Kapuskasing is a town on the

Kapuskasing River The Kapuskasing River is a river in the James Bay drainage basin in Cochrane District and Algoma District in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Shows the river course. The river is a left tributary of the Mattagami River. Course The river begins at ...

in the

Cochrane District Cochrane District is a district and Census divisions of Canada, census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1921 from parts of Timiskaming District, Timiskami ...

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

, Canada, approximately east of Hearst. The town was known as MacPherson until 1917, when the name was changed so as not to conflict with another railway stop in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

Etymology

The town of Kapuskasing ''(pronounced ka-pus-KAY-sing'') gets its name from the Kapuskasing River, which was named long before the existence of the town. ''Kapuskasing'' is a word of

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

origin meaning "bend in the river". The first reported survey of the district in which Kapuskasing lies was carried out in 1875 by Dr. Robert Bell of the

Geological Survey of Canada The Geological Survey of Canada (GSC; french: Commission géologique du Canada (CGC)) is a Canadian federal government agency responsible for performing geological surveys of the country, developing Canada's natural resources and protecting the en ...

. He referred to the Kapuskasing River as the "Kai-bush-ka-sing". According to Bell's information, the Kapuskasing River derived its name from the lake at its head. In 1900, the Bureau of Colonization of the Ontario Department of Agriculture sent parties to survey the region north of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

between the

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 ...

border and

Lake Nipigon Lake Nipigon (; french: lac Nipigon; oj, Animbiigoo-zaaga'igan) is part of the Great Lakes drainage basin. It is the largest lake entirely within the boundaries of the Canadian province of Ontario. Etymology In the Jesuit Relations the lake is ...

. Their main interest was to seek out and delimit areas for further agricultural settlements that would give Ontario a new farming frontier to offset the attraction of the western prairies. In 1900, the Department of Crown Lands commissioned a Survey of Exploration of Northern Ontario. Survey parties were sent out to explore, document and report back to the Province on the various resources of water power, timber, etc., that might be available for exploitation. No roads existed, but northern

Indians and fur traders had used the local rivers connecting to

James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost par ...

for centuries. In the summer of 1900 groups of surveyors traveled the many rivers of this remote area documenting their findings. The results were published by order of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as "Report of the Survey of Exploration of Northern Ontario 1900". The section of the report detailing the exploration of the Kapuskasing River contains references to the local Cree names for Sturgeon Falls, White Spruce Rapids, Kapuskasing River, and Big Beaver Falls, among others. Surveyors who explored the Kapuskasing River and tributaries in 1900 had local Cree guides familiar with the country who provided the local place names and their meanings to them. In this report the word ''Kapuskasing'' is said to mean "Whispering Water". At the location where the CNR crossed the Kapuskasing River in 1910, there was an island in the centre of the river. Power and storage dams were built at that location in 1923. Prior to the dam construction, the rapids at that location was known as "White Spruce Rapids" and later known simply as "Spruce Falls". The first Spruce Falls Company of 1920 took its name from these rapids.

Geography, climate, and wildlife

Kapuskasing lies in the heart of the

Great Clay Belt The Clay Belt is a vast tract of fertile soil stretching between the Cochrane District in Ontario, and Abitibi County in Quebec, covering in total with of that in Ontario. It is generally subdivided into the Great Clay Belt to the north runni ...

. The topography of the region is very flat, dotted with numerous small lakes and

muskeg Muskeg (Ojibwe: mashkiig; cr, maskīk; french: fondrière de mousse, lit. ''moss bog'') is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bog or ...

bogs. Also in the heart of Canada's

boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, ...

, the region is drained by rivers running north to

. The district is heavily forested, mostly by thick stands of

black spruce ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of the province of Newfoundland and Labra ...

that have commercial value as

pulpwood Pulpwood is timber with the principal use of making wood pulp for paper production. Applications * Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 15% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more gener ...

. Kapuskasing has a humid, continental climate (Koppen Dfb). Kapuskasing has long, cold winters and warm, sometimes humid summers. Spring and autumn are relatively short transitional seasons. Visitors often comment on the deep blue of the sky during clear weather. Wildlife is abundant. Species such as

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 ...

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

and

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

are commonly seen in the area. Lakes and rivers are well populated with

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

. Fishing and hunting are very popular recreational activities locally.

History

Located near the western edge of the

Clay Belt The Clay Belt is a vast tract of fertile soil stretching between the Cochrane District in Ontario, and Abitibi County in Quebec, covering in total with of that in Ontario. It is generally subdivided into the Great Clay Belt to the north runni ...

of "New Ontario", the town was founded in the early 20th century after the

National Transcontinental Railway The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg and Moncton in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway. The Grand Trunk partnership The completion of construction of Canada's ...

, forerunner of the

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 ...

, was built through the area in 1911.Ontario Heritage Foundation An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected by the province to commemorate the founding of Kapuskasing's role in Ontario's heritage. An

Internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

was set up at Bunk Houses in Kapuskasing from December 1914 to February 1920. A scheme to settle veterans of the First World War in this vicinity was unsuccessful. It was not until the start of pulp and paper milling operations in the 1920s that Kapuskasing began to develop as an organized community. Val Albert Name taken from that of an early settler and assigned by postal authorities on October 7, 1936, "to correspond with the village known as Albert" (CPCGN files). Annexed by Kapuskasing on January 1, 1974.

Spruce Falls

Reel room of the New York Times newspaper

The Kapuskasing River Pulp and Timber limit, that included of timber and hydro leases at

Sturgeon Falls West Nipissing is a municipality in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, on Lake Nipissing in the Nipissing District. It was formed on January 1, 1999, with the amalgamation of seventeen and a half former town, villages, townships and unorganized communi ...

, White Spruce Rapids (Spruce Falls) and Big Beaver Falls, was awarded to speculators Saphrenous A. Mundy and Elihu Stewart in 1917, and Spruce Falls Pulp and Paper Ltd. was incorporated, but no development took place. The still unexploited timber limits were sold to

Kimberly-Clark Kimberly-Clark Corporation is an American multinational personal care corporation that produces mostly paper-based consumer products. The company manufactures sanitary paper products and surgical & medical instruments. Kimberly-Clark brand n ...

in 1920. The new Spruce Falls Company Ltd. began the development of the first pulp mill in Kapuskasing under the direction of F.J. Sensenbrenner, a Vice President of Kimberly Clark Corporation for the next 20 years. The small

sulphite Sulfites or sulphites are compounds that contain the sulfite ion (or the sulfate(IV) ion, from its correct systematic name), . The sulfite ion is the conjugate base of bisulfite. Although its acid (sulfurous acid) is elusive, its salts are wide ...

mill started up in late 1922 with four 12-ton digesters and a daily output of 75 tons of pulp. Spent liquor was discharged untreated into the Kapuskasing River. Early development was plagued by major setbacks. Fire destroyed the construction camp and power project at Sturgeon Falls. A year's supply of pulpwood that was boomed up in the river was washed away in the spring flood. A fire at the new mill killed two workers and brought production to a halt. In 1923, a water storage and hydro electric dam was built by Morrow and Beatty Ltd. of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

at Spruce Falls. In 1925, the Spruce Falls Company Limited was awarded additional timber limits to the north and south, bringing their total limits up to . In 1926, the Spruce Falls Power and Paper Company was incorporated under joint ownership of Kimberly-Clark and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. The new company negotiated two additional hydro power leases to the north on the

Mattagami River The Mattagami River is a river in Northern Ontario, Canada. The Mattagami flows from its source at Mattagami Lake in geographic Gouin Township in the Unorganized North Part of Sudbury District, on the Canadian Shield southwest of Timmins, Lengt ...

at Smoky Falls and Devils Rapids. Work to build a 550 ton/day paper mill at Kapuskasing, a 75,000 HP hydro generating station at Smoky Falls and a railway and power line connecting the two got underway in the spring of 1926. The contractor for the entire project was Morrow and Beatty Ltd. of Peterborough. Since July 13, 1928, ''The New York Times'' has been printed entirely on Spruce Falls paper. The mill has run continuously ever since. The company became known locally as "Uncle Spruce" in affectionate reference to the steady work and benefits provided to this distinct northern community for many decades. The mill was the focus of the Reesor Siding 1963 Strike, which saw three union workers killed. In 1997

Tembec Tembec Industries Inc., known as Tembec, was a paper company in Canada, founded by Frank Dottori. In 2011, Tembec had approximately 3000 employees,Kapuskasing Inn was built in 1927-28 by George Roper Gouinlock, son of

George Wallace Gouinlock George Wallace Gouinlock (August 1, 1861 – February 13, 1932) was a prominent Canadian architect. Gouinlock practiced mostly in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, including several designated buildings at Exhibition Place. His son George Roper Gouinloc ...

, together with the Civic Centre (built 1928) and the former Sensenbrenner Hospital (built 1929, now Drury Place, a geared-to-income housing complex). They were commissioned by the Spruce Falls Company Ltd. These buildings were all built in an impressive

Neo-Tudor Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

style and would form the nucleus of the town. In 1951, the inn hosted Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh on their first visit to Canada. The landmark inn closed in 2002 and fell in disrepair but was slated for renovation by new investors. On May 22, 2007, youths set fire to the inn. It was damaged beyond repair. The arsonists were not charged as they were below the age of criminal responsibility at the time of the fire. The remains of the inn were demolished in May and June 2008.

Internment camp

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the town was the site of one of the largest

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

s in Canada. The camp held over 1,300 German, Austrian, and Turkish prisoners, though the majority were Canadian residents of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

descent who had emigrated from the provinces of

Bukovina Bukovinagerman: Bukowina or ; hu, Bukovina; pl, Bukowina; ro, Bucovina; uk, Буковина, ; see also other languages. is a historical region, variously described as part of either Central or Eastern Europe (or both).Klaus Peter BergerT ...

and Galicia, their homeland, which at the time were part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, in the first wave of Ukrainian emigration to Canada prior to 1914. Prisoners were employed in the construction of buildings and clearing of land for a government experimental farm on the west side of the Kapuskasing River. Isolation provided ideal security for the

minimum security A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

camp, as the railway was the only access to the remote location. Prisoners who attempted to escape into the bush were turned back by endless

and clouds of

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

es or minus-40 degree temperatures in winter. In 1917, most were paroled to help relieve labour shortages. Afterwards, the camp was used briefly for prisoners of war and political radicals until its closure in 1920. A small cemetery is all that remains of the internment camp near the Kapuskasing Airport where victims of the

1918 influenza epidemic The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...

were laid to rest. An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected by the province to commemorate the Kapuskasing Internment Camp's role in Ontario's heritage.

Kapuskasing Soldier Colony

Governments of the day were mistakenly impressed with the agricultural potential of the Great Clay Belt. A federal government experimental farm had been established on the west side of the river to explore and develop crops and systems for farming the area. Under the Returned Soldiers and Sailors Act of 1917, the Kapuskasing Soldier Colony was established to settle veterans returned from the Great War. Settlers received homesteads, grants, and guaranteed loans and were paid for clearing their own land. However, by 1920 only nine of more than a hundred original settlers remained, and the project was discontinued. A 1920 Commission of Enquiry into the failed settlement scheme found that the settlers had not been up to the task at hand. The inhospitable climate and geography had won out. One bitter settler testified, "There are 7 months snow, two months rain and the remainder mosquitoes and black flies." Settlers had also counted on the development of a pulp mill at Kapuskasing that would provide a local market for pulp wood.

Radar site

During World War II, Kapuskasking was one of five Northern Ontario

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

bases that were set up to watch for potential attacks on the

Soo Locks The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lowe ...

Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is the only city in, and county seat of, Chippewa County, Michigan, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 13,337 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most populated ...

. Kapuskasing was the headquarters for the radar bases, which were manned by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. The town may have ceased its importance as a location for a traditional military radar base, but has become a site for the

Super Dual Auroral Radar Network The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is an international scientific radar network consisting of 35 high frequency (HF) radars located in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. SuperDARN radars are primarily used to map high-la ...

that is involved with tracking and measuring ionospheric turbulence.

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 ...

, Kapuskasing 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. In 2006, 68% of the population identified French as its first language, 36% identified

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as its first language, and 0.02% identified a non-official language as its first language (Cree etc.); 0.02% identified both French and English. The median age of the population was 44.2 years in 2016.

Transportation

Travellers reach Kapuskasing by car, by

Ontario Northland The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC), or simply Ontario Northland, is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario responsible for providing transportation services for passengers and goods in northern Ontario. It reports to ...

bus or by plane. The town's pulp and paper mill is served by the

Ontario Northland Railway The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario. Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming and Lake Nipissing area ...

, which took over the trackage serving the mill in 1994. The mill is located just off the original National Transcontinental Railway mainline (NTR) that was later nationalized as part of the Canadian National Railway. The railway line crossed the Kapuskasing River in 1913 and was the main means of transportation accessing the town until the late 1950s and early 1960s when Highway 11 became the main route to the city.

Kapuskasing Airport Kapuskasing Airport is located west of the town of Kapuskasing in northern Ontario, Canada. The airport formerly handled scheduled passenger service through Bearskin Airlines, which flew to Timmins but that service was discontinued at the en ...

was once a refueling stop for

Trans-Canada Air Lines Trans-Canada Air Lines (also known as TCA in English, and Trans-Canada in French) was a Canadian airline that operated as the country's flag carrier, with corporate headquarters in Montreal, Quebec. Its first president was Gordon Roy McGrego ...

flights in the days before jet airliners. It no longer has scheduled flights.

Economy

The former Spruce Falls, now GreenFirst Forest Products, had purchased the site from

Rayonier Advanced Materials Rayonier Advanced Materials is an American chemical company specializing in cellulose-based products. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, it produces more than 25 grades of high-purity performance fibers for products ranging from food, cosmeti ...

(RYAM) in 2021. The

pulp and paper The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as a paper web an ...

mill is the town's major employer, soon to be replaced by the

Ontario Power Generation Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation and "government business enterprise" that is responsible for approximately half of the electricity generation in the province of Ontario, Canada. It is w ...

Smoky Falls Dam Smoky Falls Generating Station is one of four stations in the Lower Mattagami River Hydroelectric Complex owned by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and the Moose Cree First Nation. The station is approximately northeast of Kapuskasing in the Cochra ...

reconstruction site. A former employer was also the

Agrium Agrium was a major retail supplier of agricultural products and services in North America, South America and Australia and a wholesale producer and marketer of all three major agricultural nutrients and a supplier of specialty fertilizers in Nor ...

phosphate mine which shutdown in 2013.

General Motors Canada General Motors of Canada Company (french: La Compagnie General Motors du Canada), commonly known as GM Canada, is the Canadian subsidiary of US-based company General Motors. It is headquartered in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. In the aftermath of the ...

operates the GM Cold Weather Development Centre in Kapuskasing.

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC; sometimes Ag-Canada; french: Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada)''Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Agriculture ...

operates an

agricultural experiment station An agricultural experiment station (AES) or agricultural research station (ARS) is a scientific research center that investigates difficulties and potential improvements to food production and agribusiness. Experiment station scientists work with f ...

, or Experimental Farm, close to the town. The Experimental Farm closed in 2014.

Politics

Kapuskasing has a federal representative known as a Member of Parliament, or MP, and a provincial representative known as a Member of Provincial Parliament, or MPP. Carol Hughes of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

is the area's MP and represents the federal riding of

Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. The area was represented by the riding of Algoma from 1867 to 1904 and from 1968 to 19 ...

Guy Bourgouin Guy Bourgouin is a Canadians, Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 Ontario general election, 2018 provincial election. He represents the riding of Mushkegowuk—James Bay as a member of the Ontar ...

, member of Ontario's New Democratic Party, is the town's MPP and represents the provincial

Mushkegowuk—James Bay Mushkegowuk—James Bay (french: Mushkegowuk—Baie James) is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. This riding was created from the northern portion of Timmins—James Ba ...

riding. Locally the town is led by Mayor David Plourde. The mayor works with six councillors to complete Kapuskasing's municipal government. Local officials are all elected through universal elections, meaning the town is not divided into wards.

Media

Kapuskasing's locally originated media include English-language commercial radio station CKAP (branded as Moose FM), French-language community radio station CKGN, and the English-language ''Kapuskasing Northern Times'' and bilingual ''Le/The Weekender'' community newspapers and the French newspaper ''L'Horizon''. ''Le Nord'', a French newspaper from Hearst, is also available in Kapuskasing. English-language daily newspaper the ''

Timmins Daily Press The ''Timmins Daily Press'' is a newspaper in Timmins, Ontario, which publishes six days a week. It is notable as the first paper founded by press baron Roy Thomson in the 1930s, who would eventually own more than 200 newspapers including ''The ...

'' offers minimal coverage through its regional reporting of the

. The community receives its only aerial television coverage from

CITO-TV-1 CITO-TV ( analogue channel 3) is a television station in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, the station has studios on Pine Street North (near Hendry Avenue) in Timmin ...

channel 10, a repeater of CTV outlet

CITO-TV CITO-TV ( analogue channel 3) is a television station in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. Owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, the station has studios on Pine Street North (near Hendry Avenue) in Timmin ...

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...

Radio

* FM 89.7 -

CKGN-FM CKGN-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 89.7 FM in Kapuskasing, Ontario and 94.7 FM in Smooth Rock Falls. Owned and operated by Radio communautaire KapNord cooperative, it is a non-profit community radio station for the region's ...

Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians (french: Franco-Ontariens or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2016, the Government of On ...

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, tow ...

* FM 90.7 - CBON-FM-24,

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 ...

* FM 93.7 -

CHYK-FM CHYK-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 104.1 FM in Timmins, Ontario. It broadcasts a francophone hot adult contemporary format for the city's Franco-Ontarian community. It is owned by Le5 Communications, and branded as ''Le Lou ...

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

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 ...

* FM 100.9 - CKAP-FM ("

Moose FM The Haliburton Broadcasting Group was a Canadian group of FM radio stations, located primarily in smaller markets in Ontario. The company was purchased by Vista Broadcast Group in 2012.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, quie ...

* FM 105.1 - CBOK-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 ...

Television

* Channel 10:

, CTV

Education

;Public *

District School Board Ontario North East District School Board Ontario North East (DSB1; DSB Ontario North East; known as English-language Public District School Board No. 1 prior to 1999) is an Ontario English public school board serving Northeastern Ontario from Hearst to Temagami. It ...

(DSBONE): **Diamond Jubilee Public School (JK-8) **Kapuskasing District High School (9-12) **Eastview Public School (Closed) *

Conseil scolaire de district du Nord-Est de l'Ontario The Conseil scolaire public du Nord-Est de l'Ontario (CSPNE, formerly the Conseil scolaire de district du Nord-Est de l'Ontario or CSDNE), also known as Ontario District School Board #56, manages the French-language schools in the north-east regi ...

(CSDNE): **École publique Coeur du Nord (M-8) **École secondaire publique l'Écho du Nord (9-12) **Centre d’apprentissage du Nord-Est de l’Ontario (9-12) ;Separate * Northeastern Catholic District School Board (NCDSB): **St Patrick School (JK-8, JK-8 French Immersion), established in 1960. * Conseil scolaire catholique de district des Grandes-Rivières (CSCDGR): **École élémentaire Jacques-Cartier (M-6) **École élémentaire Jeanne-Mance (Closed) **École élémentaire André Cary (M-6) **École Sacré-Coeur (Closed) **École secondaire catholique Cité des Jeunes (7-12) ;Other *Centre d'éducation Alternative High School (Adult Education) *

Collège Boréal Collège Boréal is a French-language College of Applied Arts and Technology serving Northern and Central Southwestern Ontario. Youngest of the 24 Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, Collège Boréal has for the 12th time in 13 years ach ...

à Kapuskasing (Post Secondary) *

Université de Hearst Université de Hearst (formerly Collège universitaire de Hearst) is a public French-language university with its main campus in Hearst, Ontario, Hearst, Ontario, Canada. The university has additional campuses in Timmins and Kapuskasing. For mo ...

à Kapuskasing (Post Secondary) *D'Youville Academy (Religious, Closed)

Public services

Health

Sensenbrenner Hospital was built in 1927-1929 by the Spruce Falls Pulp & Paper Company for its workers. At the time the hospital was one of northern Ontario's finest. In 1988 the need for a more modern facility arose and the ultra-modern 53 bed complex was built in a different part of the town. Sensenbrenner serves a regional population of 14,000 residents. The hospital provides both in-patient and out-patient care. Clinical services include; emergency services, chronic cardiorespiratory, acute neurology, specialty clinics, general medicine, surgery, anaesthesia, obstetrics, pediatrics, chronic and long-term care, rehabilitation, and other related diagnostic and treatment services. The health care services are assessment, evaluation, screening, treatment programs and direct therapy. In 1995 the hospital built a private clinic wing near the Emergency Room. EMS services are provided by Sensenbrenner Hospital, which is managed by the Northeastern Ontario Medical Education Corporation (NOMEC). The Porcupine Health unit serves the town with preventive education, psychiatric services, social services and child social service.

Safety

The town operates a fire department which is a member of the Fire Marshalls of Ontario, Public Fire Safety Council. A local branch of the Ontario Provincial Police is located at the site of the old Kapuskasing Inn. Kapuskasing has

Enhanced 911 Enhanced 911, E-911 or E911 is a system used in North America to automatically provide the caller's location to 911 dispatchers. 911 is the universal emergency telephone number in the region. In the European Union, a similar system exists known as ...

(E911) service for Fire, Ambulance and Police.

Well-being

Children's Aid Services, Counselling services, Detox centres, Chiropractitioners, and many other services are offered for those who need it.

Notable people

Maxime Boudreault Maxime Boudreault (born 21 September 1991) is a Canadian professional strongman competitor from Kapuskasing, Ontario. He secured 3rd place in the 2021 World's Strongest Man competition in Sacramento, California and won the inaugural 'Magnús Ver ...

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international Strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decembe ...

competitor *

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

, motion picture director *

Roy Dupuis Roy Michael Joseph Dupuis (; born April 21, 1963) is a Canadian actor best known in America for his role as counterterrorism operative Michael Samuelle in the television series '' La Femme Nikita''. In Canada, specifically Quebec, he's known for ...

, actor * Paul Lefebvre, politician *

Heather Mallick Heather Mallick (born 1959) is a Canadian columnist, author and lecturer. She has been a staff columnist for the ''Toronto Star'' since 2010, writing a news column on Saturday and on the opinion page on Monday and Wednesday. She writes about femi ...

, author and columnist for the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

Kirk McCaskill Kirk Edward McCaskill (born April 9, 1961) is a Canadian-American former Major League Baseball pitcher and former professional ice hockey player. He played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels and Chicago White Sox between 1985 and ...

, retired pitcher,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

Shane Peacock Shane Peacock may refer to: * Shane Peacock (writer) (born 1957), Canadian novelist * Shane Peacock (ice hockey) (born 1973), Canadian ice hockey player * Shane Peacock (fashion designer), Indian fashion designer and judge of the Femina Miss India ...

, writer * Kelly Vanderbeek, alpine ski racer

In popular culture

Kapuskasing is mentioned in the 1994 children’s book ''Where is Gah-Ning'', by

Robert Munsch Robert Norman Munsch (born June 11, 1945) is an American-Canadian children's author. Personal life and career Robert Munsch was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 11, 1945. He grew up in a family of 9 children. He graduated from Fordha ...

. In the story, a young Chinese-Canadian girl wants to visit Kapuskasing, but her father says no. She tries to go by bicycle and later on roller blades; she finally succeeds in getting there by floating on 300 helium balloons. It is also featured in Tomson Highway's award-winning play ''

Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing ''Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing'' is a play by Canadian writer Tomson Highway ( Cree), which premiered in 1989 at Theatre Passe-Muraille in Toronto. Character List * Nanabush (playing the spirit of Gazelle Nataways, Patsy Pegahmagahbow, and ...

''. In Season 12 of ''

Degrassi ''Degrassi'' is a Canadian television franchise created by Kit Hood and Linda Schuyler in 1979. It is centred on a multigenerational teen drama about an ensemble cast of teenagers attending the namesake Toronto school as they navigate their ad ...

'', junior pro hockey player Campbell Saunders comes from Kapuskasing. The protagonist of

Alice Munro Alice Ann Munro (; ; born 10 July 1931) is a Canadian short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013. Munro's work has been described as revolutionizing the architecture of short stories, especially in its tendency to move f ...

's story "Train" (2012), set in the early 1960s, is hopeful when he heads for Kapuskasing: "Work there, sure to be work in a lumbering town". Canadian singer-songwriter

Justin Rutledge Justin Rutledge (born January 3, 1979) is a Toronto-based Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter signed to Outside Music. Rutledge's musical style is often compared to that of American alt-country singer Ryan Adams. His influences, both ...

has a song called "Kapuskasing Coffee" on his album '' Valleyheart''. The album won the

Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year - Solo Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Juno, in the f ...

in 2014.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Populated places established in 1911 Towns in Ontario 1911 establishments in Ontario Internment camps in Canada