Cornwall is a city in

Eastern Ontario Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It s ...

, Canada, situated where the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and the state of New York converge. It is the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry and is Ontario's easternmost city. Cornwall is named after the English Duchy of Cornwall; the city's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

is based on that of the duchy with its colours reversed and the addition of a "royal

tressure In heraldry, an orle is a subordinary consisting of a narrow band occupying the inward half of where a bordure would be, following the exact outline of the shield but within it, showing the field between the outer edge of the orle and the edge o ...

", a Scottish symbol of royalty. It is the

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

centre for the surrounding communities of Long Sault and Ingleside to the west; the

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

Territory of

Akwesasne The Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne ( ; french: Nation Mohawk à Akwesasne; moh, Ahkwesáhsne) is a Mohawk Nation (''Kanienʼkehá:ka'') territory that straddles the intersection of international (United States and Canada) borders and provincial (Ont ...

to the south; St. Andrews West and Avonmore to the north; and Glen Walter, Martintown, Apple Hill, Williamstown, and Lancaster to the east. The city straddles the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

and is home to the

St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation (SLSMC), formerly known as the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority, is a nonprofit Canadian Corporation established in 1998 by the government of Canada, in partnership with Seaway users and other stakeh ...

, which oversees navigation and shipping activities for the St. Lawrence Seaway. Cornwall is centrally located between the capital city of Ottawa and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Canada's second-most populous city. It lies within the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor along Ontario Highway 401, is a major port of entry from the United States into Canada, and is positioned to support some of Cornwall's largest industries, which include logistics, distribution, and call centres.

History

] First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples have lived in and around the area of present-day Cornwall for millennia. Though accounts suggest Europeans filtered into the area and had scattered settlements for some time, the first documented European settlement was established in 1784 by

United Empire Loyalists United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America dur ...

, primarily from the former British colony of New York. In 1787 this settlement became the first in present-day Ontario to be visited by a member of the royal family, Prince William Henry (later

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

). After the war for US independence, former colonial soldiers loyal to the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

and other disbanded soldiers and their families began to settle at the site of Cornwall, which was then called New Johnstown. Many of the new arrivals were of German origin, and the town being named for

Johnstown, New York Johnstown is a city in and the county seat of Fulton County in the U.S. state of New York. The city was named after its founder, Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Province of New York and a major general during the Sev ...

, the origin of many of them. The main group was led by Lieutenant-Colonel

Sir John Johnson Brigadier General Sir John Johnson, 2nd Baronet (5 November 1741 – 4 January 1830) was an American-born military officer, magistrate, landowner and colonial official in the British Indian Department who fought as a Loyalist during the America ...

and had soldiers from the First Battalion King's Royal Regiment of New York and a contingent of the 84th Royal Highland Emigrants. Following the success of rebellious colonists in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

, many of those were afraid for their lives or uncomfortable in the newly independent United States became

as they were later called, and migrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The British government helped them settle throughout the Canadas as a reward for their loyalty and to compensate them for their losses in the United States. One of the chief settlement regions was the St Lawrence River Valley, from Kingston to Cornwall, which would later be known as "Loyalist Country." They founded a permanent settlement north of one of a series of portage points (the point was not a settlement, nor was it even a trading post), sometimes referred to as ''Pointe Maligne'' by European explorers. The square mile town was temporarily named "Royal Town #2" then "Johnson" or "New Johnstown." It was later renamed to Cornwall for the Duke of Cornwall by proclamation of Prince George, and in 1834, the town became one of the first incorporated municipalities in the British colony of

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

. Much later, during one of a series of annexations, those former portage points were added to the expanded community. The construction of the Cornwall Canal between 1834 and 1842 accelerated the community's development into a regional and industrial economic "capital" for a growing hinterland of towns and villages. In 1846, the population was about 1,600, and there were many brick and stone houses as well, a stone courthouse and jail, and several government offices. There was little industry, except for a foundry and two tanneries, but there were many independent tradesmen of various types. Other amenities included two bank agencies, eight taverns, and a ladies' school. Canal and lock construction in the late 1800s and the early 1900s brought work and international business. The

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

(

CN Rail The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

) built an east–west line through Cornwall in 1856. The

New York and Ottawa Railway The New York and Ottawa Railway was a railway connecting Tupper Lake in northeastern New York to Ottawa, Ontario, via Ramsayville, Russell, Embrun, Finch and Cornwall. It became part of the New York Central Railroad system in 1913, although ...

(NY&O) followed with a north–south line crossing the St. Lawrence, with a station in Cornwall dating to 1898. The Canadian Pacific Railway created a succession of subsidiaries and plans for a Cornwall line starting in the 1880s, which culminated in the Glengarry and Stormont Railway in 1915 to connect to CP's Ontario and Quebec Railway mainline to the northeast for an alternative route to

. The railway connections provided connections between Cornwall and local communities that required access to public services in Cornwall itself, such as high schools and medical services, and helped cement Cornwall's position as a regional centre for a large, rapidly-expanding, and increasingly-populated rural hinterland. The network of villages and towns surrounding Cornwall helped make the city a local entrepot for business, commerce, media and services. Panorama Moses Saunders Dam

In 1944, the city was rocked by the magnitude 5.8 Cornwall–Massena earthquake. There were no deaths or injuries reported, but several chimneys were destroyed or damaged, along with heavy damage to historical masonry structures. For example, the

Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School (CCVS) is a high school located in Cornwall, Ontario. It was built in 1806 and is one of the oldest schools in Canada. The school's bicentennial in 2006 attracted over 1500 former students back to the s ...

received heavy damage from masonry work falling through the roof of the gymnasium. West of Cornwall, along the

, there were several smaller communities, known as the Lost Villages. They were submerged in 1958 during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, providing a reservoir for the

Moses-Saunders Power Dam The Moses-Saunders Power Dam, short for Robert Moses- Robert H. Saunders Power Dam, is a dam on the Saint Lawrence River straddling the border between the United States and Canada. It is located between Massena in New York and Cornwall in Ontar ...

, which regulates water levels flowing from

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

and maintains the levels required to operate the two adjacent Canada-US

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

generating stations.

Ethnic history

The post-contact regional population was a mixture of French Canadian,

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

and

residents. Then came an influx of

American Loyalists Loyalists were colonists in the Thirteen Colonies who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War, often referred to as Tories, Royalists or King's Men at the time. They were opposed by the Patriots, who support ...

and refugees from the

Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th cent ...

, along with other French Canadian and Acadian migrants. Then poor Scottish and Irish immigrants and refugees who arrived from overseas and other parts of Canada. The different groups mixed and integrated over time, with family names and histories reflecting a blending of different backgrounds that became typical of

. Smaller but impressive contributions in the region were made by a host of other migrants from Jewish traders, craftsmen, and merchants to

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

an refugees and even a significant body of former slaves. Many of the stories go unreported in standard histories, which pass over the remarkable history of migration in the region. One good example is the story of John Baker, who died in Cornwall in 1871 at the age of 93. Born in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

, he was said to be the last Canadian born into slavery and had been an active soldier in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

who fought in both Canada and Europe. Slavery was ended in the colony of

in stages; in 1793, the importing of slaves was banned, and in 1819, Upper Canada Attorney-General John Robinson declared all slaves in the colony to be freed, making Upper Canada the first place in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and even the world that unequivocally moved towards the formal abolition of chattel slavery. Most of the former slaves settled and integrated into the same communities in which they were freed. By 1833, this process of liberation had succeeded throughout the British Empire by the decision to free all of its slaves. It was the first major state in world history to abolish slavery, and Ontario was the place that the process first bore fruit. John Baker, the last slave to be born into slavery in Canada, died in Cornwall. "Canada" had been conquered from France after the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

and included roughly the areas covered by

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. In the aftermath of the American Revolution, the British authorities divided the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on th ...

in 1791 into two, Upper Canada for English settlers fleeing persecution in the United States, and Lower Canada for the French. That was designed to accommodate Loyalists who had fled postwar reprisals and persecution in the new United States, but the 5,000 English-speaking settlers in the Eastern Township of

were allowed to stay in the French-speaking area, and many French settlers moved into

. Along with the area's original inhabitants, that made the area a patchwork of intersecting ethnicities that later greatly intermingled. Cornwall and the surrounding area, originally called "Royal Settlement #2" and then "New Jamestown," was initially a rough place and was largely left to its own devices. According to contemporary reports, that bred a local culture of intense self-reliance. Adding to the initial history of pragmatic entrepreneurialism, since very early with the founding of the city, provincial and federal governments have typically neglected the area and treated it as little more than a transit corridor. Those who remained in the region tended to be those who had the fortitude and the energy to survive on their own, with little outside assistance. "The original 516 settlers arrived in Royal Township #2 with minimal supplies and faced years of hard work and possible starvation. Upon their departure from military camps in

Pointe Claire Pointe-Claire (, ) is a Quebec local municipality within the Urban agglomeration of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in Canada. It is entirely developed, and land use includes residential, light manufacturing, and retail. As of the 2021 cen ...

, Saint Anne, and Lachine in the fall of 1784, Loyalists were given a tent, one month's worth of food rations, clothes, and agricultural provisions by regiment commanders. They were promised one cow for every two families, an axe, and other necessary tools in the near future. For the next three years, bateaux (boat) crews delivered rations to the township, after which residents were left to fend for themselves." The region's energetic spirit of enterprise and fortitude was well known in the 19th century. David Thompson, the Welsh-Canadian explorer who mapped the Far West and was called the greatest land geographer in history, drew many of his traveling companions from Cornwall's rural hinterland, with Scottish and native settlers, and he lived in Williamstown. More recently, Cornwall has seen an increase in the arrival of new immigrants, who tend to integrate and often fare better than immigrants in other parts of the country.

Integration

The Cornwall region was unusually integrated for rural counties in Ontario. For hundreds of years, the local population has been characterized by a mix of economic migrants, refugees, and opportunists. The mixing of different social classes and ethnic backgrounds was common even early in its history because of the interdependence demanded by isolation and the lack of support from or interference by official authorities. The original Native population was remarkably welcoming, and the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

were especially well known for integrating newcomers into local societies and for adapting to change as it happened. Many people in the region have some Native ancestry as a result, and many communities sit on sites that have been occupied, farmed, or managed for hundreds of years. Some people were pushed out, but others simply blended into new communities in a process that would go on continuously over many generations. Lack of strict hierarchy was a characteristic of the region. For example, from the 1780s to the 1830s, a "bee" was a social event that pooled local labour resources for people to come together for collective projects or to help out individual families, and it was often a festive occasion. The early "bees" presaged the development of a varied and integrated culture that ultimately drew on many different classes, backgrounds, and ethnic and linguistic groups, all of which were forced by the harsh reality of life in the region to work together for common goals, the primary of which was survival. The "bees" and different forms of collective shared labour were extremely common all over

, especially in the early villages of the

St. Lawrence Valley The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

. "In her book 'Roughing It in the Bush,' Susanna Moodie observed that 'people in the woods, have a craze for giving and going to bees and run to them with as much eagerness as a peasant runs to a race.' Bees often involved all ranks and nationalities of society. Thomas Need, a sawmill operator in Victoria County, described in 'From Great Wilderness to Seaway Towns' the raising of his facility in 1834 in the following way: 'They assembled in great force and all worked together in great harmony and good will not withstanding their different stations in life.' These gatherings exhibited the lack of aristocracy in the rural loyalist settlement along the

and residents' disregard for individuals' former social standing or lineage. The harshness and isolation of frontier living prevented the development of an aristocracy and, instead, united all members of the community in a struggle for survival. Early Loyalists, regardless of the amount of land they owned, depended upon the help of their neighbors to clear land, build homes, and share supplies and food during times of poor harvests."

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by Statistics Canada, Cornwall had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. The majority (83%) of the population was Christian as of 2011.

Economy

Cornwall has traditionally been a gateway from the Montreal area to the rest of Canada, and was and remains a major port of entry into Canada (Canada Border Services abandoned the Cornwall Island post May 31, 2009, but resumed service on July 13, 2009, at temporary facilities on the city's southern edge.) With the completion of the new low-level bridge connecting Cornwall to Cornwall Island, the C.B.S.A. port was moved to a permanent temporary facility on the canal lands. The city is connected to the United States at Roosevelttown near the municipalities of

Massena, New York Massena is a town in St. Lawrence County, New York, United States. Massena is along the county's northern border, just south of the St. Lawrence River and the Three Nations Crossing of the Canada–United States border. The population was 12 ...

and

Malone, New York Malone ( moh, Tekanatà:ronhwe) is a town in Franklin County, New York, United States. The population was 14,545 at the 2010 census. The town contains a village also named Malone. The town is an interior town located in the north-central part ...

, via the

Three Nations Crossing __NOTOC__ The Three Nations Crossing is a border crossing on the Canada–US border, connecting the city of Cornwall, Ontario in Canada to Rooseveltown, New York, a neighborhood within the Town of Massena, in the United States. The crossing is ...

(Canada, Mohawk, and United States) which traverses the St. Lawrence River. Cornwall was once home to a thriving

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

processing industry. Courtaulds Canada, Inc.'s

viscose rayon Rayon is a semi-synthetic fiber, made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products. It has the same molecular structure as cellulose. It is also called viscose. Many types and grades of viscose f ...

manufacturing mill operated until 1992; at one point it employed nearly 3,000 people. A

Cellophane Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria, and liquid water makes it useful for food packaging. Cellophane is highly permeable to water vapour, but may be coated ...

factory was opened in 1971 by

British Cellophane British Cellophane Ltd (BCL) was a joint venture company formed in 1935 between La Cellophane SA and Courtaulds, when they began building a major factory for producing Cellophane in Bridgwater, Somerset, England. History 19th century The proce ...

, a subsidiary of

Courtaulds Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds ...

, as an ancillary to the rayon plant, and traded successively under the names TCF of Canada Limited, BCL Canada Inc. and Courtaulds Films; it too closed in 1992.

Domtar Domtar Corporation is an American company that manufactures and markets wood fiber-based paper and pulp product. The company operates pulp and paper mills in Windsor, Quebec, Dryden, Ontario, Kamloops, British Columbia, Ashdown, Arkansas, Hawesv ...

, a Quebec-based company, operated a paper mill in the city for nearly 100 years, ceasing operations on March 31, 2006. At its peak, Domtar employed nearly 1,500 employees. In addition,

Canadian Industries Limited Canadian Industries Limited, also known as C-I-L, is a Canadian chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separat ...

(C.I.L.), has operated a plant in Cornwall since 1935. The facility has been converted into a major derivatives plant. The site has a long history of mercury contamination, given that for decades the

chloralkali process The chloralkali process (also chlor-alkali and chlor alkali) is an industrial process for the electrolysis of sodium chloride (NaCl) solutions. It is the technology used to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), which are commodit ...

was carried out here. This entailed using used mercury cells to convert brine into caustic soda and chlorine. Cornwall's industrial base has shifted to a more diversified mix of manufacturing, automotive, high tech, food processing, distribution centres and call centres. The city hosts the largest supply chain management distribution centre in Canada,

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, its massive facility employing nearly 1000 people.

Target Canada Target Canada Co. was the Canadian subsidiary of the Target Corporation, the eighth-largest retailer in the United States. Formerly headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, the subsidiary was formed with the acquisition of Zellers store leases f ...

built a new distribution centre in Cornwall's Business Park on a parcel of land. The Target Canada distribution centre was operated by Eleven Points Logistics. When Target left Canada, their distribution centre was assumed by Walmart. StarTek (''closed''), and Teleperformance ''(closed January 2013)'' both operated call centres in Cornwall. Teleperformance provided in excess of 300 jobs. In late 2008,

Shopper's Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in nine provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist Murray Koffler in 196 ...

built a . distribution facility in Cornwall's Business Park. Over 130 new jobs resulted. Service Canada established a new contact centre which opened in 2010. Over 170 new jobs were created. Cornwall's unemployment rate was about 4% at the time. Cornwall Square, also known as "The Square", is a two-level

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

within Cornwall. In 2016, Cornwall had the 11th-lowest household median income in Canada and the second-lowest in Ontario, at $51,712.

Government

Municipal

The Cornwall City Council is governed by an elected eleven-member municipal government composed of a mayor and ten councillors who serve four-year terms and represent the city as a whole. The mayor of Cornwall is Justin Towndale, having been elected in 2022 defeating interim mayor Glen Grant who was appointed by council shortly after mayor Bernadette Clement was appointed to the Senate of Canada in June 2021. At the 2010 municipal election, 56.5% of eligible voters did not vote as out of 30,655 registered voters, only 13,338 cast ballots (43.5%).

Provincial

Cornwall is located within the Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry riding. The riding is represented by

MPP MPP or M.P.P. may refer to: * Marginal physical product * Master of Public Policy, an academic degree * Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Canada * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape), South Africa * ''Merriweather Post Pavilio ...

Nolan Quinn (

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (french: Parti progressiste-conservateur de l'Ontario), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada ...

Federal

Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry is represented federally by

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) Eric Duncan (

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

). John Sandfield Macdonald, the first Premier of Ontario, was from Cornwall and is buried in St. Andrews West at the Catholic Church cemetery. A heritage plaque facing York Street at 211 Water Street West commemorates the 1897 launch of Cornwall's first permanent hospital in the former John Sandfield Macdonald house at that location.

Culture

The City of Cornwall hosts festivals and special community events, including Canada Day festivities. In 2018, it purchased a building in the downtown core to house its arts and culture centre. The Focus Arts Association organizes multiple exhibitions and coordinates events where artists can connect with and support other artists. Your Arts Council, created to provide artists and the community with the tools and resources they need, offers programs aimed at promoting the work of local artists.

Theatre

The Aultsville Theatre, named after one of the Lost Villages, is a 680–seat performing arts centre on the St. Lawrence College campus and funded in part by the City of Cornwall. The Port Theatre, built in 1941, hosts movies and live music on its stage. Founded in 2006, the Seaway Valley Theatre Company offers plays, musicals, and comedy shows with cabaret style seating.

Museum

Cornwall is home to the Cornwall Community Museum, which is operated by the SD&G Historical Society. In 2022, the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada, relocated its Dominion Office, library, and archives from Toronto to the museum.

Gallery

The Cline House Gallery offers Cornwall and the area rotating exhibitions of visual art featuring the work of both local and visiting artists. The Cailuan Gallery offers local artwork and an ongoing Special Selections exhibition.

Library

The Cornwall Public Library, located in the downtown core, is housed in the former 1953 Cornwall Post Office building, which was renovated and designated a heritage site by the Cornwall Municipal Heritage Committee in 1997.

Kinsmen Cornwall Lift Off

Lift Off was an annual music and hot air balloon festival that took place in July in Lamoureux Park. It was run by a board of volunteers and was a non-profit organization. The event was the only hot air balloon festival in Ontario. Paying individuals could take a 20 or 90 minute ride in one of 25 sponsored balloons. Kinsmen Cornwall Lift Off promoted a variety of local and national talent. Acts included

Glass Tiger Glass Tiger is a Grammy Award-nominated Canadian rock band from Newmarket, Ontario that formed in 1983. The band has released five studio albums. Its 1986 debut album, '' The Thin Red Line'', went quadruple platinum in Canada and gold in the U ...

Theory of a Deadman Theory of a Deadman (abbreviated as Theory or TOAD) is a Canadian rock band from North Delta, British Columbia. Formed in 1999, the band is currently signed to Roadrunner Records as well as 604 Records. The band includes traits of music styles ...

Marianas Trench The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width. The maximum known ...

Our Lady Peace Our Lady Peace (sometimes shortened to OLP) is a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Led by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band currently also features Duncan Coutts on bass, Steve Mazur on guitars, and ...

Finger Eleven Finger Eleven is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1990. They have released seven studio albums (six as Finger Eleven and one as Rainbow Butt Monkeys), with their album ''The Greyest of Blue Skies'' bringing th ...

Kim Mitchell Joseph Kim Mitchell (born July 10, 1952) is a Canadian rock musician. He was the lead singer and guitarist for the band Max Webster before going on to a solo career. His 1984 single, " Go for Soda", was his only charted song on the US ''Billbo ...

, Sass Jordan, Tom Cochrane, Trooper, Burton Cummings, and David Wilcox. The 2014 lineup featured Great Big Sea's

Alan Doyle Alan Thomas Doyle (born May 17, 1969) is a Canadian musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of the Canadian folk rock band Great Big Sea. Life and career Alan Doyle was born and raised in Petty Harbour, Newfoundland, in a Roman Cath ...

and 54-40 as headliners. This edition was the first to offer a full day of free entertainment with Glass Tiger headlining. It was attended by over 9,000 people. 2014 was the final year for the Lift Off festival, as debt from a weather-plagued 2013 event and failure to obtain sponsors forced the cancellation of Lift Off 2015 and resulted in a decision to discontinue to the festival.

Ribfest

Cornwall Ribfest is an annual festival held by the Optimist Club of Cornwall. It was originally sponsored by the Cornwall Seaway Lions Club. Taking place over four days in late July, Ribfest attracts many for barbecue, free live music and carnival rides. The 2014 edition of the festival attracted 57,000–60,000 attendees, a number greater than the population of the city.

Education

became a grade 7–12 school after amalgamating with

General Vanier Intermediate School General Vanier Secondary School (GVIS) was a public intermediate school located in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. Due to a decline in student enrollment, the school was closed in the fall of 2011 and its students transferred to Cornwall Collegiate and ...

for the 2011–12 school year. The school celebrated its bicentennial in 2006 and is one of the oldest schools in Canada. CCVS offers a complete French immersion program in grade 7–12. St. Joseph's Secondary School is a part of the Catholic District Board and offers French immersion education. The newest high school in Cornwall is Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School for grades 7 to 12, opened in response to overpopulation at St. Joseph's. Both schools offer French immersion education. Cornwall also has two French high schools: l'École secondaire publique l'Héritage, and l'École secondaire catholique La Citadelle. La Citadelle is part of the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

separate, French language

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

for the Southeastern region of Ontario (CSDCEO). It is home to students from grade 7 to 12. École secondaire publique l'Héritage is part of the public school board responsible for education in the French language in Eastern Ontario ( CEPEO) and is home to grade 7 through 12 students. St. Lawrence Secondary School hosts students in grades 7–12. It was originally St. Lawrence High School, located where La Citadelle is now. Around 2003, it was turned into a school for grades 7–10. It has transitioned back into a high school for grades 7–12. 2012 was to be the first year since 2003 that grade 12s will graduate from the school. The Statistics Canada 2016 census education profile indicates 40% of Cornwall's population has a post-secondary certificate, diploma, or degree. A campus of St. Lawrence College is situated in Cornwall. The St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences is located on the college campus, and, among other academic and vocational offerings, provides an Environmental Technician program. The St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences is a research centre that carries out ecotoxicological studies on large river systems and, in particular, on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River ecosystem. Al-Rashid Islamic Institute is the first Islamic school of any kind in North America, providing higher education in

Islamic studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

with a boarding facility. The Seaway Valley Meat Cutting Institute is located in Cornwall, and offers apprenticeship programs. Cornwall is home to the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Control Operations (CFSACO). CFSACO offers a range of basic and specialty courses and conversion training to Canadian Forces personnel. Military members are trained to become either Air Traffic Controller/Operators or Air Weapons Controller/Operators.

Nav Canada Nav Canada (styled as NAV CANADA) is a privately run, not-for-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system (ANS). It was established in accordance with the ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act ...

, Canada's air navigation service provider, formerly conducted training of domestic Air Traffic Controllers in Cornwall at the Nav Canada Training Institute and Conference Centre. The facility was purchased in March 2022 by the Devcore Group, and rebranded as the DEV Hotel and Conference Centre. Nav Canada leases a portion of the property, and continues operations on the site, hosting training for technical operations, and leadership.

Environment

Cornwall does not enjoy a positive environmental reputation as a result of decades of industrial pollution in the city, the legacy of which is a riverfront contaminated by mercury,

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

, and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, soil contaminated by

coal tar Coal tar is a thick dark liquid which is a by-product of the production of coke and coal gas from coal. It is a type of creosote. It has both medical and industrial uses. Medicinally it is a topical medication applied to skin to treat psorias ...

and byproducts, and most evidently, "Big Ben", an , dumpsite within the city filled with wood bark, paper mill sludge, demolition waste and asbestos. In September 2008, over public opposition and in spite of Ontario Ministry of Environment (M.O.E.) reports indicating off-site leachate impact from the dump and the likelihood of runoff to the St. Lawrence River, the M.O.E. permitted additional dumping at the "Big Ben" site of

creosote Creosote is a category of carbonaceous chemicals formed by the distillation of various tars and pyrolysis of plant-derived material, such as wood or fossil fuel. They are typically used as preservatives or antiseptics. Some creosote types were ...

and bitumen-contaminated soils from Domtar's former No-co-rode Ltd. site. Although the area is touted as recreational, it is off-limits until winter when the waste is covered and the odours are subdued. It is then used as a ski hill. For years, the industrial emissions in the Cornwall area fuelled public health concerns about respiratory disease and cancer. In 1995 Health Canada reported the rate of hospitalization for asthma was approximately double that of Ontario industrial cities such as

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, Sudbury and

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. Further research, showed that infants under two years of age had four times the expected hospital admission rate for asthma. Lung and male rectal cancer rates were also elevated in comparison with the rest of the province. The shutdown of the Courtaulds rayon fiber operation (1992) and the Domtar paper mill (2006) have been a significant factor in the city's improved air quality. Cornwall consistently ranks in the top 10 of 40 monitored communities across Ontario. More recently, a Pembina Institute study of 29 communities across Ontario looked at a number of environmental, social and economic factors. Cornwall ranked 13th overall, and its air quality was ranked #1 in the province. Cornwall was at one point one of only two cities left in the Province of Ontario with only primary sewage treatment facilities. But construction was started in May 2012 on the secondary treatment level plant with the Governments of Canada and Ontario each covering one-third of an estimated $55.5 million construction cost. The City picked up the remaining one-third of the cost of $18.5 million. The secondary treatment level plant was completed in November 2014. In 2006, the City updated its Strategic Plan, including the objective to develop an environmentally sustainable community. In 2007, a former city councillor, Naresh Bhargava, began working with the St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences on a project called the Community Carbon Reduction Initiative. City Council provided $5,000 in start-up funding for the project. Earlier progress in energy conservation was made when in 1995, the first municipally-owned hot water district heating and

cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to generate electricity and useful heat at the same time. Cogeneration is a more efficient use of fuel or heat, because otherwise- wasted heat from elec ...

system in Canada went into operation, providing about 4% of the city's daily electrical needs while at the same time heating a number of buildings, including a hospital site, schools, and a municipal library. Cornwall converted all of its traffic signals in 2002 to energy efficient LEDs that have reduced power usage by more than 600,000 kW—enough to light close to 70 homes. The data was contained in a report prepared by the city's public works department.

Climate

Similar to most of

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

, Cornwall has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfa/Dfb'') with cold, snowy winters and warm, humid summers. Precipitation is significant year-round although the winter months are generally drier than the summer months.

Transportation

Rail

The Grand Trunk Railway (CN Rail) built an east–west line through Cornwall in 1856 and its original station dated to that year. The

(NY&O) followed with a north–south line crossing the St. Lawrence, with a station in Cornwall dating to 1898. Canadian Pacific created a succession of subsidiaries and plans for a Cornwall line starting in the 1880s, culminating in the Glengarry and Stormont Railway in 1915, which connected to CP's Ontario and Quebec Railway mainline to the northeast, creating an alternative route to Montréal. The expansion of the St. Lawrence Seaway in the 1950s significantly disrupted the city's rail infrastructure, resulting in CN relocating its line northward, and the NY&O abandoning its line altogether. A new CN passenger station, which is still in use by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

, was constructed in 1957 and the century-old Grand Trunk station was demolished shortly after, in 1962. The NY&O's passenger service ended in 1957 and its passenger station was demolished in the 1960s as well. CP passenger service ended even earlier, in 1952, and the CP passenger station was demolished in 1969. CP abandoned the line altogether in 1995. Currently, Cornwall only has one significant rail line, the CN Kingston Subdivision, which functions as the CN mainline between Toronto and Montreal. It also serves as a component of Via Rail's Québec City-Windsor corridor. Passenger trains between

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

stop at the

Cornwall railway station Cornwall railway station is located at the north end of Station Road, east of Pitt Street in the north end of the city of Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. The station is wheelchair accessible but advance notice has to be given. In 2013, the ticket co ...

, which is located in the city's north end. Via's High-Frequency Rail (HFR) proposal, which would generally improve passenger rail service in Eastern Ontario, would not pass through Cornwall as most of the service improvements are planned to be focused on new lines constructed on abandoned rail rights of way as well as existing Via-owned lines such as the Via Brockville Subdivision.

Street railway

Around the turn of the 20th century, Cornwall had a burgeoning electric street railway system, which transported freight and passengers throughout the city. The

Cornwall Electric Street Railway Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

began passenger operations in 1896 and freight operations in 1899. Passenger operations ended in 1949 with a switch to

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

service, and electric freight operations ended in 1971 with the system's sale to CN Rail and subsequent

dieselization Dieselisation (US: dieselization) is the process of equipping vehicles with a diesel engine or diesel engines. It can involve replacing an internal combustion engine powered by petrol (gasoline) fuel with an engine powered by diesel fuel, as o ...

. During its time, the street railway was significant in the city's social and industrial development. Ultimately, its passenger tram service, after conversion to trolleybus, became the present-day Cornwall Transit, which provides municipal diesel bus service to this day.

Public transit

With a fleet of 24 buses, Cornwall Transit operates six days a week (excluding Sundays and holidays) on fixed routes and supplementary rush-hour routes. In addition, there is an on-demand "Handi-Transit" service for the disabled. Cornwall Transit also contracts taxi service at a flat rate for Handi-Transit registrants who are ambulatory. The City-operated transit system transports approximately 860,000 passengers every year.

Air

Cornwall is served by the Cornwall Regional Airport, which is located east of the city near Summerstown. It is open year-round and licensed for day and night VFR IFR operations. The facilities include a

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

, a

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output dev ...

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

, and the Canada Border Services Agency (on request). Domestic and international charter flying service from the airport is offered by Cornwall Aviation. Massena International Airport in New York is 20 minutes by car from Cornwall.

Sea

The City of Cornwall is on the St. Lawrence Seaway just east of the Eisenhower and Snell Locks. The Cornwall Harbour and Government wharf are located on the north bank of the St. Lawrence River in the city's east end.

Sports

Cornwall has two indoor arenas, the

Cornwall Civic Complex The Cornwall Civic Complex is a business/sports facility located in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. The arena inside is called the Ed Lumley Arena, named for Ed Lumley. It was built in 1976 and originally held 4,000 people, but in 2008, the arena had ...

and the Benson Centre with three ice surfaces. Hockey Cornwall has been home to a variety of sports teams, the most notable of which was the

Cornwall Royals The Cornwall Royals were a junior ice hockey team based in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. The team played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 1969 to 1981, and the Ontario Hockey League from 1981 to 1992. This team shared its name with o ...

hockey team which played in both the

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (french: Ligue de hockey junior majeur du Québec; abbreviated ''QMJHL'' in English, ''LHJMQ'' in French) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues that constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The ...

and the

Ontario Hockey League The Ontario Hockey League (OHL; french: Ligue de hockey de l'Ontario (LHO)) is one of the three major junior ice hockey leagues which constitute the Canadian Hockey League. The league is for players aged 16–19. There are exceptions for overa ...

before moving to Newmarket in 1992. The Royals won the

Memorial Cup The Memorial Cup () is the national championship of the Canadian Hockey League, a consortium of three major junior ice hockey leagues operating in Canada and parts of the United States. It is a four-team round-robin tournament played between t ...

in 1972, 1980 and 1981. From 1993 to 1996, the

Cornwall Aces The Cornwall Aces were the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the National Hockey League's Quebec Nordiques from 1993 to 1995 and the relocated Colorado Avalanche in 1995–96. They were based in the eastern Ontario city of Cornwall and pla ...

were an AHL franchise, which like the Cornwall Royals, played at the Ed Lumley Arena in the Cornwall Civic Complex. They were the farm team for the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

franchises, the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...

, and the relocated

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

. The Cornwall Colts are the current Junior A team playing in the

Central Canada Hockey League The Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) is a Canadian Junior "A" ice hockey league operating in eastern Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Hockey Eastern Ontario and Hockey Canada and is a member of the Canadian Junior Hockey Leagu ...

. Cornwall has hosted several major sporting events in its history including the Ontario Winter Games and Special Olympics. In 2008, Cornwall hosted the Royal Bank Cup, the National Championship for Junior A hockey teams. The Cornwall Colts finished third in the series, winning 2 of 5 games. The Cornwall Colts hosted the Fred Page Cup in 2015 for the Eastern Canadian Championship. The teams are represented in the Fred Page Cup are the Maritime Hockey League Champions (Kent Cup), the Ligue de Hockey Junior AAA du Québec Champions (Napa Cup), the Ottawa District champions of the Central Canada Hockey League (Bogart-Nielsen Cup), and a host team chosen by committee two years before the tournament. The Cornwall River Kings of the Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey (LNAH) started playing out of the Cornwall Civic Complex in the fall of 2012 but folded in 2016. The River Kings were replaced by the Cornwall Nationals of the

Federal Hockey League The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. Do ...

, which folded during the 2017–18 season. Soccer Cornwall has three soccer areas, the Kinsmen Junior Soccer Field at Second Street West and Haulage Road; The Benson Centre (for indoor soccer); and Optimist Park on Sunnyside Street and St. Michel Drive. Rugby Cornwall has competitive men's and women's rugby clubs. After many years without rugby in the community, it saw a resurrection in 2006. Both teams compete in the Eastern Ontario Rugby Union which is located in Ottawa. The home of the Cornwall Crusaders Rugby Football Club is Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School. The men's and women's teams practice Tuesdays and Thursdays from April until the end of August. The men's team won the Eastern Ontario Men's Division 1 Championship in 2009 and 2010 against the Napanee Outlaws and the Gatineau Mirage, respectively. The sport of rugby continues to grow in the community. Many high schools throughout Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry have junior and senior boys' teams as well as varsity girls' teams. These high school teams serve as feeders to the Cornwall Crusaders. Many of the players who play for the Crusaders come from high schools in the S.D.& G. area. Roller Derby The Seaway Roller Derby Girls Association is the first roller derby flat track roller derby league in Cornwall and SD&G Counties, established in 2011. The Power Dames is the first official team. Girls' basketball The United Counties girls' basketball team won provincial and international basketball tournaments in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In addition, the city offered girls' and women's basketball from age eight to college graduates. The San Lawrence College women's team won a college tournament as well. The teams were coached by Adelore Bergeon and Alan Haskvitz.

Notable people

Some of the more famous people to hail from the Cornwall area include: * Barstool Prophets, three of the four members (Glenn Forrester, Graham Greer, and Bobby Tamas) of the Canadian rock band hailed from Cornwall, where the band had its start * Darby Bergin, 1st Canadian Surgeon General *

Malcolm Burn Malcolm Burn (born October 4, 1960) is a Canadian-born music producer, recording engineer and musician. Emmylou Harris's ''Red Dirt Girl'', produced by Burn, won Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 2001 Grammys. Biography Born in Cornwall, Ont ...

, musician and record producer *

Roger Caron Roger "Mad Dog" Caron (April 12, 1938 – April 11, 2012) was a Canadian robber and the author of the influential prison memoir '' Go-Boy! Memories of a Life Behind Bars'' ( 1978). At the time of publishing, Caron was 39 years old and had spent ...

, bank robber, author, and recipient of the 1978 Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction for the book ''

Go-Boy! ''Go-Boy!'' ''Memoirs of a Life Behind Bars'' is an autobiography by Roger Caron, written while incarcerated at Collins Bay Institution, in which he chronicles two decades of crime and prison escapes. The book, includes a foreword by Canadian ...

'' *

Doug Carpenter Doug Carpenter (born July 1, 1942, in Cornwall, Ontario) is a former head coach in the National Hockey League, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the International Hockey League and the American Hockey League, and is a former hockey player i ...

, former

coach * Solomon Yeomans Chesley, War of 1812 veteran; official with the

Indian Department The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the British Empire and the First Nations of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the Province of Canada in 1860, thus setting ...

; Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada; Mayor of Cornwall (1860–1861) * Alain Chevrier, former NHL goaltender * Lionel Chevrier, former

, son of former mayor Joseph Chevrier *

Corbett Denneny Charles Corbett "Corb" Denneny (January 25, 1894 – January 16, 1963) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played professionally from 1912 to 1931, including nine seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Toronto Arenas, ...

, former NHL player *

Cy Denneny Cyril Joseph Denneny (December 23, 1891 – September 10, 1970) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Ottawa Senators and Boston Bruins in the National Hockey League and the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey As ...

, brother of Corbett, former NHL player, in the Hockey Hall of Fame *

Lori Dupuis Lori Dupuis (born November 14, 1972) is a Canadian women's ice hockey player. Playing career Dupuis was born and raised just outside Cornwall, Ontario. She is a former member of the Cornwall Wolverines of the OWHA. She started with the Wolverin ...

, Olympic gold and silver medalist in women's ice hockey * Jacob Gallinger, United States politician *

Peter Gatien Peter Gatien (born August 14, 1952) is a Canadian club owner and party promoter. He is best known as the former owner of several prominent New York City nightclubs, including Club USA, The Limelight, Palladium, and Tunnel. Life and career Gatien ...

, New York nightlife

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. His ...

* Ryan Gosling, actor *

Christina Julien Christina Marie Katrina Julien (born 6 May 1988 in Cornwall, Ontario) is a Canadian women's soccer striker who plays for German club 1. FC Köln and the Canada women's national soccer team. She has played in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup and ...

, current member of the Canadian national women's soccer team *

Chad Kilger Chad William Lawrence Kilger (born November 27, 1976) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played for several National Hockey League teams, most recently the Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing career As a youth, Kilger played in th ...

, former NHL player *

Bob Kilger Robert Peter Paul Kilger (June 29, 1944 – November 29, 2021) was a Canadian politician. Born in Cornwall, Ontario, Kilger was the former Liberal member of Parliament for the Cornwall region, representing the riding Stormont—Dundas—South ...

, former NHL referee, former mayor, former

, father of Chad Kilger * Ed "Newsy" Lalonde, captained the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

in the 1910s and helped the team win its first Stanley Cup in 1916 *

Ed Lumley Edward C. Lumley, (born October 27, 1939) is a Canadian corporate executive and former politician. Born in Windsor, Ontario, he received a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1961 from Assumption University (predecessor of the University of Windsor ...

, former mayor, former

, Member of the Order of Canada * Donald Alexander Macdonald, soldier * John Sandfield Macdonald, prominent lawyer and the first Premier of Ontario *

Maggie MacDonald Maggie MacDonald (born 1979) is a writer, playwright, and musician who lives in Toronto, Ontario. Early life and education MacDonald grew up in Cornwall, Ontario, where she became active in the local independent rock music scene. She put on sh ...

, playwright and musician * Don McKay, Governor General's Award-winning poet and essayist *

Duncan McNaughton Duncan Anderson McNaughton (December 7, 1910 – January 15, 1998) was a Canadian athlete, who competed mainly in the high jump. He went on to a career in petroleum geology. Biography McNaughton was born in Cornwall, Ontario, and grew up in V ...

, gold medalist in the 1932 Olympics in the high jump *

Ray Miron Joseph Rodolph "Ray" Miron (March 20, 1923 – August 28, 2015) was an owner of the new Central Hockey League (CHL), as well as a National Hockey League (NHL) executive, serving in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization and as general manager of th ...

, hockey player, coach, and executive, inducted into Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame * Andre Payette, former AHL player * Scott Pearson, former NHL player, drafted 6th overall to the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

in 1988 * Nathan Phillips, Toronto mayor. * George Beverly Shea, noted gospel singer, associated with Billy Graham crusades *

John Strachan John Strachan (; 12 April 1778 – 1 November 1867) was a notable figure in Upper Canada and the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto. He is best known as a political bishop who held many government positions and promoted education from common sc ...

, 19th-century Anglican priest and influential Bishop of Toronto * Orval Tessier, former

player, coach of the Chicago Blackhawks and scout * Colonel The Hon. Philip VanKoughnet, M.P., former landowner of Cornwall * John Wensink, former NHL player *

Jesse Winchester James Ridout "Jesse" Winchester Jr. (May 17, 1944 – April 11, 2014) was an American-Canadian musician and songwriter. He was born and raised in the southern United States. Opposed to the Vietnam War, he moved to Canada in 1967 to avoid b ...

, former NHL player

Media

Radio

* FM 88.1 – CHRI-FM-1, Christian (relays CHRI-FM Ottawa) * FM 92.1 – CHOD-FM, Franco-Ontarian

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

* FM 95.5 – CBOC-FM,

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...

(relays CBO-FM Ottawa) * FM 97.3 –

CKON-FM CKON-FM is a private radio station located in Akwesasne, a Mohawk nation territory that straddles the Canada–United States border (and also, on the Canadian side, the interprovincial border between Quebec and Ontario). The station's studios are ...

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

community (from Akwesasne) * FM 98.1 – CBOF-FM-6,

Première Chaîne A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its firs ...

(relays CBOF-FM Ottawa) * FM 101.9 –

CJSS-FM CJSS-FM (101.9 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Cornwall, Ontario. The station broadcasts a classic hits format branded as ''Boom 101.9''. CJSS is owned by Corus Entertainment, which acquired the station, along with CFLG-FM, in 2001. CJSS-F ...

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980 ...

* FM 104.5 –

CFLG-FM CFLG-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 104.5 FM in Cornwall, Ontario. The station airs a hot adult contemporary format branded as ''104.5 Fresh Radio''. History The station was launched in 1957 by the city's daily newspaper, th ...

adult top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

* FM 107.7 – CIRG-FM,

tourist information A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors. Types of visitor center A visi ...

Some stations from other nearby areas, including Ottawa, Montreal and New York's North Country, are also available.

Television

* Channel 8: CTV CJOH-TV-8 (repeater of

CJOH-DT CJOH-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Pembroke-licensed CTV 2 outlet CHRO-TV (channel 5). Both stations share ...

Ottawa; formerly

CJSS-TV CJSS-TV was a television station in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. In operation from 1959 to 1963 as a private affiliate of CBC Television, the station was later converted to a rebroadcaster of Ottawa's CJOH-TV. The station originally signed on as a ...

) *

YourTV YourTV was a television channel owned by Fox Networks Group, a unit of Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International. It began broadcasting on 1 October 2015 in the United Kingdom and Ireland. History On 3 September 2015, Fox International C ...

Print

* '' Cornwall Standard-Freeholder'' is the city's main daily newspaper and is published by Sun Media, a division of

Postmedia Network Inc Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is a Canadian media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news ...

. * ''

Seaway News Seaway may refer to: * Seaway (band), a pop punk band from Canada. * Sound (geography) In geography, a sound is a smaller body of water typically connected to a larger sea or ocean. There is little consistency in the use of "sound" in En ...

'' is a weekly newspaper owned by TC Media, and includes pages from the French-language ''L'Express''. * ''The Cornwall Seeker'' is a locally owned monthly newsmagazine distributed both door to door and in stores which focuses on arts, culture and events. * ''Le Journal de Cornwall'' is a locally owned weekly newspaper, which predominantly serves the Franco-Ontarian community but publishes some content in English as well.

Internet

* ''Cornwall Free News''

Twin towns – sister cities

Cornwall is twinned with: *

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, United Kingdom

References

External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Ontario Ontario populated places on the Saint Lawrence River Single-tier municipalities in Ontario