Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of
Thunder Bay District
Thunder Bay District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district seat is Thunder Bay.
In 2016, the population was 146,048. The land area is ; the population density was . Most of ...
,
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. It is the most populous municipality in
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 ...
and the second most populous (after
Greater Sudbury
Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the List of the largest cities and to ...
) municipality in
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 ...
; its population is 108,843 according to the
2021 Canadian Census
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 sl ...
.
Located on
Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
, the
census metropolitan area
The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of sta ...
of Thunder Bay has a population of 123,258 and consists of the city of Thunder Bay, the municipalities of
Oliver Paipoonge
Oliver Paipoonge is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located directly west of the city of Thunder Bay. The municipality was formed on January 1, 1998, with the amalgamation of the former Township of Oliver and Township of Paipoon ...
and
Neebing, the townships of
Shuniah
Shuniah () is a municipal township bordering the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada on the east. Shuniah was incorporated by an act of the Ontario legislature in 1873, and at that time included much of present-day Thunder Bay and its predecesso ...
,
Conmee,
O'Connor, and
Gillies, and the
Fort William First Nation
Fort William First Nation ( oj, Animkii Wajiw) is an Ojibwa First Nation reserve in Ontario, Canada. The administrative headquarters for this band government is south of Thunder Bay. , the First Nation had a registered population of 1,798 people ...
.
European settlement in the region began in the late 17th century with a French
fur trading
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 most ...
outpost on the banks of the
Kaministiquia River
The Kaministiquia River is a river which flows into western Lake Superior at the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. ''Kaministiquia'' (''Gaa-ministigweyaa'') is an Ojibwe word meaning "where a stream flows in island" due to two large islands (McKellar ...
.
[Brief History of Thunder Bay](_blank)
City of Thunder Bay. Retrieved 5 June 2007. It grew into an important transportation hub with its port forming an important link in the shipping of
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...
and other products from
western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada ...
, through the
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...
and the
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...
, to the east coast.
Forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
and
manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...
played important roles in the city's economy. They have declined in recent years, but have been replaced by a "
knowledge economy
The knowledge economy (or the knowledge-based economy) is an economic system in which the production of goods and services is based principally on knowledge-intensive activities that contribute to advancement in technical and scientific inno ...
" based on
medical research
Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...
and education. Thunder Bay is the site of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute.
On 1 January 1970, the City of Thunder Bay was formed through the merger of the cities of
Fort William,
Port Arthur, and the geographic townships of Neebing and McIntyre. The city takes this name from the immense
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 ...
at the head of Lake Superior, known on 18th-century French maps as (Bay of Thunder).
The city is often referred to as the "Lakehead", or "Canadian Lakehead", because of its location at the end of Great Lakes navigation on the Canadian side of the border.
[Tronrud, Thorold J; Epp, Ernest A.; and others. (1995)]
"Introduction"
, ''Thunder Bay: From Rivalry to Unity'', p. vii, Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society
History
Before 1900
European settlement at Thunder Bay began with two French fur trading posts (in 1683 and 1717) which were subsequently abandoned (see
Fort William, Ontario
Fort William was a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Since th ...
). In 1803, the Montreal-based
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...
established Fort William as its mid-continent ''
entrepôt
An ''entrepôt'' (; ) or transshipment port is a port, city, or trading post where merchandise may be imported, stored, or traded, usually to be exported again. Such cities often sprang up and such ports and trading posts often developed into co ...
''. The fort thrived until 1821 when the North West Company merged with 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 ...
, and Fort William was no longer needed.
![Fort William 1865](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Fort_William_1865.jpg)
By the 1850s, the
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...
began to take an interest in its western extremity. Discovery of
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 ...
in the
Keweenaw Peninsula
The Keweenaw Peninsula ( , sometimes locally ) is the northernmost part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, leading to its moniker of "Copper Country." As o ...
of Michigan had prompted a national demand for
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
locations on the Canadian shores of Lake Superior. In 1849, French-speaking
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
established the (Mission of the Immaculate Conception) on the
Kaministiquia
Kaministiquia () is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Thunder Bay District on Highway 102 approximately 30 kilometres west of Thunder Bay. A designated place served by a local services board, Kaministiquia had a p ...
to
evangelize
In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are in ...
the
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 ...
. The Province of Canada negotiated the
Robinson Treaty
The Robinson Treaties are two treaties signed between the Ojibwa chiefs and The Crown in 1850 in the Province of Canada. The first treaty involved Ojibwa chiefs along the north shore of Lake Superior, and is known as the Robinson Superior Treaty. ...
in 1850 with the Ojibwa of Lake Superior. As a result, an Indian reserve was set aside for them south of the Kaministiquia River. In 1859–60, the Department of Crown Lands surveyed two townships (Neebing and Paipoonge) and the Town Plot of Fort William for European-Canadian settlement.
Another settlement developed a few miles to the north of Fort William after construction by the federal Department of Public Works of a road connecting Lake Superior with the
Red River Colony
The Red River Colony (or Selkirk Settlement), also known as Assiniboia, Assinboia, was a colonization project set up in 1811 by Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, on of land in British North America. This land was granted to Douglas by the Hud ...
. The work was directed by
Simon James Dawson
Simon James Dawson (June 13, 1818 – October 30, 1902) was a Canadian civil engineer and politician. Career
Born in Redhaven, Banffshire, Scotland, Dawson emigrated to Canada as a young man and began his career as an engineer. In 1857 ...
(see
Port Arthur, Ontario
Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario, Canada, located on Lake Superior. In January 1970, it amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay.
Port Arthur had been the district seat of ...
). This public works depot or construction headquarters acquired its first name in May 1870 when Colonel
Garnet Wolseley
Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, (4 June 183325 March 1913), was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He became one of the most influential and admired British generals after a series of successes in Canada, We ...
named it Prince Arthur's Landing. It was renamed Port Arthur by 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 ...
(CPR) in May 1883.
The arrival of the CPR in 1875 sparked a long rivalry between the towns, which did not end until their amalgamation in 1970. Until the 1880s, Port Arthur was a much larger community. The CPR, in collaboration with the Hudson's Bay Company, preferred east Fort William, located on the lower Kaministiquia River where the fur trade posts were. Provoked by a prolonged tax dispute with Port Arthur and its seizure of a
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
in 1889, the CPR relocated all its employees and facilities to Fort William. The collapse of
silver mining
Silver mining is the extraction of silver from minerals, starting with mining. Because silver is often found in intimate combination with other metals, its extraction requires elaborate technologies. In 2008, ca.25,900 metric tons were consumed ...
after 1890 undermined the economy of Port Arthur. It had an economic depression, while Fort William thrived.
20th century
![T-bay Railway Station](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/T-bay_Railway_Station.jpg)
In the era of
Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Sir Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier, ( ; ; November 20, 1841 – February 17, 1919) was a Canadian lawyer, statesman, and politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Canada from 1896 to 1911. The first French Canadian prime minist ...
, Thunder Bay began a period of extraordinary growth, based on improved access to markets via the
transcontinental railway
A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage, that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single ...
and development of the western
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
boom. The CPR double-tracked its Winnipeg–Thunder Bay line. The
Canadian Northern Railway
The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.
Mani ...
established facilities at Port Arthur. The
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway running from Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Pacific coast port. East of Winnipeg the line continued as the National Tra ...
began construction of its facilities at the Fort William Mission in 1905, and the federal government began construction of 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 ...
.
Grain elevator
A grain elevator is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lower level and deposits ...
construction boomed as the volume of grain shipped to Europe increased. Both cities incurred debt to grant bonuses to manufacturing industries.
Thunder Bay was the first city in the world to enact daylight saving time, on 1 July 1908.
By 1914, the twin cities had modern infrastructures (sewers, potable water supply, street lighting, electric light, etc.) Both Fort William and Port Arthur were proponents of municipal ownership. As early as 1892, Port Arthur built Canada's first municipally-owned electric street railway. Both cities spurned
Bell Telephone Company of Canada to establish their own municipally-owned telephone systems in 1902.
The boom came to an end in 1913–1914, aggravated by the outbreak of the
First World War
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 ...
. A war-time economy emerged with the making of munitions and shipbuilding. Men from the cities joined the 52nd, 94th, and 141st Battalions of the
Canadian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) was the expeditionary field force of Canada during the First World War. It was formed following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 15 August 1914, with an initial strength of one infantry division ...
.
Railway employment was hurt when the federal government took over 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 ...
and Lake Superior Division from the Grand Trunk in 1915, and the Canadian Northern Railway in 1918. These were amalgamated with other government-owned railways in 1923 to form the
Canadian National Railways
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
. The CNR closed many of the Canadian Northern Railway facilities in Port Arthur. It opened the Neebing yards in Neebing Township in 1922. By 1929, the population of the two cities had recovered to pre-war levels.
The
forest products industry has played an important role in the Thunder Bay economy from the 1870s. In the 1880s,
Herman Finger
Herman Finger was a lumberman who owned and operated various lumber companies that operated in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. He also served as the first mayor of The Pas after its establishment in 1912.
Origins in ...
established the
Pigeon River Lumber Company in the area, and also built the
Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad
The Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad (G&LS) is a defunct Minnesota logging railroad that operated in the Thunder Bay District of northwestern Ontario and in Cook County of northeastern Minnesota.
The G&LS was built in 1902 by the Pigeon Riv ...
, but he dissolved the lumber company and moved his operations to The Pas by 1919. Logs and lumber were shipped primarily to the United States. In 1917, the first pulp and paper mill was established in Port Arthur. It was followed by a mill at Fort William, in 1920. Eventually, there were four mills operating.
Manufacturing resumed in 1937 when the Canada Car and Foundry Company plant (opened for the manufacture of naval ships and railcars during the late World War I) re-opened to build British aircraft. Now run by
Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
, the plant has remained a mainstay of the post-war economy. It has produced forestry equipment and transportation equipment for urban transit systems, such as the
Toronto Transit Commission
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest ...
and
GO Transit
GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven millio ...
.
Amalgamation
On 1 January 1970, the City of Thunder Bay was formed through the merger of the cities of
Fort William,
Port Arthur, and the geographic townships of Neebing and McIntyre.
Its name was the result of a
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
held previously on 23 June 1969, to determine the new name of the amalgamated Fort William and Port Arthur. Officials debated over the names to be put on the ballot, taking suggestions from residents including "Lakehead" and "The Lakehead". Because
the vote split between the two similar names, "Thunder Bay" prevailed with a narrow
plurality. The final tally was "Thunder Bay" with 15,870, "Lakehead" with 15,302, and "The Lakehead" with 8,377.
There was more controversy over the selection of a name for the amalgamated city than over whether to amalgamate. A vocal minority of the population preferred "The Lakehead". There was much discussion about other cities in the world that use a
definite article
An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech.
In English, both "the" and "a(n)" ar ...
in their names. The area was often referred to as "The Lakehead" before and after amalgamation based on its geographic location. It was seen as the "head" of shipping on the Great Lakes and the "rail head".
The expansion of highways, beginning with 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 ...
and culminating with the opening of
Highway 17 (linking Sault Ste Marie to Thunder Bay in 1960), has significantly diminished railway and shipping activity since the 1970s and 80s. Shipping on the
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...
was superseded by trucking on highways. Grain shipping on the Great Lakes to the East has declined substantially in favour of transport to Pacific Coast ports. As a result, many grain elevators have been closed and demolished. The Kaministiquia River was abandoned by industry and shipping.
Today
Thunder Bay has become the regional services centre for
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 ...
with most provincial departments represented.
Lakehead University
Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, grad ...
, established through the lobbying of local businesspeople and professionals, has proven to be a major asset. Another upper level institution is
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 ...
.
Geography
![ISS053-E-223431](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/ISS053-E-223431.jpg)
The city has an area of , which includes the former cities of Fort William and Port Arthur, as well as the former townships of Neebing and McIntyre. The city reflects the settlement patterns of the 19th century and sprawls. Anchoring the west end of the city, the Fort William Town Plot, surveyed in 1859–60, was named West Fort William (or Westfort) in 1888 by the CPR. The land adjoining the lower Kaministiquia River became the residential and central business district of the town and city of Fort William. A large uninhabited area adjoining the Neebing and McIntyre rivers, which became known as Intercity, separated Fort William from the residential and central business district of Port Arthur. At the extreme east of the city, a part of McIntyre Township was annexed to the town of Port Arthur in 1892, forming what later became known as the Current River area.
The former Port Arthur section is more typical of the
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...
, with gently sloping hills and very thin soil lying on top of bedrock with many bare outcrops.
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 ...
, which gives the city its name, is about from the Port Arthur downtown to Thunder Cape at the tip of the
Sleeping Giant. The former Fort William section occupies flat
alluvial
Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...
land along the Kaministiquia River. In the
river delta
A river delta is a landform shaped like a triangle, created by deposition (geology), deposition of sediment that is carried by a river and enters slower-moving or stagnant water. This occurs where a river enters an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, res ...
are two large islands: Mission Island and McKellar Island. Since 1970, the central business districts of Fort William and Port Arthur have suffered a serious decline. Business and government relocated to new developments in the Intercity area. There has also been substantial residential growth in adjacent areas of the former Neebing and McIntyre townships.
Neighbourhoods
![View Of Thunder Bay Harbour](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/View_Of_Thunder_Bay_Harbour.jpg)
Thunder Bay is composed of two formerly separate cities:
Port Arthur and
Fort William. Both still retain much of their distinct civic identities, reinforced by the buffering effect of the Intercity area between them. Port Arthur and Fort William each have their own
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
s and suburban areas. Some of the more well-known neighbourhoods include the Bay and Algoma area, which has a large northern European population centred around the
Finnish Labour Temple
The Finnish Labour Temple (also known as the Big Finn Hall or Finlandia Club) is a Finnish-Canadian cultural and community centre (" Finn hall") and a local landmark located at 314 Bay Street in the Finnish quarter in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Built ...
and the
Italian Cultural Centre
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
; Simpson-Ogden and the East End, two of the oldest neighbourhoods in Fort William located north of
Downtown Fort William; Intercity, a large business district located between Fort William and Port Arthur;
Current River, the northernmost neighbourhood of Port Arthur; and Westfort, the oldest settlement in Thunder Bay. Within city limits are some small rural communities, such as Vickers Heights and North McIntyre, which were located in the former townships of Neebing and McIntyre, respectively.
Climate
The Thunder Bay area experiences a warm-summer
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 ...
: ''Dfb'') and a
continental subarctic (''Dfc'') influence in northeastern areas of the city (including that affected by
Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
), but not necessarily falling in this zone. This results in cooler summer temperatures and warmer winter temperatures for an area extending inland as far as 16 km. The average daily temperatures range from in July to in January. The average daily high in July is and the average daily high in January is .
On 10 January 1982, the local temperature in Thunder Bay dropped to , with a wind speed of per hour for a wind chill temperature that dipped to .
As a result, it holds Ontario's record for coldest day with wind chill.
The highest temperature ever recorded in Thunder Bay was on 7 August 1983.
The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 31 January 1996.
Relatively recently, however, all-time records for both the latest first freeze and the longest growing season were set on October 17, 2021; the previous record of October 8, 2016 was beaten by 9 days, and the previous record for the longest growing season of 139 days (also set in 2016) was beaten by a day.
The city is quite sunny, with an average of 2,121 hours of bright sunshine each year, ranging from 268.1 hours in July to 86.2 hours in November.
Winters are comparatively dry with the snowfall being very limited and temperatures much colder than in
Houghton, Michigan
Houghton (; ) is the largest city and seat of government of Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, Houghton is the largest city in the Copper Country region. It is the fifth-largest city in the Uppe ...
, on the U.S. side of the lake, where the climate is marked by heavy
lake-effect snow
Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated up by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises up through ...
. Thunder Bay has more of a continental climate in comparison.
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 ...
, Thunder Bay 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.
At the
census metropolitan area
The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of sta ...
(CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Thunder Bay CMA 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.
According to the
2016 Census, 48.8% of Thunder Bay's residents were male and 51.2% were female. Residents 19 years of age or younger accounted for approximately 19.9% of the population. People aged by 20 and 39 years accounted for 25.0%, while those between 40 and 64 made up 35.1% of the population. The average age of a Thunder Bayer in May 2016 was 43.3, compared to the average of 41.0 for Canada as a whole.
[City of Thunder Bay](_blank)
2016 Community Profile. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
A further 13,712 people lived in Thunder Bay's
Census Metropolitan Area
The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of sta ...
, which apart from Thunder Bay includes the
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
of
Neebing and
Oliver Paipoonge
Oliver Paipoonge is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located directly west of the city of Thunder Bay. The municipality was formed on January 1, 1998, with the amalgamation of the former Township of Oliver and Township of Paipoon ...
, the
townships
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
of
Conmee,
Gillies,
O'Connor and
Shuniah
Shuniah () is a municipal township bordering the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada on the east. Shuniah was incorporated by an act of the Ontario legislature in 1873, and at that time included much of present-day Thunder Bay and its predecesso ...
, and the
aboriginal community of
Fort William First Nation
Fort William First Nation ( oj, Animkii Wajiw) is an Ojibwa First Nation reserve in Ontario, Canada. The administrative headquarters for this band government is south of Thunder Bay. , the First Nation had a registered population of 1,798 people ...
.
;Ethnicity
According to the census, Thunder Bay was home to 13,565 people of Finnish descent,
the highest concentration of people of Finnish origin in Canada. Thunder Bay has a large
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
population representing 13.2% of the population, while
visible minorities
A visible minority () is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada, in connect ...
represent 4% of the population.
;Mother-tongue language (2016)
Religion
In the 2021 Census 56.0% of Thunder Bay residents belonged to a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
denomination, down from 72.0% in 2011: 30.4% of the total population affiliated with the
Roman Catholic Church
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 ...
, 17.6% were
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
, 4.9% were Christians of unspecified denomination and 3.2% followed other Christian denominations, largely
Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
. People of no religion were 39.9% of the population, up from 26.2% in 2011. Of non-Christian religions, the largest were
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
, (1.1%) and
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
(0.9%). 0.6% of residents adhered to Traditional (North American Indigenous) spirituality. All other religions and/or spiritual beliefs made up 1.4% of the population.
Crime
From 2012 to 2014, and again from 2016 to 2019, Thunder Bay had the highest per-capita rate of
homicide
Homicide occurs when a person kills another person. A homicide requires only a volitional act or omission that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from accidental, reckless, or negligent acts even if there is no inten ...
among Canadian cities.
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 ...
had previously held this distinction between 2007 and 2011. In 2014, the per-capita rate of homicides in Thunder Bay was more than double the 2012 rate, and was over 2.5 times higher than the city with the next highest rate. However, between 2014 and 2015, the crime rate decreased by 6%. This was the second highest decrease in any major Canadian city, behind only Moncton, New Brunswick.
Economy
As the largest city in Northwestern Ontario, Thunder Bay is the region's commercial, administrative and medical centre. Many of the city's largest single employers are in the
public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...
. The City of Thunder Bay, the
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is an acute care facility serving Thunder Bay and much of Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The hospital has 395 acute care beds. All of its patient rooms are handicapped accessible and the facility is air-c ...
, the
Lakehead District School Board
The Lakehead District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 6A prior to 1999) oversees all secular English-language public schools in the Thunder Bay CMA and the townships of Gorham and Ware in Ontario, Canada ...
and the Government of Ontario each employ over 1,500 people.
[Major Employer List – Thunder Bay, 2006 45kb](_blank)
Retrieved 2 September 2007. 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 a ...
is the largest private employer, employing over 1,500 people.
Thunder Bay Top Private Sector Employers
Northern Ontario Business'' (May 2006). Retrieved 4 September 2007.
Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian-German rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry ...
operates a plant in Thunder Bay which
manufactures
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a range ...
mass transit
Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
vehicles and equipment, employing approximately 800 people.
The plant was built by
Canadian Car and Foundry
Canadian Car and Foundry (CC&F), also variously known as "Canadian Car & Foundry" or more familiarly as "Can Car", was a manufacturer of buses, railway rolling stock, forestry equipment, and later aircraft for the Canadian market. CC&F history g ...
to build railway box cars in 1912, began building passenger railcar and transit cars from 1963 onwards Bombardier acquired the facility from
UTDC
The Urban Transportation Development Corporation Ltd. (UTDC) was a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario, Canada. It was established in the 1970s as a way to enter what was then expected to be a burgeoning market in advanced l ...
in 1992, which had acquired it from Cancar in 1984.
Lack of innovation by traditional industries, such as forest products, combined with high labour costs have reduced the industrial base of Thunder Bay by close to 60%. The
grain trade
The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...
has declined because of the loss of
grain transportation subsidies and the loss of European markets. The gradual transition from shipping by train and boat to shipping by truck, and the
Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement
The Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA), official name as the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the United States of America (french: links=no, Accord de libre-échange entre le Canada et les États-Unis d'Amérique), wa ...
have ended Thunder Bay's privileged position as a linchpin in Canadian east–west freight-handling trade. As a result, the city has lost its traditional
raison d'être
Raison d'être is a French expression commonly used in English, meaning "reason for being" or "reason to be".
Raison d'être may refer to:
Music
* Raison d'être (band), a Swedish dark-ambient-industrial-drone music project
* ''Raison D'être' ...
as a
break-bulk point. However, in recent years shipments through the port of Thunder Bay have stabilized, and it remains an important part of the
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...
.
In an effort to rejuvenate its economy, the city has been actively working to attract
quaternary
The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...
or "knowledge-based" industries, primarily in the fields of
molecular medicine
Molecular medicine is a broad field, where physical, chemical, biological, bioinformatics and medical techniques are used to describe molecular structures and mechanisms, identify fundamental molecular and genetic errors of disease, and to develop ...
and
genomics
Genomics is an interdisciplinary field of biology focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. A genome is an organism's complete set of DNA, including all of its genes as well as its hierarchical, three-dim ...
. The city is home to the western campus of the
Northern Ontario School of Medicine
Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM University; french: Université de l'École de médecine du Nord de l'Ontario) is a public medical university in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is mandated both to educate doctors and t ...
, the first medical school to open in Canada in a generation.
Thunder Bay Blends Old, New Industries
Site Selection'' (November 2005). Retrieved 4 September 2007 The city also has a law school.
Government and politics
![Thunder Bay ward map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Thunder_Bay_ward_map.svg)
The city is governed by a
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
and twelve
councillors
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
. The mayor and five of the councillors are elected at large by the whole city. Seven councillors are elected for the seven wards: Current River Ward, McIntyre Ward, McKellar Ward, Neebing Ward, Northwood Ward, Red River Ward, and Westfort Ward.
Thunder Bay is represented in the
Canadian Parliament
The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
by
Marcus Powlowski
Marcus Powlowski (born January 20, 1960) is a Canadian Member of Parliament who was elected to represent the riding of Thunder Bay—Rainy River in the 2019 Canadian federal election. Powlowski was also named a chief in Ambae, Vanuatu with the ...
, and
Patty Hajdu
Patricia A. Hajdu (; born November 3, 1966) is a Canadian politician who has served as the minister of Indigenous services since October 26, 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, she also serves as the member of Parliament for Thunder Bay—Super ...
, both members of the
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...
, and in the
Ontario Legislature
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...
by
Lise Vaugeois
Lise Vaugeois is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2022 provincial election. She represents the district of Thunder Bay—Superior North as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party.
Previo ...
of the
Ontario New Democratic Party Party
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 Cana ...
and
Kevin Holland
Kevin Alan Holland (born November 5, 1992) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2015, Holland has also competed for ...
of the
Ontario Progressive Conservative Party
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 ...
.
City symbols
;
Sleeping Giant
A large formation of
mesa
A mesa is an isolated, flat-topped elevation, ridge or hill, which is bounded from all sides by steep escarpments and stands distinctly above a surrounding plain. Mesas characteristically consist of flat-lying soft sedimentary rocks capped by ...
s on the
Sibley Peninsula
The Sibley Peninsula is a long and wide peninsula in Ontario, Canada, on Lake Superior. It projects into the lake from Superior's north shore, and separates Thunder Bay to the west from Black Bay to the east.''Sleeping Giant Background Informat ...
in
Lake Superior
Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
which resembles a reclining giant has become a symbol of the city. Sibley peninsula partially encloses the waters of Thunder Bay, and dominates the view of the lake from the northern section of the city (formerly Port Arthur). The Sleeping Giant also figures on the city's coat of arms and the city flag.
;Coat of arms
The
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 ...
of Thunder Bay, Ontario, is a combination of the coats of arms of both Port Arthur and Fort William, with a unifying symbol—the Sleeping Giant—at the base of the arms.
[Thunder Bay City Symbols](_blank)
Retrieved 4 June 2007.
;Corporate logo
The city logo depicts a stylized
thunderbird
Thunderbird, thunder bird or thunderbirds may refer to:
* Thunderbird (mythology), a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture
* Ford Thunderbird, a car
Birds
* Dromornithidae, extinct flightless birds ...
, called Animikii, a statue of which is located at the city's Kaministiquia River Heritage Park. The slogan, ''Superior by Nature'', is a double play on words reflecting the city's natural setting on Lake Superior.
;
City flag
The list of city flags lists the flags of cities. Most of the city flags are based on the coat of arms or emblems of its city itself, and city flags can be also used by the coat of arms and emblems on its flag. Most of the city flags are flown out ...
Thunder Bay's
flag
A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...
was created in 1972, when mayor
Saul Laskin
Saul Laskin (15 May 1918 – 4 October 2008) was a Canadian politician. He was the first mayor of the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Born in Fort William, Ontario, he was the younger brother of jurist Bora Laskin. He was educated in Fort Willia ...
wanted to promote the city by having a distinctive flag. The city held a contest, which Cliff Redden won. The flag has a 1:2 ratio and depicts a golden sky from the rising sun behind the Sleeping Giant, which sits in the blue waters of Lake Superior. The sun is represented by a red
maple leaf
The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada.
History of use in Canada
By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along the ...
, a
symbol of Canada. Green and gold are Thunder Bay's city colours.
Culture
![TB PERSIAN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/TB_PERSIAN.jpg)
The city of Thunder Bay was declared a "Cultural Capital of Canada" in 2003. Throughout the city are cultural centres representing the diverse population, such as the
Finnish Labour Temple
The Finnish Labour Temple (also known as the Big Finn Hall or Finlandia Club) is a Finnish-Canadian cultural and community centre (" Finn hall") and a local landmark located at 314 Bay Street in the Finnish quarter in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Built ...
, Scandinavia House, the Italian Cultural Centre, the Polish Legion, and a wide variety of others.
The shag, a combination shower and stag held to celebrate the
engagement
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
of a couple, and the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
, a cinnamon bun pastry with pink icing, both originated in the city.
Thunder Bay is served by the
Thunder Bay Public Library
The Thunder Bay Public Library serves the citizens of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada and surrounding areas.
Services
*Information and reference services
*Access to full text databases
*Community information
*Internet access
*Reader's advisor ...
, which has four branches.
Events in the city include
Thunder Pride
Thunder Pride is an annual LGBT pride parade and festival, staged in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. , an LGBTQ pride parade held since 2010, and the annual
Canadian Lakehead Exhibition
The Canadian Lakehead Exhibition (CLE) is an annual regional fair in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Similar in nature to the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, it features local and regional artisans and farmers, a midway, concessions and nu ...
.
Arts
![Thunder Bay Historical Museum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Thunder_Bay_Historical_Museum.jpg)
Thunder Bay is home to a variety of music and performance arts venues. The
Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra
The Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (TBSO) is a Canadian professional orchestra based in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
History
Founded on 29 November 1960, the Lakehead Symphony Orchestra made its debut at the Lakeview High School auditorium.Tronrud, Tho ...
, founded in 1960, is the only professional orchestra between Winnipeg and Toronto and has 31 full-time and up to 30 extra musicians presenting a full range of classical music. ''New Music North'' is vital to the contemporary classical music scene in the city by offering novel contemporary chamber music concerts. The largest professional theatre is
Magnus Theatre
The Magnus Theatre - The Dr. S. Penny Petrone Centre for the Performing Arts in Thunder Bay, Ontario was founded in 1971 and is Northwestern Ontario's professional theatre company.
History
Founded by British director Burton Lancaster, who had th ...
. Founded in 1971, it offers six stage plays each season and is located in the renovated Port Arthur Public School on Red River Road. The
Thunder Bay Community Auditorium
The Thunder Bay Community Auditorium is a 1,511 seat performance arts centre, located in Thunder Bay, Ontario. It opened on October 16, 1985 and is home to the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. The Community Auditorium hosts 150,000 patrons annuall ...
, which seats 1500, is the primary venue for various types of entertainment.
The
Vox Popular Media Arts Festival
The Vox Popular Media Arts Festival, formerly known as the Bay Street Film Festival, is an annual film and arts festival staged in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
First established in 2005 by Kelly Saxberg and Ron Harpelle, the festival's mission was to f ...
, established in 2005, is an independent film festival that features local, national, and international films with the theme of "Films for the People." The festival is held in early October at 314 Bay Street in the historic
Finnish Labour Temple
The Finnish Labour Temple (also known as the Big Finn Hall or Finlandia Club) is a Finnish-Canadian cultural and community centre (" Finn hall") and a local landmark located at 314 Bay Street in the Finnish quarter in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Built ...
. Thunder Bay is also home to the North of Superior Film Association (NOSFA). Established in 1992, the NOSFA features monthly screenings of international and Canadian films at the Cumberland Cinema Centre, and organized the annual
Northwest Film Fest
The Northwest Film Fest is an annual film festival staged in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Established in 1993 by the North of Superior Film Association, the festival presents a program of films at the city's SilverCity cinema in April each year.
Unlike ...
film festival that attracts several thousand patrons. Two of Thunder Bay's festivals were included in the 2018 list of the 100 best festival compiled by Festivals and Events Ontario: Teddy Bears Picnic and Live on the Waterfront, the former also being recognized as best promotional campaign and sponsor of the year.
The Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop (NOWW), founded in 1997, is the largest of several writing groups based in Thunder Bay. Its mission is "to encourage and promote the development of the writers and literature of Northwestern Ontario". NOWW does this through a number of activities including regular workshops, monthly readings (summer excepted), an eWriter in Residence program, and other events designed to help and inspire writers in the region. NOWW also hosts an annual LitFest in May which includes an awards presentation to the winners of its international annual writing contest. Past contest judges include a Who's Who of Canadian writers such as
Heather O'Neill
Heather O'Neill (born 1973) is a Canadian novelist, poet, short story writer, screenwriter and journalist, who published her debut novel, '' Lullabies for Little Criminals'', in 2006. The novel was subsequently selected for the 2007 edition of ' ...
,
Michael Christie,
Jane Urquhart
Jane Urquhart, LL.D (born June 21, 1949) is a Canadian novelist and poet. She is the internationally acclaimed author of seven award-winning novels, three books of poetry and numerous short stories. As a novelist, Urquhart is well known for her e ...
, and
Liz Howard
Elizabeth Howard (Éilís Níc Iomhair) is an Irish camogie player who was the 27th President of the Camogie Association.
Background
Howard, from Deerpark, Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, is the daughter of Limerick hurler, Garrett Howard ...
.
Museums and galleries
The
Thunder Bay Art Gallery
The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is Northern Ontario's largest art gallery specializing in the work of contemporary Indigenous artists. It is located on the campus of Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is ...
, which was founded in 1976, specializes in the works of First Nations artists, having a collection of national significance. The
Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, founded in 1908, presents local and travelling exhibitions and houses an impressive collection of artifacts, photographs, paintings, documents and maps in its archives. The City of Thunder bay also houses the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, and the Thunder Bay Military Museum (housed within the O'Kelley Armoury on Park Street).
Thunder Bay has two recognized Federal Heritage buildings on the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings:
* Ordnance Store (recognized 1997)
* Park Street Armoury (recognized 1994)
Both are part of HMCS Griffin.
Places of worship
![St Andrews Presbyterian Church Thunder Bay](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/St_Andrews_Presbyterian_Church_Thunder_Bay.jpg)
Thunder Bay has many places of worship supported by people of a variety of faiths, reflecting the cultural diversity of the population. A sample:
* Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church –
Ukrainian Orthodox
The history of Christianity in Ukraine dates back to the earliest centuries of the history of Christianity, to the Apostolic Age, with mission trips along the Black Sea and a legend of Saint Andrew even ascending the hills of Kyiv. The first C ...
. The original wooden church, built by
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 ...
Orthodox families in 1911/1912, was almost destroyed by fire in 1936. The current church was built on the same site and opened in 1937. It has decorative gold domes that are characteristic of Ukrainian churches of the
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 ...
area, with Orthodox crosses atop the domes.
* Calvary Lutheran Church was established in 1958 as a mission congregation of the Minnesota North District (USA).
*
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church). The church has a family history library open to anyone to research their genealogy.
* Elim Community Christian Centre.
Pentecostal Church
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement located in Current River area of the city which is now named Refreshing Waters Community Church.
* Evangel Church. Contemporary Pentecostal church with a strong emphasis on children, youth and (with their convenient location next to
Lakehead University
Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, grad ...
) young adults.
* First-Wesley United Church. The current Wesley United Church was preceded by a much smaller structure, Grace Methodist Church, which was built in 1891 and had a capacity of 100 people. The current Gothic 1,025 seat sanctuary was constructed in 1910.
* Hilldale
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
Church. Offers services in both English and Finnish. The church has an intimate atmosphere and wonderful acoustics, and is frequently used for musical performances.
* Holy Trinity
Greek Orthodox Church
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...
. Founded in 1918, the church moved to its present building in 1991. The church is active in providing non-profit housing for needy families.
* Hope Christian Reformed Church. Services are recorded so that anyone with an internet connection may listen.
* Kitchitwa Kateri Anamewgamik.
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 lette ...
communal church geared to Native culture and teachings. A drop-in centre provides coffee and serves soup & bannock.
* Lakehead Unitarian Fellowship. This
Unitarian Universalist
Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to:
Christian and Christian-derived theologies
A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism:
* Unitarianism (1565–present) ...
community includes
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
,
Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
,
Pagans Pagans may refer to:
* Paganism, a group of pre-Christian religions practiced in the Roman Empire
* Modern Paganism, a group of contemporary religious practices
* Order of the Vine, a druidic faction in the ''Thief'' video game series
* Pagan's ...
,
Theists
Theism is broadly defined as the belief in the existence of a supreme being or deities. In common parlance, or when contrasted with ''deism'', the term often describes the classical conception of God that is found in monotheism (also referred to ...
, non-theists, Humanist-
agnostics
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
, and
Atheists
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
. They welcome and celebrate the presence and participation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons.
* Redwood Park Church
Contemporary
Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
member of the Christian Missionary Alliance. Runs an outreach at the old building on Edward street with a food bank and a clothing store.
* Saalem Church.
Pentecostal church
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement with services in both English and Finnish.
* Shaarey Shomayim Congregation –
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
. This egalitarian community has the only
mikvah
Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity.
Most forms of ritual impurity can be purifi ...
between Winnipeg and Toronto.
* Shepherd of Israel Congregation –
Messianic Jewish
Messianic Judaism ( he, or , ) is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism.
It emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the earlier ...
. Affiliated with Evangelical movement.
*
St. Agnes Church. Roman Catholic Church. Founded in 1885, the new St. Agnes Church and Hall was dedicated on 6 June 1982.
St. Vincent de Paul Society
The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor.
Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...
operates a food bank out of this church.
* St Stephen the Martyr
Anglican Church
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
. Provides a food cupboard for the Current River area.
* St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church. Founded in 1872, the current building was erected in 1884.
*
St. Patrick's Cathedral – Roman Catholic. The old St. Patrick's Church was built in 1893. In 1963 it was replaced by the current cathedral on the same site.
* St Paul's
Anglican Church
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
. Historic, stately parish built in the
English Gothic
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of Gothic cathedrals and churches, cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture, Got ...
style.
* St. Anthony's Parish - Roman Catholic. Located in The John-Jumbo area of Port Arthur.
* Thunder Bay Masjid -
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
Mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...
Visitor attractions
Thunder Bay's main tourist attraction is
Fort William Historical Park
Fort William Historical Park (formerly known as Old Fort William) is a Canadian historical site located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, that contains a reconstruction of the Fort William fur trade post as it existed in 1816. It officially opened on ...
, a reconstruction of the
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...
's Fort William fur trade post as it was in 1815, which attracts 100,000 visitors annually. The marina in downtown Port Arthur, an area known as ''The Waterfront District'', draws visitors for its panoramic view of the
Sleeping Giant and the presence of various water craft. The marina, known as Prince Arthur's landing also includes recreational trails along the lake, playground, harbour cruises, helicopter tours, the Alexander Henry (a retired Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker), splash pad (summer), skating rink (winter), and art gallery, gift shop, numerous restaurants, and a newly opened Delta Hotel and conference centre. There are several small surface
amethyst
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος ''amethystos'' from α- ''a-'', "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) / μεθώ (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that t ...
mines in the area, some of which allow visitors to search for their own crystals. A 2.74 m (9 ft)
statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
of
Terry Fox
Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated due to cancer, he embarked on an east-to-west cross-Canada run to raise money ...
is situated at the
Terry Fox Memorial and Lookout on the outskirts of the city near the place where he was forced to abandon his run. Other tourists attractions are listed below:
![Hillcrest Park View Of Fort William date-2006 06 22](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Hillcrest_Park_View_Of_Fort_William_date-2006_06_22.JPG)
*
Bluffs Scenic Lookout
*
Boulevard Lake Park
The Current River Greenway is a 263 hectare (650 acre) greenway located in Current River neighbourhood in the north end of Thunder Bay, Ontario along the Current River.
Throughout the Greenway is 50 km of public trails that are part of t ...
*
Canada Games Complex
The Canada Games Complex was constructed in 1981 to host the aquatic events of the 1981 Canada Summer Games in Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is run by the City of Thunder Bay and its features include a swimming pool, indoor fitness areas, a fitness ...
*
Canadian Lakehead Exhibition
The Canadian Lakehead Exhibition (CLE) is an annual regional fair in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Similar in nature to the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, it features local and regional artisans and farmers, a midway, concessions and nu ...
*
Cascades Conservation Area
*
Centennial Conservatory
The Centennial Conservatory in Thunder Bay, Ontario is located in the city's south end. It was built in 1965 and opened to the public in 1967 as a ''Centennial Project'' to commemorate the Canadian Centennial. The conservatory houses various var ...
*
Centennial Park
*
Chapples Park
*
Chippewa Park
Chippewa Park is located on the shore of Lake Superior, south of Thunder Bay, 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 histori ...
*
Connaught Square
Connaught Square in London, England, was the first square of city houses to be built in Bayswater. It is named after a royal, the Earl of Connaught who was from 1805 until death in 1834 the second and last Duke of Gloucester ''and'' Edinburgh, ...
*
Finnish Labour Temple
The Finnish Labour Temple (also known as the Big Finn Hall or Finlandia Club) is a Finnish-Canadian cultural and community centre (" Finn hall") and a local landmark located at 314 Bay Street in the Finnish quarter in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Built ...
*
Fort William Gardens
The Fort William Gardens is a multi-purpose arena, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It opened in 1951.
History
The Gardens opened on March 6, 1951. The Fort William Canadians defeated the Fort William Hurricanes by a 4–2 score in the first ga ...
*
Fort William Stadium
Fort William Stadium is a soccer, football, and track and field stadium in Thunder Bay, Ontario and is part of the Royal Canadian Legion Sports Complex.Guide to City ServicesArenas and Stadiums. Retrieved January 18, 2010. It has a seating capaci ...
*
Hillcrest Park
Hillcrest Park is located in the Riley Park-Little Mountain neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. It is located immediately north of Queen Elizabeth Park and west of Riley Park.
Next to Hillcrest Park is the site containing Nat Bailey ...
*
The Hoito
*
Intercity Shopping Centre
Intercity Shopping Centre is a shopping mall in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was one of the first shopping malls in Thunder Bay and is the largest of its kind in Northwestern Ontario, with of retail space.
*
Kakabeka Falls
Kakabeka Falls is a waterfall on the Kaministiquia River, located beside the village of Kakabeka Falls in the municipality of Oliver Paipoonge, Ontario, west of the city of Thunder Bay.
The falls have a drop of , cascading into a gorge carved ...
*
Magnus Theatre
The Magnus Theatre - The Dr. S. Penny Petrone Centre for the Performing Arts in Thunder Bay, Ontario was founded in 1971 and is Northwestern Ontario's professional theatre company.
History
Founded by British director Burton Lancaster, who had th ...
*
Mission Island Marsh
*
Mount McKay Lookout
*
*
Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame
The Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, established in 1978 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, is dedicated to the people of Northwestern Ontario who have achieved greatness in sport. It is located on 219 South May Street in Downtown Fort W ...
*
Ouimet Canyon
Ouimet Canyon is a large gorge in the municipality of Dorion, Thunder Bay District in northwestern Ontario, Canada, about northeast of the city of Thunder Bay. The gorge is deep, wide and long, protected as part of Ouimet Canyon Provincial Pa ...
*
Prince Arthur's Landing waterfront district
Marina Park is a local waterfront park and marina located on the shores of Lake Superior in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The park is located in the city's north end near the downtown north core. Aside from pleasure craft docks and a fueling facility, the ...
*
Port Arthur Stadium
Port Arthur Stadium is a stadium in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It is exclusively used for baseball and is the home of the Thunder Bay Border Cats of the Northwoods League
The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat le ...
*
Silver Falls
Silver Falls, is a waterfall in the Mount Rainier National Park in the U.S. state of Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the feder ...
*
Thunder Bay Art Gallery
The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is Northern Ontario's largest art gallery specializing in the work of contemporary Indigenous artists. It is located on the campus of Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. The Thunder Bay Art Gallery is ...
*
Thunder Bay Community Auditorium
The Thunder Bay Community Auditorium is a 1,511 seat performance arts centre, located in Thunder Bay, Ontario. It opened on October 16, 1985 and is home to the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. The Community Auditorium hosts 150,000 patrons annuall ...
*
Thunder Bay Historical Museum
*
Thunder Bay Marina
*
International Friendship Gardens
*
Trowbridge Falls
*
Waverley Park
Waverley Park (also and originally called VFL Park) was an Australian rules football stadium in Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia. For most of its history, its purpose was as a neutral venue and used by all Victorian-based Victorian Football ...
Sports and recreation
Thunder Bay's proximity to the wilderness of the
Taiga
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, spruce ...
and the rolling hills and mountains of the Canadian Shield allow its residents to enjoy very active lifestyles. The city has hosted several large sporting events including the Summer
Canada Games
The Canada Games (french: Jeux du Canada) is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two ...
in 1981, the
Nordic World Ski Championships in 1995, the
Continental Cup of Curling
The Continental Cup is a curling tournament held annually between teams from North America (sometimes just Canada) against teams from the rest of the World (sometimes just Europe). Each side is represented by six teams (three women's teams and thr ...
in 2003, and the
U-18 Baseball World Cup
The U-18 Baseball World Cup is the 18-and-under baseball world championship sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and its successor, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and was first held in 1981 in the United S ...
in 2010 & 2017.
Recreational facilities
Thunder Bay enjoys many recreational facilities. The city operates fifteen neighbourhood community centres, which offer various sporting and fitness facilities as well as seasonal activities such as dances. The city also operates six indoor ice rinks and 84 seasonal outdoor rinks, two indoor community pools and three seasonal outdoor pools as well as a portable pool and two maintained public beaches, several
curling
Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...
sheets, and three
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
courses, among others. Listed below are some of the city's major facilities.
Multi-use facilities
*The
Canada Games Complex
The Canada Games Complex was constructed in 1981 to host the aquatic events of the 1981 Canada Summer Games in Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is run by the City of Thunder Bay and its features include a swimming pool, indoor fitness areas, a fitness ...
*The
Fort William Gardens
The Fort William Gardens is a multi-purpose arena, in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It opened in 1951.
History
The Gardens opened on March 6, 1951. The Fort William Canadians defeated the Fort William Hurricanes by a 4–2 score in the first ga ...
*
Port Arthur Stadium
Port Arthur Stadium is a stadium in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It is exclusively used for baseball and is the home of the Thunder Bay Border Cats of the Northwoods League
The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat le ...
*
Royal Canadian Legion Sports Complex
Municipal ice rinks and indoor pools
*Current River Arena
*Delaney Arena
*Grandview Arena
*Neebing Arena
*Port Arthur Arena
*Thunder Bay Tournament Centre (2 ice surfaces)
*
Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
Community Pool
*Volunteer Community Pool
Golf courses
*Centennial Golf Course (9 holes)
*Chapples Memorial Golf Course (18 holes) (municipal)
*Dragon Hills Golf Course (9 holes)
*Emerald Greens Golf Course (9 holes)
*Fort William
Country Club
A country club is a privately owned club, often with a membership quota and admittance by invitation or sponsorship, that generally offers both a variety of recreational sports and facilities for dining and entertaining. Typical athletic offer ...
(18 holes)
*Municipal Golf Course (9 holes) (municipal) (closed)
*Northern Lights Golf Complex (9 holes par 3/9 holes regulation)
*Strathcona Golf Course (18 holes) (municipal)
*Thunder Bay Country Club (9 holes)
*Whitewater Golf Club (18 holes)
Ski hills
*Loch Lomond Ski Resort
*Mount Baldy Ski Resort
Cross-country skiing facilities
*Lappe Nordic Ski Centre
*Kamview Nordic Centre
Sports teams
Thunder Bay is also home to the National Development Centre – Thunder Bay, an elite cross-country ski team that attracts many of Canada's best Junior and U-23 skiers.
Sport events
*
Thunder Bay 10 mile road race
*
2010 World Junior Baseball Championship
*
2017 18U Baseball World Cup
Infrastructure
Transportation
Thunder Bay receives air, rail and shipping traffic due to its prime location along major continental transportation routes. The municipally owned
Thunder Bay Transit
Thunder Bay Transit is the public transit operator in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It was formed in 1970, after the amalgamation (politics), amalgamation of the cities of Port Arthur, Ontario, Port Arthur and Fort William, Ontario, Fort William ...
operates 17 routes across the city's urban area. The city is served by the
Thunder Bay International Airport
Thunder Bay Airport is an airport in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. With 108,130 aircraft movements in 2012, it was the fourth busiest airport in Ontario and the 16th busiest airport in Canada. During the same year, more than 761,0 ...
, the
fourth busiest airport in Ontario by aircraft movements. The main highway through the city is
Highway 11/
17, a four-lane highway designated as the
Thunder Bay Expressway
The Thunder Bay Expressway, originally known as the Lakehead Expressway is a high-capacity at-grade suburban limited-access road around the western side of Thunder Bay in the Canadian province of Ontario. The route travels in a generally north– ...
.
The city is an important railway hub, served by both the
Canadian National
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
and
Canadian Pacific
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 ...
Railway. Passenger rail service to Thunder Bay ended on 15 January 1990, when
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 ...
rerouted the ''
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
'' to the north.
Harbour
Thunder Bay has been a port since the days of the
North West Company
The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...
, which maintained a schooner on Lake Superior. The Port of Thunder Bay is the largest outbound
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
on the
St. Lawrence Seaway System, and the sixth-largest port in Canada.
The Thunder Bay Port Authority manages Keefer Terminal, built on a 320,000 square metre site on Lake Superior.
Medical centres and hospitals
Thunder Bay has one major hospital, the
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre is an acute care facility serving Thunder Bay and much of Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The hospital has 395 acute care beds. All of its patient rooms are handicapped accessible and the facility is air-c ...
. Other health care services include the St. Joseph's Care Group, which operates long-term care centres such as the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, and Hogarth Riverview Manor. The
Northern Ontario School of Medicine
Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM University; french: Université de l'École de médecine du Nord de l'Ontario) is a public medical university in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is mandated both to educate doctors and t ...
has a campus at Lakehead University. The city is also home to a variety of smaller medical and dental clinics.
Education
Thunder Bay has 38
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
s, three
middle school
A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
s, eight
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
s, two
private school
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
s, and an adult education facility. The city also has several other private for-profit colleges and tutoring programmes. Post-secondary institutions in Thunder Bay include
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 ...
and
Lakehead University
Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, grad ...
.
The
Lakehead District School Board
The Lakehead District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 6A prior to 1999) oversees all secular English-language public schools in the Thunder Bay CMA and the townships of Gorham and Ware in Ontario, Canada ...
is the largest school board in the city, with 22 elementary schools, 3 high schools and a centre for adult studies. The
Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board
The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board (known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 34A prior to 1999) oversees all Catholic schools in the Thunder Bay CMA and the townships of Gorham and Ware in Ontario, Canada. It a ...
is the second largest, with 16 elementary schools, three middle schools and two high schools.
Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boréales
The Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boréales oversees 10 French language Catholic schools in Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It administers education at nine elementary schools, and one secondary school.
Elementary ...
operates one elementary and one high school in Thunder Bay, and an additional six schools throughout the Thunder Bay District.
Media
Print
Thunder Bay has one daily newspaper, ''
The Chronicle-Journal
''The Chronicle-Journal'' is the daily newspaper in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Unlike many List of newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspapers, it does not use the city's name in its masthead. The paper has an average weekday circulation of 17,20 ...
'', which has a circulation of approximately 28,000 and has coverage of all of Northwestern Ontario. ''The Chronicle Journal'' publishes a free weekly called ''Spot'' every Thursday, focusing on entertainment. There are two weekly newspapers: ''
Thunder Bay's Source
Dougall Media is a Canadian media company, which has several television, radio and publishing holdings in Northwestern Ontario.
Television
Dougall Media owns CKPR, a CTV affiliate (formerly a CBC affiliate until August 31, 2014), and CHFD, a ...
'', a weekly newspaper operated by Dougall Media, and ''
Canadan Sanomat
''Kanadan Sanomat'' is a Canadian weekly Finnish language newspaper established in 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, as a merger between two earlier publications both owned by Vapaa Sana Press Ltd. It is also promoting the logo ''KS'' as a shorte ...
'', a
Finnish-language
Finnish (endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish). ...
weekly newspaper.
Lakehead University
Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, grad ...
has a student newspaper called ''The Argus,'' which is published weekly during the school year. The city publishes a bi-monthly newsletter to citizens titled ''yourCity,'' which is also available online in a PDF format, by electronic subscription and RSS feed.
Television
Three English-language stations supply Thunder Bay with free digital
over-the-air television. Programming from the
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 ...
and
CTV networks is provided by a locally owned
twinstick
A duopoly (or twinstick, referring to "stick" as jargon for a radio tower) is a situation in television and radio broadcasting in which two or more stations in the same city or community share common ownership.
United States
In the United States, ...
operation branded as
Thunder Bay Television
Dougall Media is a Canadian media company, which has several television, radio and publishing holdings in Northwestern Ontario.
Television
Dougall Media owns CKPR, a CTV affiliate (formerly a CBC affiliate until August 31, 2014), and CHFD, a ...
, and the city receives
TVOntario
TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...
on channel 9.
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
and
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 ...
are available only on cable and satellite in the area.
The cable provider in Thunder Bay is
Shaw
Shaw may refer to:
Places Australia
*Shaw, Queensland
Canada
*Shaw Street, a street in Toronto
England
*Shaw, Berkshire, a village
*Shaw, Greater Manchester, a location in the parish of Shaw and Crompton
*Shaw, Swindon, a List of United Kingdom ...
; although locally owned
TBayTel
Tbaytel, formerly the Thunder Bay Telephone Company, is a municipally-owned telecommunications company operating in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, and the surrounding area. Tbaytel's services include data, voice, wireless, internet, digital TV and ...
has been granted a licence by the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
(CRTC) to compete in the cable TV market. The
community channel on Shaw Cable is branded as
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 ...
, and airs on cable channel 10.
WBKP
WBKP (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Calumet, Michigan, United States, serving the Central and Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan as an affiliate of The CW Plus. It is owned by the Marks Radio Group alongside Ishpeming-licensed ...
TV channel 5, the
CW affiliate in
Calumet
Calumet may refer to:
Places United States
*Calumet Region, in northern Illinois and Indiana
**Calumet River
**Calumet Trail, Indiana
** Calumet (East Chicago)
* Calumet, Colorado
*Calumet, Iowa
* Calumet, Michigan
*Calumet, Minnesota
* Calumet ...
,
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 ...
, can be received in Thunder Bay with an outdoor roof antenna and a digital-capable television or receiver.
Radio
Thunder Bay is home to 12 radio stations, all of which broadcast on the
FM band.
There are four commercial radio stations based in the city –
CJSD-FM
CJSD-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 94.3 FM in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The station, owned by Dougall Media, broadcasts an active rock format branded as "Rock 94".
History
The station was launched in October 1948 as CKPR-FM, an FM ...
and
CKPR-FM
CKPR-FM is a radio station in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Dougall Media, the station broadcasts a hot adult contemporary format at 91.5 FM, and 93.5 FM in Atikokan, Ontario.
History
The station was originally launched in Midl ...
, owned by
Dougall Media
Dougall Media is a Canadian media company, which has several television, radio and publishing holdings in Northwestern Ontario.
Television
Dougall Media owns CKPR, a CTV affiliate (formerly a CBC affiliate until August 31, 2014), and CHFD, a ...
, the parent company of Thunder Bay Television and ''Thunder Bay's Source'', and
CJUK-FM
CJUK-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 99.9 FM in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The station broadcasts a classic hits format branded as "99.9 The Bay" and is owned by Acadia Broadcasting.
History
The station was first licensed as a low-p ...
and
CKTG-FM
CKTG-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 105.3 FM broadcasting, FM in Thunder Bay, Ontario, owned by Acadia Broadcasting. The station broadcasts a country music, country format using the on-air brand name as ''Country 105''.
History
T ...
, owned by
Acadia Broadcasting
Acadia Broadcasting Limited is a Canadian radio broadcasting network that operates 5 FM radio stations in Northwestern Ontario and 10 in the Atlantic Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. It is owned by Ocean Capital Investments whi ...
. One additional station,
CFQK-FM
CFQK-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 104.5 FM in Kaministiquia, Ontario. The station airs a contemporary hit radio music format as ''Energy 103/104''.
The station also broadcasts on 103.5 FM in Shuniah, with the callsign CK ...
, targets the Thunder Bay market from transmitters in
Kaministiquia
Kaministiquia () is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Thunder Bay District on Highway 102 approximately 30 kilometres west of Thunder Bay. A designated place served by a local services board, Kaministiquia had a p ...
and
Shuniah
Shuniah () is a municipal township bordering the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada on the east. Shuniah was incorporated by an act of the Ontario legislature in 1873, and at that time included much of present-day Thunder Bay and its predecesso ...
. The city receives
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 ...
as
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 C ...
and
CBC Radio 2
CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...
as
CBQ-FM
CBQ-FM is a Canadian radio station, airing the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's CBC Music network at 101.7 FM broadcasting, FM in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
The station was launched on August 13, 1984.
External links
*
*
Radio statio ...
, at 88.3 FM and 101.7 FM respectively. The French
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 first ...
is available as a repeater of Sudbury-based
CBON-FM on 89.3 FM. Lakehead University operates a campus radio station,
CILU-FM
CILU-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at 102.7 FM in Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is the campus radio station of the city's Lakehead University.
The station was licensed by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commi ...
, at 102.7 FM, and
CJOA-FM 95.1 broadcasts
Christian-oriented programming and is run by a local non-profit group. Thunder Bay Information Radio CKSI-FM is broadcast 24/7 on 90.5 and is also the city's emergency radio station.
Notable people
Sister cities
Thunder Bay has five
sister cities
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
on three continents, which are selected based on economic, cultural and political criteria.
*
Seinäjoki
Seinäjoki (; "Wall River"; la, Wegelia, formerly sv, Östermyra) is a city located in South Ostrobothnia, Finland; east of Vaasa, north of Tampere, west of Jyväskylä and southwest of Oulu. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bru ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, since 1974
*
Little Canada, Minnesota
Little Canada is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. It is a second-ring suburb of Minneapolis-Saint Paul. The population was 10,819 at the 2020 census.
History
In 1844, French Canadian settler Benjamin Gervais moved north from ...
, United States, since 1977
*
Duluth, Minnesota
, settlement_type = City
, nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City
, motto =
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...
, United States, since 1980
*
Gifu
is a city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. During the Sengoku ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, since 2007
*
Jiaozuo
Jiaozuo ( ; postal: Tsiaotso) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Henan province, China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yellow River, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the south, Xinxiang to the east, Jiyuan to the ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, since 2017
*
Siderno
Siderno ( scn, label= Calabrian, Sidernu or ; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy, about 3 kilometres from Locri.
Some notable people from Siderno are Marco stalteri, Patrizia lunch ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
See also
*
Synergy North
Notes and references
*
Thorold J. Tronrud and A. Ernest Epp (1995) ''Thunder Bay: From Rivalry to Unity''
Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society
Notes
External links
*
{{Authority control
1679 establishments in the French colonial empire
Cities in Ontario
Populated places established in 1679
Populated places on Lake Superior in Canada
Port settlements in Ontario
Single-tier municipalities in Ontario
Ski areas and resorts in Canada