Northern Ontario Political Divisions Communities Economy

Northern Ontario covers 1 million square kilometres and constitutes 90 per cent of the surface area of Ontario, although it contains only 10 per cent of the population. Most of Northern Ontario was transferred to the province from the Northwest Territories in 1882 and 1912, although the area immediately adjacent to the Great Lakes was already part of Ontario in 1867. 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 referred to as Nouvel Ontario, which means "New 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 most of Northern Ontario's population.

1 Political Divisions

Northern Ontario is divided into several geographic districts. Unlike the countiesOriginally, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count (in Great Britain, an earl, though the original earldoms covered larger areas) by reason of that office. The term has since tended to represent a tertiary geographical unit of administrat of Southern Ontario, districts are too sparsely populated to offer the same types of services, so district-based services are provided by the provincial government.

The districts in Northern Ontario (which appear in red on the map) are Rainy RiverRainy River District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1885. It is the only division in Ontario that lies completely in the Central time zone. Its seat is Fort Frances. Populat, KenoraKenora District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1907 from parts of Rainy River District. It is, geographically, the largest division in that province; at 407 167 km² it takes, Thunder BayThunder Bay District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district seat is Thunder Bay. History Thunder Bay District was created in 1871 by provincial statute from the western half of Algoma Di, CochraneCochrane District, Ontario is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1921 from parts of Timiskaming and Thunder Bay districts. The district seat is Cochrane. Municipalities City of Tim, TimiskamingTimiskaming is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district was created in 1912 from parts of Algoma, Nipissing, and Sudbury districts. According to Elections Canada ( 2001), the population is 69, AlgomaAlgoma District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1858. The district seat is Sault Ste. Marie Communities Cities Elliot Lake Sault Ste. Marie Towns Blind River Bruce Mines Thes, SudburyThe Sudbury District is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1907 from parts of Algoma District. Although the Sudbury District takes its name from the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, and geographicall, Nipissing and Manitoulin. The single-tier municipality of Greater Sudbury -- which is not politically part of the District of Sudbury -- is the only geographic division in Northern Ontario where county-level services are offered by the local government rather than the province.

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.

2 Communities

Northern Ontario has nine cities. In order of population, they are:

Greater Sudbury (pop. 155,219; CMA 155,601)
Thunder Bay (pop. 109,016; CMA 121,986)
Sault Ste. Marie (pop. 74,566)
North Bay (pop. 52,771)
Timmins (pop. 43,686)
Kenora (pop. 15,838)
Elliot Lake (pop. 11,956)
Temiskaming Shores (pop. 10,000)
Dryden (pop. 8,198)

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:

Some of these communities are, in fact, larger in population than the region's smallest cities, but do not currently have city status.

3 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. 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. 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.

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 Mines and Northern Development (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.

4 Politics

Although Progressive Conservative candidates have been elected in Northern Ontario from time to time, the region is usually one of the party's weakest areas in all of Canada. In part because of the region's significant dependence on government investment, 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, due to the region's history of labour unionism.

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.) 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.

In the Canadian federal election, 2004, 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. However, the region's strong support for the NDP tends to be more labour- populist than progressive in nature. The region can, in fact, be quite socially conservative in many respects.

Major political issues in recent years have included the economic health of the region, the possible extension of Highway 400 from Parry Sound to Sudbury, and a controversial plan (which has been proposed and cancelled several times, and is currently cancelled) to ship Toronto's garbage to 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 to lobby for the formation of a separate province of Northern Ontario. The party attracted only modest support, and folded in the 1980s.

5 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 ( Université de Hearst ).

Technical colleges are located in Thunder Bay ( Confederation College), Sault Ste. Marie ( Sault College ), Timmins ( Northern College of Applied Arts and Technology), 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.)

The Ontario government recently 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.

6 Media

All of Northeastern Ontario's towns and cities receive CTV Television Network service from the originating stations or rebroadcast transmitters of the MCTV television system, which is owned and operated by CTV. CBC and Global 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, through Kenora's CTV affiliate CJBN , and through rebroadcasters of the CBC station in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Northwestern Ontario only receives Global network service on cable, except for some individual programs purchased by Thunder Bay Television or CJBN.

Daily newspapers in the region include the Sudbury Star , the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal , 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, and the Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is owned by Horizon Media Group . All of the other newspapers are owned by Osprey Media.

Most commercial radio stations in Northern Ontario are owned by national radio groups such as Rogers Media or Newcap , although a few independent and community broadcasters are represented as well. CBC Radio One has stations in Sudbury, with rebroadcasters throughout Northeastern Ontario, and in Thunder Bay, with rebroadcasters in the Northwest. The French Première Chaîne has a station in Sudbury, with rebroadcasters throughout Northern Ontario. CBC Radio Two is currently heard only in Sudbury and Thunder Bay, and the French Espace Musique is currently heard only in Sudbury.

7 Franco-Ontarians

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 vistor wishing it including communications, schools, hospitals, social services, and in the courts. As well, the Government of Canada provides French and English equally in all matters.

See Franco-Ontarian for further information.

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