began creating judicial districts in sparsely populated Northern Ontario with the establishment of
Algoma District and
Nipissing District in 1858. These districts had no municipal function; they were created for the provision of judicial and administrative services from the
district seat. After the creation of the province of Ontario in 1867, the first district to be established was
Thunder Bay in
1871 which until then had formed part of Algoma District. The Ontario government was reluctant to establish new districts in the north, partly because the northern and western boundaries of Ontario were in dispute after
Confederation. Ontario's right to
Northwestern Ontario was determined by the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1884 and confirmed by the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889 of the Parliament of the
United Kingdom. By 1899 there were seven northern districts: Algoma, Manitoulin, Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay. Four more northern districts were created between 1907 and 1912: Cochrane, Kenora, Sudbury and Temiskaming.
Unlike the
counties of Southern Ontario, districts are too sparsely populated to offer the same types of services, so many district-based services are provided by the provincial government.
The districts in Northern Ontario (which appear in red on the location map) are
Rainy River,
Kenora,
Thunder Bay,
Cochrane,
Timiskaming,
Algoma,
Sudbury,
Nipissing and
Manitoulin. The ''single-tier municipality'' of
Greater Sudbury — which is ''not'' politically part of the District of Sudbury — is the only
census division in Northern Ontario where county-level services are offered by the local government rather than the province.
A portion of the Nipissing District lays south of the formal dividing line between Northern and Southern Ontario, but is still considered part of Northern Ontario. As well, for some purposes, the districts of
Parry Sound and
Muskoka (which appear in green on the map) are treated as part of Northern Ontario even though they are geographically in
Central Ontario. In
2004, the provincial government removed Muskoka from its definition of Northern Ontario for development funding purposes, but continues to treat Parry Sound as a Northern Ontario division. The federal government retained both more southerly districts in the service area of its development agency
FedNor.
All of Northeastern Ontario is within the Eastern (UTC -5)
time zone; Northwestern Ontario is split between the Eastern and Central (UTC -6) time zones.
Communities
North Bay is often cosidered to be the "Gateway" to Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario has nine cities. In order of population (
2006), they are:
★
Greater Sudbury (pop. 157,857; CMA 158,258)
★
Thunder Bay (pop. 109,140; CMA 122,907)
★
Sault Ste. Marie (pop. 74,948; CA 80,098)
★
North Bay (pop. 53,966; CA 63,424)
★
Timmins (pop. 42,997)
★
Kenora (pop. 15,177)
★
Elliot Lake (pop. 11,549)
★
Temiskaming Shores (pop. 10,732; CA 12,904)
★
Dryden (pop. 8,195)
Until the City of Greater Sudbury was created in
2001, Thunder Bay had a larger population than the old city of Sudbury, but the
Regional Municipality of Sudbury was the larger
Census Metropolitan Area as Sudbury had a much more populous suburban belt (including the city of
Valley East, formerly the region's sixth-largest city.) However, as the former Regional Municipality of Sudbury is now governed as a single city, it is both the region's largest city and the region's largest CMA.
Other communities in Northern Ontario include:
Economy
Sudbury is the dominant city in Northeastern Ontario, and Thunder Bay is the dominant city in Northwestern Ontario. These two regions are quite distinct from each other economically and culturally, and also quite distant from each other geographically. As a result, Sudbury and Thunder Bay are each the primary city in their part of the region, but neither city can be said to outrank the other as the principal economic centre of Northern Ontario as a whole.
In fact, each city has a couple of distinct advantages that the other city lacks -- Sudbury is at the centre of a larger economic sphere due to the city's, and Northeastern Ontario's, larger population, but Thunder Bay is advantaged by air, rail and shipping traffic due to its prime location along major continental transportation routes. The
Thunder Bay International Airport is the third busiest airport in Ontario (after
Lester B. Pearson International Airport in Toronto and
Macdonald-Cartier International Airport in Ottawa) carrying some 600,000 passengers in 2004 with over 100 flights and four international flights daily.
Sudbury's economy, in which the largest sectors of employment are government-related fields such as education and health care, is somewhat more diversified than Thunder Bay's, which is still based primarily on natural resources and manufacturing. Yet in the era of government cutbacks, Thunder Bay's economy has been less prone to recession and unemployment.
Northern Ontario has had difficulty in recent years maintaining both its economy and its population. All of Northern Ontario's cities declined in population between the censuses of
1996 and
2001. (This coincides with the discontinuation of the operation of the subsidized government airline,
norOntair in March 1996.) Although the cities have tried with mixed results to diversify their economies in recent years, most communities in the region are resource-based economies, whose economic health is very dependent on "boom and bust" resource cycles.
Mining and
forestry are the two major industries in the region, although
manufacturing,
transportation and
tourism are represented as well. In the 2006 census, some of the region's cities (including its four largest) posted modest population growth, while others saw further declines.
The cities have, by and large, been very dependent on government-related employment and investment for their economic diversification. The
Liberal government of
David Peterson in the 1980s moved several provincial agencies and ministries to Northern Ontario, including the
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (whose head office is in Sault Ste. Marie) and the
Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (whose head office is in Greater Sudbury).
As well, many of Northern Ontario's major tourist attractions (e.g.
Science North,
Dynamic Earth, the
Sault Locks, etc.), and some of its transportation infrastructure (e.g.,
Ontario Northland) are agencies of the provincial or federal governments. Further, much of the funding available for economic development in Northern Ontario comes from government initiatives such as the federal government's
FedNor and the provincial
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.
Politics
Although
Progressive Conservative candidates have been elected in Northern Ontario from time to time, the region has been one of the weakest areas in all of Canada for both the PCs and their federal successor, the
Conservative Party. It is in part due to the region's significant dependence on government investment that the
Liberal Party has traditionally taken the majority of the region's seats at both the federal and provincial levels. The
New Democrats also have a significant base of support here, thanks to the region's history of
labour unionism, support from
First Nations communities, and the personal popularity of local NDP figures.
Mike Harris, the
Conservative premier of Ontario from
1995 to
2002, represented the Northern Ontario riding of
Nipissing. However, Harris himself was the only Conservative candidate elected in a true Northern Ontario riding in either the 1995 or
1999 elections. (If the definition of Northern Ontario is extended to include the Parry Sound District, then Harris was joined by
Ernie Eves in Parry Sound—Muskoka. In 2001 and 2003,
Norm Miller was also elected in Parry Sound—Muskoka. Miller is currently the
Official Opposition critic for
Northern Development and Mines.)
Ontario New Democratic Party leader
Howard Hampton also represents a Northern Ontario riding,
Kenora—Rainy River, in the Ontario Legislative Assembly. The riding of
Algoma East was represented federally by
Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson from
1948 to
1968.
William Hearst, premier of Ontario from
1914 to
1919, represented the riding of
Sault Ste. Marie.
In the
2004 federal election, the Liberals took seven seats in the region, and the NDP took two. However, the NDP placed second — and often a very ''close'' second — in every riding the Liberals won, except one.
Nipissing—Timiskaming was the only riding in the region where a Conservative candidate did better than third place, which was mainly due to the fiscally conservative nature of the suburban and rural areas around and south of North Bay, but excluding the socially progressive city of North Bay proper, in which most of the polling stations were won by the Liberal candidate. In the
2006 federal election, every seat in the region was retained by its Liberal or NDP incumbent, despite the national increase in support for the Conservative party. Again, only Parry Sound—Muskoka elected a Conservative.
However, the strong support for the NDP in most parts of Northern Ontario tends to be more labour-
populist in nature. The region can, in fact, be quite
socially conservative in many respects, especially in the southern border parts of the region. The northern and northeastern areas are generally more progressive, due to the high concentration of
First Nations and the high
Franco-Ontarian population, which are generally quite liberal.
Major political issues in recent years have included the economic health of the region, the extension of
Highway 400 from Parry Sound to Sudbury, and a controversial plan (proposed and cancelled several times, and is currently cancelled) to ship
Toronto's garbage to the
Adams Mine, an abandoned
open pit mine in Kirkland Lake.
On-going high
unemployment, lack of awareness of or concern for Northern Ontario's problems, and difficulties in achieving economic diversification have led to discontent amongst Northern Ontarians. In the late
1970s, this manifested itself in the establishment of the
Northern Ontario Heritage Party created and led by Ed Deibel, to lobby for the formation of a
separate province of Northern Ontario. The party attracted only modest support, and folded in the
1980s.
More recently, however, such concerns have resurfaced as some residents of the city of
Kenora have called for the city or the wider region to secede from Ontario and join
Manitoba; a few residents throughout the region continue to suggest splitting all or part of the region into a separate province. The latter movement, known as the Northern Ontario Secession Movement, has begun to attract attention and support; most notably by the mayors of Kenora and Fort Frances. The crisis in the Ontario forest industry, and the perceived inaction by the provincial government, has in particular spurred support for the idea of secession. In particular, many residents feel that the industrial energy rate is too high to allow the industry to remain competitive. These concerns have been given particular voice by Howard Hampton, the provincial NDP leader and MPP for Kenora—Rainy River. Additionally, media coverage, though rarely in favour of secession, has begun to highlight the problems and frustrations faced by the north. Most recently, the ''
Toronto Star'', a major daily, ran a front page story on the issue.
Education
There are universities in Thunder Bay (
Lakehead University), North Bay (
Nipissing University) and Greater Sudbury (
Laurentian University). Laurentian University also has affiliated colleges in Sault Ste. Marie (
Algoma University College) and Hearst, Kapuskasing and Timmins (
Université de Hearst). All three universities also have satellite campuses in Southern Ontario (Lakehead in
Orillia, Nipissing in
Brantford and Laurentian in
Barrie.)
In May of 2007, the government of Ontario announced plans to grant Algoma University College fully independent university status.
Technical colleges are located in Thunder Bay (
Confederation College), Sault Ste. Marie (
Sault College), Timmins (
Northern College), North Bay (
Canadore College) and Greater Sudbury (
Cambrian College, an
English language college, and
Collège Boréal, a
French language college which has several satellite campuses in other Northern Ontario communities and in Toronto.)
In the early
2000s, the provincial government announced funding for the
Northern Ontario School of Medicine. This school, a joint faculty of Laurentian and Lakehead universities, will have a special research focus on rural medicine.
Media
All of Northeastern Ontario's towns and cities receive
CTV service from the originating stations or rebroadcast transmitters of the
CTV Northern Ontario system.
CBC,
Global,
Radio-Canada,
TVOntario and
CH service is received through rebroadcast transmitters of the networks' Toronto stations.
Northwestern Ontario receives CTV and CBC service through the independently-owned
Thunder Bay Television twinstick, Kenora's CTV affiliate
CJBN and through rebroadcasters of the CBC stations in Toronto or
Winnipeg (depending on the community's time zone). Northwestern Ontario does not receive Global or CH service, although Thunder Bay Television and CJBN purchase broadcast rights to some of those systems' programming. TVOntario service is received through rebroadcast transmitters of the Toronto station; like the English CBC, Radio-Canada service may originate from Toronto or Winnipeg.
Some of Northern Ontario's more remote communities receive
TFO and the
Ontario Parliament Network from over-the-air transmitters; in most areas of the province these services are only available on cable. (TFO is also available as an over-the-air channel in Greater Sudbury.)
Daily
newspapers in the region include the ''
Sudbury Star'', the ''
Chronicle-Journal'' in Thunder Bay, the ''
Sault Star'' in Sault Ste. Marie, the ''
North Bay Nugget'', the ''
Timmins Daily Press'' and the ''
Kenora Daily Miner''. The ''Kenora Daily Miner'' is owned by
Quebecor, the ''Chronicle-Journal'' is owned by
Horizon Media Group, and all of the other daily newspapers are owned by
Osprey Media. Community newspapers include ''
Northern Life'' in Sudbury, ''
Northern News'' in Kirkland Lake and the ''
Dryden Observer'' in Dryden.
Most commercial radio stations in Northern Ontario are owned by the national radio groups
Rogers Communications,
Haliburton Broadcasting Group or
Newcap Broadcasting, although a few independent and community broadcasters are represented as well.
CBC Radio One has stations in Sudbury (
CBCS), with rebroadcasters throughout Northeastern Ontario, and in Thunder Bay (
CBQT), with rebroadcasters in the Northwest. The French
Première Chaîne has a station in Sudbury (
CBON), with rebroadcasters throughout Northern Ontario.
CBC Radio Two is currently heard ''only'' in Sudbury (
CBBS) and Thunder Bay (
CBQ), and the French
Espace Musique is currently heard only in Sudbury (
CBBX).
Cable television service is provided by
Shaw Cable in Sault Ste. Marie and virtually all of Northwestern Ontario, by
Cogeco in North Bay, and by
Persona in most of Northeastern Ontario apart from the cities noted above.
For more information on Northern Ontario media, see each city's individual article.
Demographics
The mining boom of the early twentieth century attracted many
francophones to Northeastern Ontario, and
French is still widely spoken there. While the Canadian constitution never required the province of Ontario to recognize French as an official language, the government provides full services in the French language to any citizen, resident, or visitor wishing it including communications, schools, hospitals, social services, and in the courts, under the
French Language Services Act of 1986. As well, the government of Canada provides French and English equally in all matters. See
Franco-Ontarian for further information.
The region also has a significant
First Nations population, primarily of the
Ojibwe,
Cree and
Oji-Cree nations, with smaller communities of
Nipissing,
Odawa and
Saulteaux.
Fiction set in Northern Ontario
Novels
★ ''Shut Up and Eat Your Snowshoes'' (
1970), by
Jack Douglas
★ ''
Dance Me Outside'' (
1977), by
W. P. Kinsella
★ ''
Le Trappeur du Kabi'' (
1981), by
Doric Germain
★ ''Loon'' (
1992) and ''Freddy Dimwhistle's Northcountry Sketchbook'' (
1997), by A. W. (Bill) Plumstead
★ ''
Logan in Overtime'' (
1990), by
Paul Quarrington
★ ''Bastion Falls'' (
1995), by
Susie Moloney
★ ''
No Great Mischief'' (
1999), by
Alistair MacLeod
★ ''
Forty Words for Sorrow'', ''
The Delicate Storm'', ''
Blackfly Season'', and ''
By the Time You Read This'' (
2000-
2006), by
Giles Blunt
★ ''
Crow Lake'' (
2002), by
Mary Lawson
★ ''The
Neanderthal Parallax'' (
2002-
2003), trilogy by
Robert J. Sawyer
★ ''
Three Day Road'' (
2005), by
Joseph Boyden
★ ''
Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town'' (
2005), by
Cory Doctorow
Plays
★ ''1932, la ville du nickel'' by
Jean-Marc Dalpé and
Brigitte Haentjens (
1984)
★ ''
Le Chien'' by Jean-Marc Dalpé (
1987)
★ ''
The Rez Sisters'' by
Tomson Highway (
1988)
★ ''
Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing'' by
Tomson Highway (
1989)
★ ''
Wildcat'' (musical play) by
Charlie Angus and
Brit Griffin (
1998)
Films
★ ''
Roadkill'' (
1989)
★ ''
Termini Station'' (
1989)
★ ''
Highway 61'' (
1991)
★ ''
South of Wawa'' (
1991)
★ ''
Dance Me Outside'' (
1994)
★ ''
Men With Brooms'' (
2002)
★ ''
Looking for Angelina'' (
2002)
★ ''
Phil the Alien'' (
2003)
★ '' (
2005)
★ ''
That Beautiful Somewhere'' (In post-production; expected première date
2006)
★ ''
Snow Cake'' (
2006)
North Bay inventor
Troy Hurtubise was the subject of the
documentary film ''
Project Grizzly'' (
1996).
Television series
★ ''
The Forest Rangers'' (
1963–
1965,
CBC)
★ ''
Adventures in Rainbow Country'' (filmed
1969, first aired
1970–
1971,
CBC)
★ ''
Spirit Bay'' (
1984–at least
1986,
CBC)
★ ''
The Rez'' (
1995–
1998,
CBC)
★ ''
Wind at My Back'' (
1996-
2001,
CBC)
★ (upcoming)''
Total Drama Island'' (
July 2007,
Teletoon)
Television series ''
The Red Green Show'' (
1991–
2005) and its spinoff theatrical film ''
Duct Tape Forever'' (
2002) are set in the fictional town of
Possum Lake. The animated sitcom ''
Chilly Beach'' (
2003–,
CBC), set in a fictional town in Northern Canada, is produced in Sudbury.
Comics
In the comic strip ''
For Better or For Worse'', Elizabeth Patterson attended North Bay's
Nipissing University, and subsequently taught school in the fictional
reserve of
Mtigwaki. Geographic references in the strip place Mtigwaki near the northeastern shore of
Lake Nipigon.
Lynn Johnston, the strip's cartoonist, lives in
Corbeil, near North Bay in real life, although the strip is set primarily in Southern Ontario.
People
Northern Ontario has produced many famous people. A few notables are:
★
Al Arbour, NHL coach
★
Roberta Bondar, astronaut
★
James Cameron, filmmaker
★
Toller Cranston, figure skater
★
Dan Daoust, NHL Player (Ret.), Maple Leafs
★
Phil Esposito,
Hockey Hall of Famer
★
Tony Esposito, Hockey Hall of Famer
★
Ron Francis, retired NHL star
★
Tim Horton, NHL player
★
Ted Lindsay, NHL player
★
Frank Mahovlich, former NHL player, now Canadian senator
★
Diane Marleau, Member of Canadian Parliament
★
Kate Pace, World cup winning alpine skier
★
Chris Pronger, NHL player, Anaheim Ducks
★
Mike Richards, NHL player, Philadelphia Flyers
★
Paul Shaffer, musician
★
Sonja Smits, actress
★
Eric Staal, NHL player, Carolina Hurricanes
★
Jordan Staal, NHL player, Pittsburgh Penguins
★
Steve Sullivan, NHL player
★
Alan Thicke, actor
★
Alex Trebek, gameshow host
★
Shania Twain, musician
External links
★
Northern Ontario Overview
★
Physical Geography of Northern Ontario
★
Northern Ontario Region
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