Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of,

Rainy River District Rainy 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, except for the townshi ...

Northwestern Ontario Northwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the ...

, Canada. The population as of the 2016 census was 7,739. Fort Frances is a popular

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

destination. It hosts the annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship. Located on the international border with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

where

Rainy Lake Rainy Lake ( French: '; Ojibwe: ') is a freshwater lake with a surface area of that straddles the border between the United States and Canada. The Rainy River issues from the west side of the lake and is harnessed to make hydroelectricity for ...

narrows to become Rainy River, it is connected to International Falls, Minnesota by the

Fort Frances–International Falls International Bridge The Fort Frances–International Falls International Bridge is a privately owned international toll bridge connecting the towns of Fort Frances, Ontario, and International Falls, Minnesota, across the Rainy River. The road and rail bridge was ...

. The town is the fourth-largest community in Northwestern Ontario after

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

, Kenora and

Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the peri ...

. The Fort Frances Paper Mill was formerly the main employer and industry in the town until its closure in January 2014.

New Gold New Gold Inc. is a Canadian mining company that owns and operates the New Afton gold-silver-copper mine in British Columbia and the Rainy River gold-silver mine in Ontario, Canada. Through a Mexican subsidiary company, they also own the Cerro San ...

, a Canadian mining company, acquired mineral rights to the area in 2013. The Rainy River mine commenced processing ore on September 14, 2017 and completed its first gold pour on October 5, 2017.

History

Fort Frances was the first

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an settlement west of Lake Superior and was established by

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye (17 November 1685 – 5 December 1749) was a French Canadian military officer, fur trader, and explorer. In the 1730s, he and his four sons explored the area west of Lake Superior and e ...

, first commander of the western district. In 1731, he built

Fort Saint Pierre Fort Saint Pierre on Rainy Lake was the first French fort built west of Lake Superior. It was the first of eight forts built during the elder Vérendrye's expansion of trade and exploration westward from the Great Lakes. History In 1688 Jacque ...

near that spot as support for the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

with native peoples. In 1732, his expedition built

Fort Saint Charles Fort Saint Charles (1732) on Lake of the Woods was the second post built by La Vérendrye during his expansion of trade and exploration west of Lake Superior. It was located on Magnuson's Island on the Northwest Angle of Minnesota, 3.5 miles ea ...

on Magnuson's Island on the west side of Lake of the Woods. After some time, Fort Saint Pierre fell out of use. In 1817, following the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

and the redefinition of borders between Canada and the United States, the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

(HBC) built a fort here. In 1830 HBC Chief Factor John Dugald Cameron named the fur trading post after

Frances Ramsay Simpson Frances Ramsay Simpson (ca 1812 – March 21, 1853) was an English diarist. The daughter of Geddes Mackenzie Simpson, a London merchant, and Frances Hume Hawkins, she was born in London. She married her cousin George Simpson of the Hudson ...

, the 18-year-old daughter of a London merchant, who had married earlier that year in London, George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who would visit the fort many times. In 1841 she became Lady Simpson after George Simpson was knighted, and she died in 1853 at

Lachine, Quebec Lachine () is a borough (''arrondissement'') within the city of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was an autonomous city until the municipal mergers in 2002. History Lachine, apparently from the French term ' ...

. Incorporated in 1903, the town held a big

centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at a ...

celebration in 2003. The main employer was a

pulp and paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

established in the early 1900s. It had numerous owners over the years, notably

Edward Wellington Backus Edward Wellington Backus (December 1, 1861 – October 29, 1934) was a timber baron, dam builder, mill owner, financier, developer of the northern reaches of Minnesota, and president of the Ontario & Minnesota Power Company and Minnesota and Ontario ...

. Most recently owned by

Resolute Forest Products Resolute Forest Products (French: ''Produits forestiers Résolu''), formerly known as AbitibiBowater Inc., is a Canada-headquartered pulp and paper company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Resolute was formed in 2007 by the merger of Bowater ...

, the mill employed about 700 persons until its closure in 2014. On June 25, 1946, the town was struck by a

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

, which caused major damage and struck a week after the deadly Windsor tornado. On August 25, 2013, the town hosted the final pitstop in the Kraft Celebration Tour by receiving the most votes out of all 20 communities On January 14, 2014, Resolute Forest Products announced that it planned to stop operations of the final paper machine and close out its operations in Fort Frances by the end of the month. On December 13, 2014,

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's, or Timmie's is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, doughnuts, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service rest ...

filmed a commercial in Fort Frances. The commercial, which dubs Fort Frances "one of the coldest places in Canada", was shot at the local Tim Hortons. In the days leading up to the filming, yarn was seen covering trees, benches, etc. Workers had spent the night covering the interior of the restaurant with yarn and building a giant toque on the roof. For the day, the coffee was free. In August 2015 the Seven Generations Education Institute hosted the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium's (WINHEC) Annual General Meeting at the Nanicost Grounds for members attending from all over the world.

Transportation

There are three airports in the area, one of which is in the United States. The two local airports are for general aviation and other is a privately owned

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

base. *

Fort Frances Municipal Airport Fort Frances Municipal Airport is located northwest of Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on a call-out basis from the Fort ...

Fort Frances Water Aerodrome Fort Frances Water Aerodrome is located northeast of Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. The aerodrome is a private floatplane base operated by Rusty Myers Flying Service. It shares its airspace and waterway with neighbouring International Falls Se ...

Falls International Airport Falls International Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located in International Falls, a city in Koochiching County, Minnesota, United States. It is mostly used for general aviation but is also served by one commercial airline with sched ...

Fort Frances Municipal Airport is served by only one company,

Bearskin Airlines Bearskin Lake Air Service LP, operating as Bearskin Airlines, is a regional airline based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It is a division of Perimeter Aviation and operates services in northern Ontario and Manitoba. Its main base is at Thunde ...

, with flights to and from Kenora,

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Thunder Bay, and

. Falls International Airport has flights to

Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities ...

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to ope ...

. Ontario Highway 11 and

Ontario Highway 71 King's Highway 71, commonly referred to as Highway 71, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route begins at the Fort Frances–International Falls International Bridge in Fort Frances, continuing from U ...

, the latter of which ends in Fort Frances, are the two major highways in the community. Both are part of the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...

. The town is connected to Kenora via Highway 71, while Highway 11 provides connections to

Devlin Devlin may refer to: * Devlin (surname) * Devlin (given name) * Devlin (rapper), a British rapper * ''Devlin'' (TV series), a 1974 animated TV series by Hanna-Barbera * ''Devlin'', a 1988 novel by Roderick Thorp * ''The Devil and Max Devlin '' ...

Emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

, and Rainy River to the west, and

Atikokan Atikokan (, Ojibwe for 'caribou bones') is a town in the Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population was 2,642 as of the 2021 census. The town is one of the main entry points into Quetico Provincial Park and promotes itse ...

and

to the east.

Canadian National Railway 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 ...

travels into Fort Frances with freight traffic only and travels across the

Fort Frances-International Falls International Bridge A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, over the Rainy River, into the US. Train, truck and car traffic to and from the United States traverses the International Bridge. Fort Frances Transit operated until 1996, and Fort Frances Handi-Van Transit is a provincially-funded service run by the Town of Fort Frances. Caribou Coach Transportation Company Incorporated cancelled its bus route to and from

in October 2017. The route was once served by

Greyhound Canada Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC began as a local British Columbia bus line in the early 1920s, expanded across most of Canada, and became a subsidiary of the US Greyhound in 1940. In 2018, Greyhound pulled out of Western Canada, preserving ...

. North Air operates a taxi service from Fort Frances whose service area includes the International Falls, Minnesota area and airport.

Climate

Fort Frances experiences 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 climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

Dfb DFB may refer to: * Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city * Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas * Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia * Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate * Distributed-feedback ...

''), with cold winters and warm summers. Temperatures beyond have been measured in all five late-spring and summer months. Summer highs are comparable to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and the

Los Angeles Basin The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an anomalous group of east-west trending chains of mountains collectively known as the Tr ...

coastline in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, whereas winter lows on average resemble southern

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

and polar subarctic inland

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

. Fort Frances, along with

hold the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the province of Ontario. On 13 July 1936 the mercury climbed to .

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Fort Frances 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. Fort Frances had a population of 7,739 people in 2016, which represents a decrease of 2.7% from the 2011 census count. The median household income in 2015 for Fort Frances was $62,928, which was below the Ontario provincial average of $74,287.

Coat of arms

The city

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

features a bull

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

;

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

leaves; a "Magneto", representative of

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

(industry); two men in a

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

; a

white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...

tree; and the motto "Industry and Perseverance."

Media

Newspapers

* ''

Fort Frances Times The ''Fort Frances Times'' is an independently-owned weekly publication based in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada, published each Wednesday. A supplemental issue called the Bulletin of the Fort Frances Times ("The Daily Bulletin") is released on Tue ...

'' - Weekly * ''

Fort Frances Today ''Fort Frances Today'' is a weekly community newspaper, published by Brown Cow Promotions, and distributed to 30 locations around Fort Frances, Ontario. The publication is free to readers. Weekly newspapers published in Ontario Fort Frances Publ ...

'' - Weekly * Fort Frances Living - Weekly *''West End Weekly'' - Weekly

Online media

* NWO Update * ''Fort Frances Times'' Online * Downtown Fort Frances on the Great Canadian Main Street Facebook page

Television stations

The only local television channel serving Fort Frances is the

Shaw TV Shaw Spotlight (formerly Shaw TV) is the name of locally based community channel services operated by cable TV provider Shaw Communications. The channels are available only to Shaw Cable subscribers and are produced in communities throughout w ...

community channel on

Shaw Cable Shaw Communications Inc. is a Canadian telecommunications company which provides telephone, Internet, television, and mobile services. Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Shaw provides home telecommunications services primarily in Alberta and Br ...

channel 10. There are no local broadcast outlets or repeaters serving Fort Frances; Shaw Cable carries

CBWT-DT CBWT-DT (channel 6) is a CBC Television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It has common ownership with Ici Radio-Canada Télé station CBWFT-DT (channel 3). Both stations share studios on Portage Avenue and Young Street in Downtown Winnipeg ...

( CBC),

CBWFT-DT CBWFT-DT (channel 3) is an Ici Radio-Canada Télé station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, serving the province's Franco-Manitoban population. It has common ownership with CBC Television station CBWT-DT (channel 6). Both stations share studios o ...

(

Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (formerly known as Télévision de Radio-Canada) is a Canadian French-language free-to-air television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada), the national pub ...

) and

CKY-DT CKY-DT (channel 7) is a television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. The station is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, and maintains studios on Graham Avenue (adjacent to the Canada Life Cent ...

( CTV) from

CITV-DT CITV-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Edmonton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, part of the Global Television Network. The station is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by network parent Corus Entertainment, and maintains studi ...

(

Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

) from

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, and TVO, plus

CITY-DT CITY-DT (channel 57) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television outlets CFMT-DT (chan ...

(

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...

CHCH-DT CHCH-DT (channel 11) is an independent television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Channel Zero, the station maintains studios on Innovation Drive in the west end of Hamilton; prior to 2021, it was located near the corner of Jack ...

(independent),

CFTM-DT CFTM-DT (channel 10) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, serving as the flagship of the French-language TVA network. Owned by Groupe TVA, the station has studios on Boulevard de Maisonneuve East and Rue Alexandre de Sève in the ...

(

TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a Federal government of the United States, federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, an ...

, live feed) and

TFO TFO is a Canadian French language educational television channel and media organization serving the province of Ontario. It is owned by the Ontario French-language Educational Communications Authority (OTELFO), a Crown corporation owned by the ...

CJBN-TV CJBN-TV, VHF analogue channel 13, was a Global- affiliated television station licensed to Kenora, Ontario, Canada. The station was owned by Shaw Communications under its cable systems unit, and was not part of the Shaw Media unit which was ...

from Kenora used to be available on cable until it permanently signed off on January 27, 2017. United States network programming on Shaw TV comes from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

(

WDIV-TV WDIV-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with NBC. It serves as the flagship broadcast property of the Graham Media Group subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company. WDIV-TV maintains studio facili ...

WXYZ-TV WXYZ-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Independent station (North America), independent st ...

WWJ-TV WWJ-TV (channel 62) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned and operated by the CBS television network. Under common ownership with CW affiliate WKBD-TV under the network's CBS News and Stations group, both statio ...

, and

WTVS WTVS (channel 56) is a PBS member television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned by the Detroit Educational Television Foundation. Its main studios are located at the Riley Broadcast Center and HD Studios in Wixom, with an addit ...

) and

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

(

WUHF WUHF (channel 31) is a television station in Rochester, New York, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to dual ABC/ CW affiliate WHAM-TV (channel 13) under a ...

); stations from the Duluth television market are not available on cable, though they are available over-the-air from repeaters in International Falls.

Radio stations

* FM 89.1 - CKSB-9-FM (

Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) is a Canadian French language, French-language radio network, the news and information service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known as Société Radio-Canada in French), the Public ...

, repeats

CKSB-10-FM CKSB-10-FM (88.1 MHz) is a Canadian public radio station serving the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region in Manitoba. It is owned by the Société Radio-Canada (CBC) and airs the Ici Radio-Canada Première network, concentrating on news and talk in Fre ...

Saint Boniface, Manitoba St-Boniface (or Saint-Boniface) is a city ward and neighbourhood in Winnipeg. Along with being the centre of the Franco-Manitoban community, it ranks as the largest francophone community in Western Canada. It features such landmarks as the St. B ...

) * FM 90.5 - CBQQ-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 Ca ...

, repeats

CBQT-FM CBQT-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the CBC Radio One station in Thunder Bay, Ontario, broadcasting at 88.3 FM, and serves all of Northwestern Ontario through a network of relay transmitters. History The station was launched in 1973 as ...

) * FM 93.1 -

CFOB-FM CFOB-FM is an adult contemporary formatted radio station licensed to Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada, serving the Rainy River District, Ontario in Canada and Koochching County, Minnesota in the United States. CFOB-FM is owned and operated by Acad ...

, ''93.1 The Border FM''

hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

Another radio station, CKWO FM 92.3 The Wolf, was licensed to the neighbouring

Couchiching First Nation The Couchiching First Nation ( oj, Gojijiing Anishinaabeg) is a Saulteaux First Nation band government in the Canadian province of Ontario, who live on the Couchiching 16A and Agency 1 reserves in the Rainy River District near Fort Frances ...

. The station closed and went silent in 2007.

Education

Elementary and secondary schools

Rainy River District School Board The Rainy River District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 5B prior to 1999) is a school board in the Canadian province of Ontario. The school board is the school district administrator for English langua ...

Fort Frances High School Fort Frances High School is the only high school serving Fort Frances, Ontario. The school is administered by the Rainy River District School Board and serves roughly 475 students. History The original Fort Frances High School was located in dow ...

*Robert Moore School *J.W. Walker School

Northwest Catholic District School Board The Northwest Catholic District School Board (TNCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 33A prior to 1999) is a separate school board in Ontario serving the Rainy River District and portions of the Kenora District. Sch ...

*St Mary's School

Post-secondary schools

Confederation College Confederation College is a provincially funded college of applied arts and technology in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1967, and has campuses in Dryden, Fort Frances, Greenstone, Kenora, Marathon, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake a ...

*Seven Generations Education Institute

Former elementary schools

*Fort Kinhaven School *F.H. Huffman School *Alexander Mackenzie School *Sixth Street School *Alberton Central School (Alberton, Ontario) *McIrvine School *Old Fort Frances High School *Westfort High School

*St. Michael's Catholic School *St Francis School

Notable Fort Francesians

Dave Allison David Bryan Allison (born April 14, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played three games with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL) during the 1983–84 season and was head coach of ...

, former coach of the NHL's

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

* Mike Allison, former player for the

Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...

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 ...

, and

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

of 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 ...

* Steve Arpin,

ARCA Re/Max Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

and

NASCAR Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

race car driver *

Murray Bannerman Murray Bannerman (born April 27, 1957) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. He spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Blackhawks, though also briefly played for the Vancouver Canucks, who selected him in the 1977 NHL amateur dr ...

, former player for the

Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division i ...

. *

Molly Carlson Molly Carlson (born September 22, 1998) is a Canadian high diver. She is a member of Canada's senior national high diving team and placed second at the 2022 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. Carlson uploads videos of herself diving on TikTok. ...

, high diver * Keith Christiansen, former player for the WHA Minnesota Fighting Saints. *

Todd Dufresne Todd Dufresne (born 7 November 1966) is a Canadians, Canadian social and cultural theorist best known for his work on Sigmund Freud and the history of psychoanalysis. He is Professor of Philosophy at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Ed ...

, social and cultural theorist best known for his work on

Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts in ...

and

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...

Gene Eugene Gene Andrusco (April 6, 1961 – March 20, 2000), better known as Gene Eugene, was a Canadian-born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musician. Andrusco was best known as the leader of the alternative rock band Adam Again, a member ...

, actor, musician and recording producer *

Howard Hampton Howard George Hampton (born May 17, 1952) is a politician who was a member of Provincial Parliament for the province of Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, from 1987 to 1999 in the electoral district of Rainy Ri ...

Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario) A Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) is an elected member of the Legislative Assembly of the Canadian province of Ontario. Elsewhere in Canada, the titular designation "Member of Provincial Parliament" has also been used to refer to members of ...

Kenora—Rainy River (provincial electoral district) Kenora—Rainy River is a provincial electoral district (riding) in northwestern Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999. It was created from Kenora, most of Rainy River and part of Lake Nipig ...

and former leader of the

Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...

. *

Duncan Keith Duncan Keith (born July 16, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played 17 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Chicago Blackhawks and Edmonton Oilers. He won three Stanley Cup championships with Chicago in ...

, NHL hockey player of the

, named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players * Chris Lindberg, silver medalist with the Canadian Ice Hockey Team at the

1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...

Neil Sheehy Neil Kane Sheehy (born February 9, 1960) is a Canadian-born American professional ice hockey player with dual citizenship. He grew up in International Falls, Minnesota. A defenceman and Harvard University graduate, Sheehy signed as a free agen ...

, former player for the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...

and

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL) ...

of the NHL. * Timothy Sheehy, former NHL player. * Gene Stoltzfus, founding director of

Christian Peacemaker Teams Community Peacemaker Teams or CPT (previously called Christian Peacemaker Teams) is an international organization set up to support teams of peace workers in conflict areas around the world. The organization uses these teams to achieve its aims ...

Culture and attractions

*The Fort Frances Museum *Fort Frances Library and Technology Centre *The Border Land Arts Alliance *Tour de Fort *Point Park *LaVerendrye Parkway- The Sorting Gap Marina *The Lookout Tower, open to tour during summer *The Tugboat Hallet, open to tour during summer * Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, held annually in late July *Scott Street Shopping District *Kitchen Creek Golf Club *Heron Landing Golf Course *8th Street Walking & Ski Trails *Little Beaver Snow Park *Rainy Lake Square *Town Hall *Rendezvous Yacht Club *The Noden Causeway *The Rainy Lake Nordic Ski Club

Sport

Fort Frances is home to the following amateur sports teams: *

Fort Frances Lakers The Fort Frances Lakers are a junior A ice hockey team based in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Superior International Junior Hockey League. History Jr. Sabres Founded in 2007, the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres were the first junior A t ...

(

Junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...

) * Fort Frances Thunderhawks (

Senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate under the jurisdict ...

) Fort Frances was the home of the former amateur sports teams: * Fort Frances Borderland Thunder (Junior ice hockey) *

Fort Frances Canadians The Fort Frances Canadians were a Canadian senior ice hockey team in the Northern Amateur League, from Fort Frances, Ontario. The team was organized following World War II, and led by player-coach Pat Wilson. Local radio station CKFI-AM broadcas ...

(Senior ice hockey) *

Fort Frances Royals The Fort Frances Royals were a Junior ice hockey club from Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. The Royals were members of the Memorial Cup-eligible Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League. History The Fort Frances Royals were founded in 1963 as members of ...

(Junior ice hockey) Sporting facilities include : * Memorial Sports Centre * Couchiching First Nations Arena also known as "The Duke" - located in neighboring

Sources

External links

* {{Authority control 1903 establishments in Ontario Hudson's Bay Company forts Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Towns in Ontario