Pain Court (often incorrectly spelled Paincourt) is a primarily French-speaking agricultural village in southwestern

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 Ca ...

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 ...

, in the municipality of

Chatham-Kent Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 104,316)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 ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, area began to settle the indigenous lands along the lower Thames River in the region in the 1780s. It derived its name from the small loaves of bread which the impoverished parishioners offered to Roman Catholic missionaries. By the 1820s in the nearby "Pain Court Block", one of the earliest French-speaking (

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 ...

) communities in southern Ontario had developed. Named ''Pain Court'' (literally meaning "

short bread Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Unlike many other biscuits and baked goods, shortbread does not contain any leavening, ...

") by

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

missionaries in reference to the small loaves of bread which was all the impoverished parishioners could offer, the settlement was surveyed in 1829. In 1852 a chapel was built and two years later construction of a church commenced. It quickly became the cultural and educational centre of French-speaking Catholics in the area. By 1866 when a post office was established, a small village had developed.

Joseph Caron Joseph Caron (born 1947) is a Canadian diplomat. He served as the former Canadian high commissioner to India and former Canadian ambassador to China and Japan. Born and raised in the small francophone agricultural village of Pain Court in South ...

, the former Canadian diplomat, was raised in Pain Court. He served as Canada’s ambassador to China (2001 to 2005), with concurrent accreditation to North Korea and Mongolia, and was ambassador to Japan until the fall of 2008 when he was appointed High Commissioner to India with concurrent accreditation as Ambassador to Nepal and Bhutan. Located in Pain Court, Laprise Farms Ltd has become the largest producer of Brussels sprouts in Canada as of 1998. The 2018

International Plowing Match The International Plowing Match (IPM), held annually in Ontario, is North America's largest outdoor agricultural and rural expo. It is usually held in late September, and usually attracts more than 80,000 visitorscontent over the 5-day event. Each I ...

was held in Pain Court.

Education

The ''

Conseil scolaire catholique Providence The ''Conseil scolaire catholique Providence'' (Csc Providence) is the French-language Catholic school board for southwestern Ontario, Canada. The Providence Catholic School Board includes 10,000 students in its 31 schools: 23 elementary schools ...

'' (CSC) operates Francophone Catholic schools serving the community. It maintains its Chatham-Kent regional office in Pain Court. Pain Court has an elementary and a secondary French-language (

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 ...

) school. École Sainte-Catherine is a small elementary school located directly across the street from its sister school, École secondaire de Pain Court, a small high school with 270 students.

Wildlife

Just west of Pain Court, on the shores of

Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair (french: Lac Sainte-Claire) is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day ...

, an Environment Canada National Wildlife Area (St. Clair NWA) provides a variety of migrating birds with wetland habitat of international importance. It is one of only 51 such sites in Canada.St. Clair National Wildlife Area
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References

External links

Village de Pain Court website
{{authority control Communities in Chatham-Kent