Windsor ( ) is a city in

southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake St. ...

, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from

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

, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southernmost city in Canada and marks the southwestern end of the

Quebec City–Windsor Corridor The Quebec City–Windsor Corridor (french: link=no, Corridor Québec-Windsor) is the most densely populated and heavily industrialized region of Canada. As its name suggests, the region extends between Quebec City in the northeast and Windsor, ...

. The city's population was 229,660 at the 2021 census, making it the third-most populated city in Southwestern Ontario, after

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and Kitchener. The

Detroit–Windsor The Detroit–Windsor region is an international transborder agglomeration comprising the American city of Detroit, Michigan, the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario, and the Detroit River between them. The Detroit–Windsor area a ...

urban area is North America's most populous trans-border

conurbation A conurbation is a region comprising a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ca ...

. Linking the Great Lakes Megalopolis, the

Ambassador Bridge The Ambassador Bridge is a tolled international suspension bridge across the Detroit River that connects Detroit, Michigan, United States, with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1929, it is the busiest international border crossing in North ...

border crossing is the busiest commercial crossing on the

Canada–United States border The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...

. Windsor is a major contributor to Canada's automotive industry and is culturally diverse. Known as the "Automotive Capital of Canada", Windsor's industrial and manufacturing heritage is responsible for how the city has developed through the years.

History

Early settlement

At the time when the first Europeans arrived in the 17th century, the Detroit River region was inhabited by the

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They ha ...

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

and

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

First Nations. The land along the Detroit River was part of the Three Fires Confederacy between 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 ...

, Potawatomi, and Odawa and was referred to as ''Wawiiatanong'' or ''Wawiiatanong Ziibi'' meaning "where the river bends" in

Anishinaabemowin Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous language o ...

Later settlement

A French agricultural settlement was established at the site of Windsor in 1749. It is the oldest continually inhabited European-founded settlement in Canada west of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. The area was first named ''la Petite Côte'' ("Little Coast"—as opposed to the longer coastline on the Detroit side of the river). Later it was called ''La Côte de Misère'' ("Poverty Coast") because of the sandy soils near LaSalle. Windsor's

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

heritage is reflected in French street names such as Ouellette, Drouillard, Pelissier, François, Pierre, Langlois, Marentette, and Lauzon. The current street system (a grid with elongated blocks) reflects the ''Canadien'' method of agricultural land division, where the farms were long and narrow, fronting along the river. Today, the name of the north–south street often shows the name of the family that farmed the land where the street is today. The street system of outlying areas is consistent with the British system for granting land concessions. There is a sizeable French-speaking minority in Windsor and the surrounding area, particularly in the Lakeshore,

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and ...

and LaSalle areas. Duff Baby House

In 1797, after the

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

, the settlement of "Sandwich" was established. It was later renamed Windsor, after the town in Berkshire, England. The Sandwich neighbourhood on Windsor's west side is home to some of the city's oldest buildings, including Mackenzie Hall, originally built as the Essex County Courthouse in 1855. Today, this building is a community centre. The city's oldest building is the

Duff-Baby House The Duff Baby House is an historic house located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. History The house was built between 1792 and 1798 by Alexander Duff as a fur trade post. In 1807 the building was bought by James Baby and it is alleged to have been u ...

, built in 1792. It is owned by Ontario Heritage Trust and houses government offices.

19th century

Sandwich Township in 1881, Essex County Ontario

The

François Baby House The François Bâby House is a historic residence located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada which was owned by the prominent local politician François Baby. The house is a two-storey, Georgian style, red brick house once known as ''La Ferme'' local ...

in downtown Windsor was built in 1812 and houses

Windsor's Community Museum Windsor Community Museum is a historical museum located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada which displays artifacts from Windsor. It is located at François Baby House, built in 1812 by François Baby, a prominent French-Canadian (which is now designat ...

dedicated to local history. Windsor was the site of a battle during the 1838

Upper Canada Rebellion The Upper Canada Rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of the British colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in December 1837. While public grievances had existed for years, it was the rebellion in Lower Canada (p ...

. It was attacked by a band of 400 Americans and rebels from Detroit who burned a steamboat and two or three houses before being routed by the local militia. Later that year, Windsor also served as a theatre for the Patriot War. Underground Railroad Monument - Windsor, Ontario

Underground Railroad Monument - Windsor, Ontario

In 1846, Windsor had a population of about 300. Two steamboats offered service to Detroit. The barracks were still in operation. There were various tradespeople and other occupations, including bank agencies and post offices. The city's access to the Canada–US border made it an essential stop for refugee enslaved people gaining freedom in the northern United States along the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. Many went across the Detroit River to Windsor to escape pursuit by slave catchers. There were estimated to be 20,000 to 30,000 African-American refugees who settled in Canada, with many settling in

Essex County, Ontario Essex County is a primarily rural county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada comprising seven municipalities: Amherstburg, Kingsville, Ontario, Kingsville, Lakeshore, Ontario, Lakeshore, LaSalle, Ontario, LaSalle, Leamington, Ontario, Leamington, Tec ...

. Windsor was incorporated as a village in 1854 (the same year the village was connected to the rest of Canada by the Grand Trunk Railway/

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

), then became a town in 1858, and gained city status in 1892. The

Windsor Police Service The Windsor Police Service is the municipal law enforcement agency in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It succeeded the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment. Since 2019, the Windsor Police Service has also provided contract policing services for the nearby ...

was established on July 1, 1867. A fire consumed much of Windsor's downtown core on October 12, 1871, destroying over 100 buildings. The ''Windsor Star'' Centennial Edition in 1992 covered the city's past, its success as a railway centre, and its contributions to

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

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

fighting efforts. It also recalled the naming controversy in 1892 when Windsor aimed to become a city. The most popular names listed in the naming controversy were ''South Detroit'', ''The Ferry'' (from the ferries that linked Windsor to Detroit), ''Windsor'', and Richmond (the runner-up in popularity). ''Windsor'' was chosen to promote the heritage of new English settlers in the city and to recognize

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

in Berkshire, England. However, ''Richmond'' was a popular name used until World War II, mainly by the local post office.

20th century

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

, Ford City and Walkerville were separate legal entities (towns) until 1935. They are now historic neighbourhoods of Windsor. Ford City was incorporated as a village in 1912; it became a town in 1915 and a city in 1929. Walkerville was incorporated as a town in 1890. Sandwich was established in 1817 as a town with no municipal status. It was incorporated as a town in 1858 (the same year as neighbouring Windsor). Windsor annexed these three towns in 1935. The nearby villages of Ojibway and

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

were incorporated in 1913 and 1921, respectively. Both were annexed by Windsor in 1966. During the 1920s, alcohol prohibition was enforced in Michigan while alcohol was legal in Ontario.

Rum-running in Windsor Rum-running in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, was a major activity in the early part of the 20th century. In 1916, the State of Michigan, in the United States, banned the sale of alcohol, three years before prohibition became the national law in 1919 ...

was a common practice then. On October 25, 1960, a massive gas explosion destroyed the building housing the Metropolitan Store on Ouellette Avenue. Ten people were killed, and at least one hundred were injured. The '' Windsor Star'' commemorated the 45th anniversary of the event on October 25, 2005. It was featured on History Television's ''

Disasters of the Century ''Disasters of the Century'' is a documentary television series that airs on History Television. The program is produced by Regina, Saskatchewan-based '' Partners in Motion''. Each episode documents two different disasters from Canada and aroun ...

''.

Climate

Windsor has a

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

(

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

''Dfa'') with four distinct seasons. Among cities in Ontario, Windsor has the warmest climate. The mean annual temperature is , among the warmest in Canada primarily due to its hot summers. Some locations in coastal and lower mainland

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

have a slightly higher mean annual temperature due to milder winter conditions there. The coldest month is January, and the warmest month is July. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Windsor was on January 29, 1873, and the warmest was on June 25, 1988. Riverfrontwalk windsor

Summers are hot and humid, with a July mean temperature of (the highest such mean in Canada, with the warmest summer nights in the country) although the humidex (combined feel of temperature and humidity) reaches 30 or higher on 70 days in an average summer; the highest recorded humidex in Ontario, 52.1, occurred on June 20, 1953. Temperatures remain warm during summer nights due to the high humidity. Windsor has some of the warmest summer nighttime temperatures in Canada. Thunderstorms are common during summer and occur on average 32 days per year, some of them severe with high winds, heavy rainfall, flooding, intense lightning, hail and less often, tornadic activity Winters are generally cold with a January mean temperature of . Windsor is not in the traditional lake-effect snow belts but occasionally sees lake-effect snow that originates over Lake Michigan. Snow cover is intermittent throughout the winter; on average, there are 53 days each year with snow on the ground. There are typically three to five major snowfalls each winter. Windsor has the highest number of days per year with lightning, haze, and daily maximum humidex over of cities in Canada. Windsor is also home to Canada's warmest fall, with the highest mean temperatures for September, October and November. Precipitation is generally well-distributed throughout the year. There are, on average, 2,261 sunshine hours per year in Windsor.

Flooding and other emergencies

Windsor experienced historic flooding in 2016, 2017 and 2019. In 2016, the mayor of Windsor, Drew Dilkens, declared a state of emergency because of the disastrous flooding that occurred. In spring of 2019 Windsor applied for disaster mitigation funding following widespread flooding. A previous state of emergency in Windsor was called in 2013 when a fire broke out at a plastic recycling warehouse. This state of emergency was called due to poor air quality caused by the fire. In 2017, Windsor was noted on Environment Canada's top 10 list of weather events. In late August 2017, Windsor faced a storm that left of rain in 32 hours.

Tornadoes

As the Canadian city with the highest number of days that experience severe thunderstorms and

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

, Windsor has historically been subject to tornadoes and severe weather. Notably, Windsor is located in the middle of "Tornado Alley". The strongest and deadliest tornado to touch down in Windsor was an F4 in 1946. Windsor was the only Canadian city to experience a tornado during the

1974 Super Outbreak The 1974 Super Outbreak was the second-largest tornado outbreak on record for a single 24-hour period, just behind the 2011 Super Outbreak. It was also the most violent tornado outbreak ever recorded, with 30 F4/F5 tornadoes confirmed. From Apri ...

, an F3 which killed nine people when it destroyed the Windsor Curling Club. The city was grazed by the

1997 Southeast Michigan tornado outbreak File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, with one tornado (an F1) forming east of the city. Tornadoes have been recorded crossing the Detroit River (in 1946 and 1997), and

waterspouts A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water. Some are connected to a cumulus congestus cloud, some to a cumuliform cloud and some to a cumulonimbus cloud. In the com ...

are regularly seen over

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

and

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

, especially in autumn. On April 25, 2009, an F0 tornado briefly touched down in the eastern part of the city, causing minor damage to nearby buildings, most notably a CUPE union hall. Two tornadoes (an F1 and an F2) touched down in the evening of August 24, 2016, causing damage in parts of Windsor as well as LaSalle.

Cityscape

Ouellette Avenue is the historic main commercial street in downtown Windsor. It runs north–south, perpendicular to the Detroit River, and divides the city into east and west sections. Roads that cross Ouellette Avenue include the directional components East and West after their names. Address numbers on east–west roads in Windsor increase by 100 for each block travelled away from Ouellette Avenue and address numbers on north–south roads increase by 100 for each block travelled away from the Detroit River. In areas where the river curves, some numbers on north–south roads are skipped. For consistency across the city, all address numbers on north–south roads reset at either 600 for streets west of Walker Road or 800 for those to the east, where the road crosses Wyandotte Street (which roughly parallels the Detroit River). Downtown Windsor Ontario

Windsor's Department of Parks and Recreation maintains of green space, 180 parks, of trails, of sidewalks, 60 parking lots, vacant lands, natural areas and forest cover within the city of Windsor. The largest park is Mic Mac Park, which can accommodate many activities, including baseball, soccer, biking, and sledding. Windsor has numerous bike trails, the largest being the Ganatchio Trail on the city's far east side. In recent years, the city council has pushed for adding bicycle lanes on city streets to provide links throughout the existing trail network. The Windsor trail network is linked to the LaSalle Trail in the west end and is to eventually be connected to the

Chrysler Canada Greenway The Chrysler Canada Greenway is a 42 km-long rail trail in Essex County, Ontario, Canada, stretching from Oldcastle, Ontario, Oldcastle (near Windsor, Ontario, Windsor) to Leamington, Ontario, Leamington. History The trail dates back to ...

(part of the Trans Canada Trail). The current greenway is a former railway corridor converted into a multi-use recreational trail, underground utility corridor and natural green space. It begins south of Oldcastle and continues south through McGregor, Harrow, Kingsville, and Ruthven. The Greenway is a fine trail for hiking, biking, running, birding, cross-country skiing and, in some areas, horseback riding. It connects natural areas, rich agricultural lands, historically and architecturally significant structures, and award-winning wineries. A separate landscaped trail traverses the riverfront between downtown and the Ambassador Bridge. Part of this trail winds through Windsor Sculpture Park, which displays various modern and post-modern sculptures. Families of elephants (see picture), penguins, horses, and many other themed sculptures are found in the park.

Economy

Windsor's economy is primarily based on manufacturing, tourism, education, and government services. The city is one of Canada's major automobile manufacturing centres and is home to the headquarters of

Stellantis Canada Stellantis Canada (formerly, FCA Canada, Inc. and Chrysler Canada) is the wholly owned subsidiary of Stellantis through its North American division operating in Canada. Incorporated in 1925, the Chrysler Corporation of Canada acquired a Maxwell ...

. Automotive facilities include the Stellantis Canada minivan assembly plant, two

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

engine plants, and several

tool and die Tool and die makers are highly skilled crafters working in the manufacturing industries. Variations on the name include tool maker, toolmaker, die maker, diemaker, mold maker, moldmaker or tool jig and die-maker depending on which area of concent ...

and automotive parts manufacturers. Windsor has a well-established tourism industry.

Caesars Windsor Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada is one of four casinos in the Detroit–Windsor area and was opened in 1994 on the waterfront of the Detroit River. Owned by the Government of Ontario (through the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation) ...

, one of the largest casinos in Canada, ranks as one of the largest local employers. It has been a significant draw for U.S. visitors since opening in 1994 (as Casino Windsor). Further, the

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

contains 18 million people, with 51% of the Canadian population and three out of the five largest metropolitan areas, according to the 2011 Census. The city has an extensive riverfront parks system and fine restaurants, such as those on Erie Street in Windsor's Little Italy, "Via Italia". This is another popular tourist destination. The Lake Erie North Shore Wine Region in Essex County has enhanced tourism in the region. Both the University of Windsor and

St. Clair College St. Clair College of Applied Arts and Technology is a college in the Southwestern Ontario counties of Essex and Chatham-Kent. Campus Its main administration and largest campus sites are in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. In addition, other campuses ...

are significant local employers and have enjoyed substantial growth and expansion in recent years. A full-program satellite medical school of the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

at the University of Windsor opened in 2008. In 2013, the university completed construction of a $112 million (~$ in ) facility for its Faculty of Engineering. Windsor is the headquarters of Hiram Walker & Sons Limited, now owned by

Pernod Ricard Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or ''Ricard''). The world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...

Hiram Walker Hiram Walker (July 4, 1816 – January 12, 1899) was an American entrepreneur and founder of the Hiram Walker and Sons Ltd. distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in 1838. He p ...

founded its historic

distillery Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...

in 1858 in what was then Walkerville, Ontario. The diversifying economy is also represented by companies involved in

pharmaceuticals A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

, alternative energy, insurance, internet, and software. Windsor is also home to the Windsor Salt Mine and the Great Lakes Regional office of the International Joint Commission.

Technology

There are a few established tech companies that have been in the region for years. Among them are Cypher Systems Group, a computer-based hardware wholesaler and software developer; AlphaKor Group, a technology company that provides IT services, custom software and mobile apps; and Red Piston, a media solutions company. There are also a few successful startups in area, including Sirved, a tech company that is building a restaurant discovery app; and Hackforge, a tech company that has built an app to compare hospital drive times, and has hosted a variety of tech-focused community events, such as a Wikipedia Hackathon. The non-profit

WEtech Alliance WE Tech Alliance (stylized as ''WEtech Alliance'' or ''WE•tech Alliance'') is a Canadian non-profit ''Regional Innovation Centre'' located in Windsor, Ontario servicing the counties of Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent. Goal ''WEtech Allianc ...

provides startups and local entrepreneurs with resources to get new technology companies started in the city. In 2019, Dan Gilbert and Quicken Loans bought a building in Windsor with a plan to restore it. Once completed, Quicken Loans will employ 50–100 people, mainly in the technology sector. Many are hoping that this is a catalyst for more companies to establish tech business in Windsor. LG and

Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50–50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group. The comp ...

have broken ground on a new alternative energy plant called Nextstar Energy.

Largest private-sector employers

Source: *

(approx. 3,500 employees) *

(approx. 2,100 employees) *

(approx. 1,880 employees) *Sutherland Group Canada (approx. 1,350 employees) *AP Plasman Corp. (Build a Mold) (approx. 950 employees)

Poverty

Due to a strong reliance on the manufacturing sector, Windsor has experienced high levels of poverty and unemployment in a number of its ten wards, including a 33% rate of children living under the poverty line based on Statistics Canada. It has the highest rates in Southwestern Ontario, and one of Windsor's electoral districts, Windsor West, ranks 13th highest in poverty rates amongst the 338 federal ridings of Canada. Wards 2 (Sandwich/University District/West End) and 3 (City Centre) register some of the highest poverty rates at 44.65% and 44.94%. Wards 4 (Walkerville) and 8 (East Windsor) also register high poverty rates at 28.78% and 28.74% respectively.

Demographics

In the

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

conducted by

Statistics Canada 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 ...

, Windsor 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 (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Windsor 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. Windsor attracts many immigrants from around the world. In 2016, in the city, 27.7% of the population was foreign-born, while in the metropolitan area, 22.9% was foreign-born; this is the fourth-highest proportion for a Canadian metropolitan area. Visible minorities makeup 25.7% of the population, making it the most diverse city in

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 ...

outside of the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...

. In 2016, Windsor's population was 48.8% male and 51.2% female. Children under 15 accounted for 16.3% of the city population compared to 16.6% for Canada. Persons of age 65 years and over accounted for 17.6% of the population in Windsor compared to 16.9% for Canada. The median age in Windsor is 41.4 years compared to 41.2 years for Canada.

Ethnicity

Language

The population of Windsor is primarily English-speaking, with 88.5% of residents knowing only English and 8.8% of residents knowing both English and French.

Religion

Crime

Windsor has a low violent crime rate and one of the lowest murder rates in Canada. In 2017, the Crime Severity Index for the Windsor Metropolitan Area was 71.7, compared to the Canadian national rate of 72.9. Of the five safest communities in Canada, four of them are in the Windsor Metropolitan Area (Amherstburg, LaSalle, Tecumseh, and Lakeshore). Windsor has made national headlines for its lack of homicides. There were no homicides in the city for a 27-month period ending in November 2011. Since 2016, reports of sexual assaults within Windsor, have increased by 20%, reports of robbery by 23%, reports of breaking and entering by 3% and reports of motor vehicle theft by 13%.

Government

Windsor's history as an industrial centre has given the New Democratic Party (NDP) a dedicated voting base. During federal and provincial elections, Windsorites have maintained their local representation in the respective legislatures. 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'' ...

also has a solid electoral history in the city. Canada's 21st Prime Minister,

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

, was born in Windsor. His father,

Paul Martin Sr. Joseph James Guillaume Paul Martin (June 23, 1903 – September 14, 1992), often referred to as Paul Martin Sr., was a noted Canadian politician and diplomat. He was the father of Paul Martin, who served as 26th prime minister of Canada fro ...

, a federal

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in several portfolios through the Liberal governments of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, was first elected to the House of Commons from a Windsor riding in the 1930s. Martin Sr. practised law in the city and the federal building on Ouellette Avenue is named after him.

Eugene Whelan Eugene Francis "Gene" Whelan, ( ) was a Canadian politician, sitting in the House of Commons from 1962 to 1984, and in the Senate from 1996 to 1999. He was also Minister of Agriculture under Pierre Trudeau from 1972 to 1984, and became one ...

was a Liberal cabinet minister and one-time Liberal party leadership candidate elected from Essex County from the 1960s to the early 1980s, as well as

Mark MacGuigan Mark Rudolph MacGuigan, (February 17, 1931 – January 12, 1998) was a Canadian academic and politician. Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the son of Mark Rudolph MacGuigan and Agnes Violet Trainor, he was educated at Saint D ...

of Windsor-Walkerville riding, who also served as External Affairs, and later Justice minister in the early 1980s.

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

Herb Gray represented Windsor as an MP from 1962 through 2003, winning thirteen consecutive elections, making him the longest-serving MP in Canadian history. A bust of Herb Gray is at the foot of Ouellette Avenue near Dieppe Park in downtown Windsor. The Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway is named after him.

Current representation

The current

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 ...

of Windsor is

Drew Dilkens Andrew "Drew" Dilkens is a Canadian politician, who is the 34th and current mayor of Windsor, Ontario. He was elected mayor in the city's 2014 municipal election.Council-Manager form of local government and includes the elected

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, mayor, and an appointed Chief Administrative Officer. The city is divided into ten wards, with one councillor representing each ward. The mayor serves as the city's chief executive officer and functions as its ceremonial head. In August 2009, Windsor City Council approved a 10-ward electoral system for the 2010 civic election, with one councillor elected in each ward. Previously, there were two councillors elected in each ward, and there were only five wards. The plan doubled the number of wards, which had been unchanged for 30 years. At the

provincial Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

and

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

levels, Windsor is divided into two ridings:

Windsor West Windsor West (french: Windsor-Ouest) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography The district consists of the part of the city of Windsor lying west an ...

and

Windsor—Tecumseh Windsor—Tecumseh is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Geography Windsor—Tecumseh consists of the Town of Tecumseh, and the part of the City of Winds ...

. The city is currently represented in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario 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 NDP MPP

Lisa Gretzky Lisa Gretzky (born January 19, 1971) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She is a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, who was elected in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. She represents the riding of Windsor West. Back ...

(Windsor West) and Progressive Conservative MPP

Andrew Dowie Andrew Dowie is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2022 provincial election. He represents the riding of Windsor—Tecumseh as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. He is t ...

(Windsor—Tecumseh). In federal Parliament, Windsor is currently represented by NDP MP

Brian Masse Brian S. Masse (born July 9, 1968) is a Canadians, Canadian politician. He has served in the House of Commons of Canada since 2002, representing the electoral district (Canada), riding of Windsor West as a member of the New Democratic Party. ...

(Windsor West) and

Irek Kusmierczyk Irek Kusmierczyk (born January 16, 1978) is a Polish-Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Windsor—Tecumseh in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election. Prior to his election in the Ho ...

(Windsor—Tecumseh).

Culture and tourism

Windsor tourist attractions include the

Windsor International Film Festival The Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) is a cultural, charitable organization whose mission is to recognize and celebrate the art of cinema by showcasing Canadian and International films and filmmakers. When the festival first took place, ...

, a lively downtown club scene, Little Italy, the

Windsor Symphony Orchestra The Windsor Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra located in Windsor, Ontario. The orchestra performs in Southwestern Ontario, playing both classical and popular music. History The Windsor Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1941, originally ...

, the Art Windsor-Essex gallery, the

Odette Sculpture Park The Windsor Sculpture Park, formerly known as the Odette Sculpture Park, is an open space in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, that shows 35 large-scale contemporary sculptures by world-renowned artists including Elisabeth Frink, Gerald Gladstone, and Sore ...

Windsor Light Music Theatre Windsor Light Music Theatre (formerly named the Windsor Light Opera Association) is an amateur musical theatre company based in Windsor, Ontario presenting musical theatre to the Windsor-Essex County area. It was founded by John H. L. Watson in 194 ...

Adventure Bay Water Park An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...

, and

Ojibway Park The Ojibway Prairie Complex is a 350-hectare complex of parks and nature reserves on the west side of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It comprises Ojibway Park, Tallgrass Prairie Heritage Park, Black Oak Heritage Park, and the Spring Garden Natural A ...

. As a border settlement, Windsor was a site of conflict during the

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

, a significant entry point into Canada for refugees from slavery via the

and a significant source of liquor during

American Prohibition In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a nationwide constitutional law prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, and ...

. Two sites in Windsor have been designated as

National Historic Sites of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

: the Sandwich First Baptist Church, a church established by Underground Railroad refugees, and François Bâby House, an important

site now serving as

. The Capitol Theatre in downtown Windsor had been a venue for feature films, plays and other attractions since 1929 until it declared bankruptcy in 2007. The theatre is now used for live orchestral concerts, lectures and dance performances.

The Tea Party The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band with industrial rock, blues, progressive rock, and Middle Eastern music influences, dubbed " Moroccan roll" by the media. Active throughout the 1990s and up until 2005, the band re-formed in 2011. The Tea P ...

is a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band which has been based in Windsor since its foundation in 1990. Windsor's nickname is the "Rose City" or the "City of Roses". The Liebeszauber (Love's Magic) rose has been designated as the City of Windsor Rose. Windsor is noted for the several large parks and gardens found on its waterfront. The Queen Elizabeth II Sunken Garden is at Jackson Park in the central part of the city. A World War II era

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

was displayed on a stand in the middle of Jackson Park for over four decades but has since been removed for restoration. This park is now home to a mounted

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

replica and a

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

replica.

Of the parks lining Windsor's waterfront, the largest is the stretch overlooking the Detroit skyline. It extends from the

to the

Distillery. The western portion of the park contains the

Windsor Sculpture Park The Windsor Sculpture Park, formerly known as the Odette Sculpture Park, is an open space in Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, that shows 35 large-scale contemporary art, contemporary sculptures by world-renowned artists including Elisabe ...

, which features over 30 large-scale contemporary sculptures for public viewing, along with the Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The central portion contains Dieppe Gardens, Civic Terrace and Festival Plaza, and the eastern portion is home to the

Bert Weeks Albert Howard Weeks (July 1, 1917 – December 10, 1990) was the 28th mayor of the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, from 1975 to 1982 and considered by many to be its best in recent memory. Previously, he had been a perennial candidate in the Wind ...

Memorial Gardens. Further east along the waterfront is

Coventry Gardens Coventry Gardens (Reaume Park) is a park in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, on Riverside Drive, in the Pillette Village. It contains the Charles Brooks Peace Fountain that floats on the Detroit River mainly in summer. Across the Detroit river to ...

, across from Detroit's Belle Isle. The focal point of this park is the Charles Brooks Memorial Peace Fountain, which floats in the Detroit River and has a coloured light display at night. The fountain is the largest of its kind in North America and symbolizes the peaceful relationship between Canada and the United States. Fireworks DetroitWindsorIntlFreedomFest

Each summer, Windsor co-hosts the two-week-long Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival, which culminates in a gigantic fireworks display that celebrates

Canada Day Canada Day (french: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 18 ...

and the Fourth of July. The fireworks display is among the world's largest and takes place on the final Monday in June over the Detroit River between the two downtowns. Each year, the event attracts over a million spectators to both sides of the riverfront. Windsor and Detroit also jointly cohost the annual

Detroit Windsor International Film Festival The Detroit Windsor International Film Festival (DWIFF), which ran from 2008 to 2012, was a publicly attended film festival held each June in the Detroit–Windsor region, with events taking place in both Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario. ...

. At the same time, festivals exclusive to Windsor include the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County Carrousel by the River and Carrousel Around the City,

Bluesfest International Windsor Bluesfest International is a three-day blues and roots music festival held annually in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, at the Riverfront Festival Plaza on the banks of the Detroit River, in front of Caesars Windsor and opposite Motown. The festival ...

and

Windsor Pride Windsor-Essex Pride Fest is an LGBT Pride festival, held annually in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

. Following the 2008 Red Bull Air Race World Championship in

, Windsor successfully put in a bid to become the first Canadian city to host the event.

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

touted the 2009 race in Windsor as one of the most exciting in the seven-year history of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship, and on January 22, 2010, it was announced Windsor would be a host city for the 2010 and 2011 circuits, along with a select group of major international cities that includes

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

Perth, Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and New York City. The event attracted 200,000 fans to the Detroit River waterfront in 2009. The Red Bull air races were cancelled worldwide for 2011. Dubbed the Great Canadian Flag Project, Windsor erected a flagpole to fly a 60 feet by by nine metres) Canadian flag in celebration of the

150th anniversary of Canada The 150th anniversary of Canada, also known as the 150th anniversary of Confederation and promoted by the Canadian government as Canada 150, occurred in 2017 as Canada marked the sesquicentennial of Canadian Confederation. Planning Major pl ...

. Spotlights illuminate the flag at night, with a smaller flag to fly during periods of strong winds. As of January 14, 2017, $300,000 had been raised for the project, including $150,000 from the federal government. Windsor has often been the place where many metro Detroiters find what is forbidden in the United States. With a minimum legal drinking age of 21 in Michigan and 19 in Ontario, a significant number of 19 and 20-year-old Americans frequent Windsor's bars. The city also became a gambling attraction with

's opening in 1994, five years before casinos opened in Detroit. One can also purchase Cuban cigars, Cuban rum, less-costly prescription drugs,

absinthe Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of ''Artemisia absinthium'' ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. Historical ...

, certain imported foods, and other items not available in the United States. In addition, some same-sex couples from the United States chose to marry in Windsor prior to 2015, when

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

was legalized in all 50 U.S. states.

Media

Windsor and its surrounding area have been served by the '' Windsor Star'' since 1888. The regional newspaper is the only daily in Windsor and Essex County and has attracted the highest readership per capita in its circulation range of any Canadian metropolitan newspaper. The ''Windsor Independent'' is an alternative newspaper published once a month. It features reviews, news, politics, arts, culture, and entertainment. Windsor is considered part of the Detroit television and radio market for territorial rights. Due to this fact and its proximity to

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, Orur ...

and

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, radio and television broadcasters in Windsor are accorded a special status 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 ...

, exempting them from many of the Canadian content ("CanCon") requirements most broadcasters in Canada are required to follow. The CanCon requirements are sometimes blamed in part for the decline in popularity of Windsor radio station CKLW, a 50,000-watt AM radio station that in the late 1960s (prior to the advent of CanCon) had been the top-rated radio station not only in Detroit and Windsor but also in Toledo and Cleveland. Windsor has also been exempt from

concentration of media ownership Concentration of media ownership (also known as media consolidation or media convergence) is a process whereby progressively fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media. Contemporary research demonstrates in ...

rules. Except for Blackburn Radio-owned stations

CJWF-FM CJWF-FM, branded as ''Windsor's Country 95.9 & 92.7'', is a Windsor, Ontario radio station. owned and operated by Blackburn Radio. CJWF broadcasts a country format at 95.9 FM, with limited simulcasting in Leamington, Ontario at 92.7FM. Histo ...

and a rebroadcaster of

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

CKUE-FM CKUE-FM is a radio station located in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. Owned by Blackburn Radio, the station broadcasts a classic hits format under the name ''95.1/100.7 Cool FM''. The station broadcasts on 95.1 MHz, and operates a rebroadcaster serving ...

in Windsor, all other current commercial media outlets are owned by a single company, Bell Media. The city is home to one

campus radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produce ...

station,

CJAM-FM CJAM-FM (99.1 MHz) is a Canadian campus radio station broadcasting at 99.1 FM from the University of Windsor campus in Windsor, Ontario. CJAM is an active member of the National Campus and Community Radio Association, and hosted the 2008 Nat ...

, situated on the University of Windsor campus. Windsor is also served by a few informational news websites including windsoriteDOTca News, a local news site; Radio Betna, a Middle Eastern community-based web radio station; and YQG Rocks, which is one of the only media to review entertainment shows since the retirement of Windsor Star critic Ted Shaw. ''The Windsor Local'' is a local site and mobile app.

Education

Windsor youth attend schools in the

Greater Essex County District School Board The Greater Essex County District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 9 prior to 1999) was created on January 1, 1998 with the amalgamation of the Windsor Board of Education and the Essex County Board of Educat ...

(prior to 1998, the

Windsor Board of Education The Windsor Board of Education (WBOE) was a school district in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The district, prior to its closure, had 32 elementary schools, eight secondary schools, and 7 agency schools.Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board The Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board of Education No. 37 prior to 1999) is the separate school board that oversees Catholic education in Windsor and the surrounding Coun ...

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

and Conseil scolaire Viamonde. Independent faith-based schools include Maranatha Christian Academy (JK-12), Canadian Christian Academy (JK-12), Académie Ste. Cécile International School (JK-12, including

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

), First Lutheran Christian Academy (JK-8), and Windsor Adventist Elementary School. The non-denominational Lakeview Montessori School is a private school as well. The

Canada South Science City Canada South Science City is an interactive science centre/museum in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. In 2021 the organization posted a notice on their website that they've closed the centre to the public as a result of vandalism, with hopes to reopen in ...

serves the Elementary School Curriculum's Science and Technology component. Windsor is home to four

recognized schools: Assumption College School (a Catholic high school), Académie Ste. Cécile International School (a private school), École secondaire E.J. Lajeunesse (a francophone Catholic high school), and Riverside Secondary School (a public high school).

Kennedy Collegiate Institute Honourable W.C. Kennedy Collegiate is a secondary school (grades 9 through 12) located in central Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB). Mr. Berard is the current principal and Mr. Stefan A ...

and

Vincent Massey Secondary School Vincent Massey Secondary School, commonly known as Massey, is a public high school located in the South Windsor neighbourhood in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The school is under the jurisdiction of the Greater Essex County District School Board, on ...

are renowned in Southern Ontario for their notable accomplishments nationally in mathematics and computer science. Kennedy was built in 1929 in the central part of the city next to Jackson Park. It is sometimes called the castle because of the unique architecture of its gymnasium at the rear of the school.

Post-secondary institutions

The University of Windsor is Canada's southernmost university. It is a research-oriented, comprehensive university with a student population of 16,000 full-time graduate and undergraduate students. Now entering its most ambitious capital expansion since its founding in 1963, the University of Windsor recently opened the Anthony P. Toldo Health Education & Learning Centre, which houses the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry. With the help of $40 million in Ontario government funding, the university also has recently finished construction of a , $112-million Centre for Engineering Innovation; a structure that establishes revolutionary design standards across Canada and beyond. The university is just east of the

, south of the Detroit River. In Spring 2011, it was announced the University of Windsor would move its music and visual art programs downtown to be housed in the historic Armouries building and former Greyhound Bus Depot at Freedom Way and University Ave E. The move intended to bring an additional 500 students into the downtown core daily. The university also brought its School of Social Work to the old Windsor Star buildings on Ferry and Pitt Streets, bringing an additional 1,000 students into the downtown. Windsor is also home to

that has a student population of 6,500 full-time students. Its main campus is in Windsor, and it also has campuses in Chatham and Wallaceburg. In 2007, St. Clair College opened a satellite campus in downtown Windsor in the former Cleary International Centre. In April 2010, St. Clair College added to its downtown Windsor presence with the addition of its MediaPlex school. Together, they bring over one thousand students into the downtown core daily. The college also opened the TD Student Centre on the corner of Victoria Avenue and University Avenue in 2012. Cleary StClaircollege Windsor

More recently,

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

opened an access centre and small campus to their Ouellette Avenue location. This small campus offers access to many Collège Boréal programmes as well as immigration and integration assistance for francophones in the area. Collège Boréal is Windsor's only francophone post-secondary institution, providing service for a small but notable population of

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

s within the Windsor-Tecumseh-Belle River area. From 1995 to 2001, the city was home to a satellite campus of the defunct francophone

Collège des Grands-Lacs Collège des Grands-Lacs ( "Great Lakes College") was a francophone College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1995 as Ontario's third college specifically serving the Franco-Ontarian population, a ...

."New college goes hi-tech." '' Windsor Star'', August 28, 1995.

Public libraries

The Windsor Public Library offers education, entertainment, and community history materials, programs, and services. The main branch coordinates a

literacy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

program for adults who need functional literacy upgrading. The local historical archives are here.

Health systems

There are two hospitals in Windsor:

Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare is a 313-bed regional provider of post-acute care services in Windsor-Essex. This includes all programs and services at the Prince Road campus such as complex care, palliative care, regional rehabilitation, cardiac wel ...

, formally Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital, and Windsor Regional Hospital. Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare is the result of an amalgamation of Grace Hospital and Hôtel-Dieu in 1994. The merger occurred due to the

Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor� ...

's province-wide policy to consolidate resources into Local Health Integrated Networks, or LHINs. This was to eliminate duplicate services and allocate resources more efficiently across the region. The policy resulted in the closure of many community-based and historically important hospitals across the province. At this time, Hotel-Dieu Hospital does not do surgeries, nor does it have emergency room services. Its focus has moved away from traditional hospital services and provides more supportive healthcare. Windsor Regional Hospital has formal and informal agreements with Detroit-area hospitals. For instance, pediatric

neurosurgery Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

is no longer performed in Windsor. Leamington District Memorial Hospital in

Leamington, Ontario Leamington ( ) is a municipality in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. With a population of 27,595 in the Canada 2016 Census, it forms the second largest urban centre in Windsor-Essex County after Windsor, Ontario. It includes Point Pelee National P ...

serves much of Essex County and, along with the Windsor institutions, shares resources with the

Chatham-Kent Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 104,316) Windsor is the western terminus of both

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provin ...

, Canada's busiest highway, and Via Rail's

. Windsor's Via station is the nation's sixth-busiest in terms of passenger volumes. Windsor has a municipal highway, E.C. Row Expressway, running east–west through the city. Consisting of of highway and nine interchanges, the expressway is the fastest way for commuters to travel across the city. E.C. Row Expressway is mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest freeway, which took the longest time to build, as it took more than 15 years to complete. The expressway stretches from Windsor's far west end at

Ojibway Parkway King's Highway18, commonly referred to as Highway18, was a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario, located entirely within Essex County. Since 1998, the majority of the former route has been known as Essex County R ...

east to Banwell Road on the city's border with Tecumseh. The majority of development in the city of Windsor and the neighbouring town of Tecumseh stretches along the water instead of inland. As a result, there is a lack of major east–west arteries compared to north–south arteries. Only Riverside Drive, Wyandotte Street,

Tecumseh Road The road network in Windsor, Ontario is a grid system with elongated blocks, generally aligned with the Detroit River, with East-West roads running parallel to it, and North-South streets running perpendicular (90 Degrees) to it. This is an adoptio ...

, County Road 42/Cabana Road and the E.C. Row Expressway serve the almost from the west end of Windsor eastward. All of these roads, especially the E.C. Row Expressway, are burdened with east–west commuter traffic from the development in the city's east end and suburbs further east. There are eight north–south roads interchanging with the expressway:

Huron Church Road King's Highway 3, commonly referred to as Highway 3, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario which travels parallel to the northern shoreline of Lake Erie. It has three segments, the first of which travels from t ...

, Dominion Boulevard, Dougall Avenue, Howard Avenue,

Walker Road Walker Road is one of the busiest roads in Windsor, Ontario. It has an average annual daily traffic (AADT) level of 32,000 cars per day at the CP Rail crossing. History The road is named after Hiram Walker, distillery baron. The CP Rail cros ...

, Central Avenue, Jefferson Boulevard, and Lauzon Parkway. Traffic backups on some of these north–south roads at the E.C. Row Expressway are common, mainly at Dominion, Dougall, Howard, and Walker as the land south of the expressway and east of Walker is occupied by Windsor airport and there has been little development. Windsor's many rail crossings intersect with these north–south thoroughfares. In October 2008, the Province of Ontario completed a grade separation at Walker Road and the CP Rail line. Another grade separation was completed in November 2010 at Howard Avenue and the CP Rail line. In both cases, the road travels under the rail line, and both have below-grade intersections with an east–west street. These were planned as parts of the "Let's Get Windsor-Essex Moving" project funded by the Province of Ontario to improve local transportation infrastructure. Windsor is connected to

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and Leamington via

Highway 3 The following highways are numbered 3, H-3, PRI-3, AH3, E03 and R3. For roads numbered A3, see A3 roads. For roads numbered M3, see M3. For roads numbered N3, see N3. For roads numbered 3A, see 3A. International * Asian Highway 3 * Europea ...

and is well connected to the other municipalities and communities throughout Essex County via the

county road A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the County (United States), county highway departme ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

. Nearly 20,000 vehicles travel on Highway 3 in Essex County daily. It is the main route to work for many Leamington, Kingsville and Essex residents. Windsor is linked to the United States by the

, the

Detroit–Windsor Tunnel The Detroit–Windsor tunnel (french: tunnel de Détroit-Windsor), also known as the Detroit–Canada tunnel, is an international highway tunnel connecting the cities of Detroit, Michigan, United States and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is the ...

, a

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 ...

tunnel, and the Detroit–Windsor Truck Ferry. In terms of goods volume, the Ambassador Bridge is North America's No. 1 international border crossing: 27% of all trade between Canada and the United States crosses at the Ambassador Bridge. Windsor has a

bike trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. The ...

network including the (

Riverfront Bike Trail The Roy A. Battagello River Walk Bike Trail is the current backbone of the "Windsor Loop" bike trail network in Windsor, Ontario. The bike trail travels from the foot of the Ambassador Bridge (at Peter Street and Huron Church Road), to traffic lig ...

, Ganatchio Bike Trail, and

Little River Extension The Little River Extension (full name: Ganatchio Trail – Little River Extension) is one of the newest and busiest recreational trails in Windsor, Ontario, having been built in 1996. The trail is used mainly as a link between the large sub ...

). They have become a blend of parkland and transportation, as people use the trails to commute to work or across downtown on their bicycles.

Airports

The city is served by

Windsor International Airport Windsor International Airport is located in the southeast portion of the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The airport serves a mixture of scheduled airline flights and general aviation, and is a popular point of entry into Canada for private an ...

, a regional airport with scheduled commuter air service by

Air Canada Express Air Canada Express is a brand name of regional feeder flights for Air Canada that are subcontracted to other airlines. As of March 2021, Jazz Aviation is the sole operator of Air Canada Express. They primarily connect smaller cities with Air Cana ...

Porter Airlines Porter Airlines (stylized in all lowercase as porter) is a regional airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Porter Aviation Holdings, formerly known as REGCO Holdin ...

Westjet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

, and

Sunwing Sunwing Airlines Inc. is a Canadian low-cost airline headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Sunwing Airlines offers scheduled and charter services from Canada and the United States to destinations within the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, ...

, along with heavy

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

traffic. The majority of destinations are within Ontario except seasonal routes to Calgary, Alberta and a variety of

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

destinations. The

Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport , usually called Detroit Metro Airport, Metro Airport, or simply DTW, is a major international airport in the United States covering effective December 30, 2021. in Romulus, Michigan. It is the primary ...

is approximately across the border in Romulus, Michigan and is the airport of choice for many Windsor residents as it has regular flights to a larger variety of destinations than Windsor Airport. Shuttle buses and cars are within driving distance to larger airports like

London International Airport London International Airport is located northeast of the city of London, Ontario, Canada. In 2018, the airport handled 514,685 passengers, and, in 2011, was the 20th busiest in Canada in terms of aircraft movements, with 94,747. Air Canada E ...

John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport is an international airport in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The airport is part of the neighbourhood of Mount Hope, Hamilton, Ontario, Mount Hope, southwest of Downtown Hamilton and ...

and to Canada's busiest airport and international hub Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Waterways

The Port of Windsor, which covers of shoreline along the Detroit River, is part of the Great Lakes/Saint Lawrence Seaway System. Accessible to both Lake freighters and ocean-going vessels, the port is the third largest Canadian Great Lakes port in terms of shipments behind only

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

and

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 ...

. Cargos include a wide range of products such as aggregates, salt, grain, fluorspar, lumber, steel, petroleum, vehicles and heavy lift equipment.

Mass transit

Road

public transport bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...

is provided by

Transit Windsor Transit Windsor provides public transportation in the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada as well as LaSalle, Essex, Kingsville, Amherstburg and Leamington and serves more than 6 million passengers each year (6.72 million in 2017), covering an area ...

, the city-owned bus company, operating 15 fixed bus routes with a fleet of 114 vehicles through the city as well as providing transportation for many of the city's secondary school students and a service to downtown Detroit.

shares its newly constructed $8 million downtown Transit Terminal with

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...

. The new depot opened in 2007. Current bus fare is $3.25 for all riders except for children under 12 ride for free on regular service routes. Attending students are charged $10.00 to and from Canada and the United States, both

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

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 ...

currencies are accepted on the tunnel bus.

Rail

Windsor has a long history with rail travel in both passenger service and freight due to the Michigan Central Railway Tunnel.

Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

passenger railway Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

service is provided by Via Rail throughout the region via the Windsor Railway Station. The region also used to have a second station, the

Windsor Michigan Central Railroad Depot Windsor was a train station in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The station was built by the Michigan Central Railroad in 1911 and subsequently controlled by the Canada Southern Railway. The station served Canada Southern Railway and New York Central ...

before it was destroyed in a fire which historically served the

Canada Southern Railway The Canada Southern Railway , also known as CSR, was a railway in southwestern Ontario, Canada, founded on February 28, 1868 as the Erie and Niagara Extension Railway. Its name was changed to Canada Southern Railway on December 24, 1869. The 1868 ...

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...

and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Bridges to Detroit

A major and controversial issue is the amount of traffic to and from the Ambassador Bridge. The number of vehicles crossing the bridge has doubled since 1990. However, the total volume of traffic has been declining since the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

. Access to the Ambassador Bridge is via two municipal roads:

and

Wyandotte Street Wyandotte may refer to: People and culture * Wyandotte Nation (also Wyandot), a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma * Wyandot language, the extinct language, now under revitalization efforts, of the Wyandotte Nation United S ...

. A large portion of the traffic consists of tractor-trailers. There have been, at times, a wall of trucks up to long on

. This road cuts through the city's west end, and the trucks are the source of many complaints about noise, pollution and pedestrian hazards. In 2003, a single mother of three, Jacqueline Bouchard, was struck and killed by a truck at the corner of Huron Church and Girardot Avenue in front of

Assumption College Catholic High School Assumption College Catholic High School is a Catholic secondary school in Windsor, Ontario. The school was originally established as a private preparatory school by Assumption College, now Assumption University, but it is now a publicly-funded sep ...

, a tragedy argued to be due to a lack of practical safety precautions. Windsor City Council hired traffic consultant

Sam Schwartz Samuel I. Schwartz, a.k.a. Gridlock Sam, is an American transportation engineer, formerly the New York City Traffic Commissioner, notable for popularizing the phrase "gridlock". Life and career Schartz was educated at Brooklyn College (BS Physic ...

to produce a proposal for a solution to this traffic problem. City councillors overwhelmingly endorsed the proposal and it was presented to the federal government as a "Made in Windsor" solution. Not all of the surrounding residents supported the plan. One problem with the plan is the proposed road would cut through protected green spaces such as the Ojibway Prairie Reserve. In 2005, the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC — a joint Canadian-American committee studying the options for expanding the border crossing) announced its preferred option was to extend

directly westward to a new bridge spanning the Detroit River and interchange with Interstate 75 somewhere between the existing Ambassador Bridge span and Wyandotte. On April 9, 2010, the City of Windsor, along with local cabinet ministers Dwight Duncan and Sandra Pupatello of the Province of Ontario, announced a final decision had been made in the plans to construct the Windsor-Essex Parkway, the new Highway 401 extension leading to a future crossing. The announcement indicated the project would be the most expensive road ever built in Canada on a per kilometre basis. It included commitments to enhance green space design through the use of berming, landscaping, and other aesthetic treatments. As part of negotiations with the City of Windsor (who threatened legal action in pursuit of more tunnelling and green space of the route), the province agreed to additional funding to infrastructure projects in Windsor-Essex; this includes money for the improvement of the plaza of the Canadian side of the Windsor-Detroit tunnel, the widening and other improvements of Walker Rd between Division Rd and E.C. Row Expressway, and the environmental assessment and preliminary design of a future extension of Lauzon Parkway to Highway 401.

Twin towns – sister cities

Windsor has several

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 ...

Sports

Windsor's sports fans tend to support the major professional sports league teams in either Detroit or

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

. Still, the city itself is home to one professional team, the

Windsor Express The Windsor Express is a Canadian professional basketball team based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The Express are an expansion team of the National Basketball League of Canada that began play in the 2012–13 season. The Express play its home gam ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL). The Express is an expansion team of the NBL that began play in the 2012–13 season, with home games played at the

WFCU Centre WFCU Centre is an arena and entertainment centre in Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. WFCU Centre replaced the 84-year-old Windsor Arena as the primary home of the Windsor Spitfires. It opened on December 11, 2008, in the east end of the ...

. On April 17, 2014, the Express won their first championship of NBL-Canada against the Island Storm in the 7th game of their final series, 121–106. Windsor is also home for the following youth, minor league and post-secondary teams: *

Windsor Spitfires The Windsor Spitfires are a Canadian junior ice hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The team is based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1971, the franchise was promoted to the Ontario Major Junior Hockey League for the 1975� ...

(

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

Major Junior "A" 2009, 2010 and 2017 Memorial Cup Champions) *

( Basketball Super League) *

Windsor Clippers The Windsor Clippers is a Canadian junior box lacrosse team and members of the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League of the Ontario Lacrosse Association. The team, from Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, was known as the Windsor AKO Fratmen ...

( Ontario Lacrosse Association Junior "B") * St. Clair Saints (

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Major Junior Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to profess ...

) * Windsor Lancers (

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

) *Windsor Rogues Rugby ( Ontario Rugby Union (ORU)) *Windsor FC Nationals (

Ontario Youth Soccer League 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 ...

) ( Western Ontario Youth Soccer League) *Windsor Ultimate (non-profit

Ultimate Frisbee Ultimate, originally known as ultimate Frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a frisbee flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by AJ Gator in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its ath ...

league) * Windsor City FC ( League1 Ontario) * Windsor Roller Derby ( Women's Flat Track Derby Association)

Former teams

Windsor Bulldogs The Windsor Bulldogs are a defunct semi-professional and amateur senior ice hockey team. The team played in the City of Windsor, Ontario, Canada and participated in the International Hockey League and the OHA Senior A Hockey League prior to th ...

(

OHA Senior A Hockey League The OHA Senior A Hockey League was a top tier Canadian Senior ice hockey league in Ontario from 1975 until 1987. The league was sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association and competed for the Allan Cup ...

) 1953–1964, won 1963

Allan Cup The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men's ice hockey champions of Canada. It was donated by Sir Montagu Allan of Ravenscrag, Montreal, and has been competed for since 1909. The current champions are the ...

Windsor St. Clair Saints The Windsor St. Clair Saints were a Senior "AAA" ice hockey team based in St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. They joined the Ontario Hockey Association's Major League Hockey in 2006, only to leave in 2008. History The St. Clair Sa ...

(

Major League Hockey Allan Cup Hockey (ACH), formerly Major League Hockey until 2011, is the top tier Canadian senior ice hockey league in the province of Ontario. Founded in 1990, as the Southwestern Senior "A" Hockey League, the ACH is a member of the Ontario Hock ...

Senior "AAA"/ CCAA) * Windsor Royals/Bulldogs ( Western Ontario Hockey League) now known as

LaSalle Vipers The LaSalle Vipers are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in LaSalle, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. As a franchise, the Vipers are two-time Sutherland Cup provincial champ ...

(

Canadian Professional Hockey League The Canadian Professional Hockey League, also known as Can-Pro, was a minor professional hockey league founded in 1926. After three seasons, it became the International Hockey League (IHL) in 1929. The Can-Pro name was then given to a new league o ...

) 1920s and 1930s *

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

(Canadian Professional Hockey League) 1920s *

Windsor Gotfredsons The Windsor Gotfredsons were a minor league professional ice hockey team and one of the four founding members of the International Hockey League in 1945. The team was based in Windsor, Ontario and played at the Windsor Arena Windsor Arena (ni ...

( International Hockey League) 1940s *

(International Hockey League) 1940s * Windsor Rockets/Royals ( Ontario Rugby Football Union) 1940s and 1950s *

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

( Major Series Lacrosse) 2004 *

( OLA Senior B Lacrosse League) 1960s *

(

OLA Junior A Lacrosse League The Ontario Junior Lacrosse League (OJLL) is considered the most competitive Junior A men's box lacrosse league in the world and the number one source for talent for the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The OJLL is sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse ...

) 1970s *

(

OLA Junior B Lacrosse League The Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League (OJBLL) is a box lacrosse league sanctioned by the Ontario Lacrosse Association in Canada. The league features twenty-five teams in Ontario, one in Quebec, and one in the Akwesasne (which straddles the two af ...

) 1980s *

Windsor Mariners AFL Ontario is the largest Australian football league in North America. It is currently composed of teams from the Greater Toronto Area, Southwestern Ontario and the National Capital Region, who play off for the Conacher Cup (named after Lion ...

( Ontario Australian Football League) 2000s * Windsor and District Soccer League

Canadian Premier League

On the 10th of January 2022, it was announced Windsor would be the home of a new Canadian Premier League team. The announcement saw the league's first commissioner, David Clanachan, step down from his position to focus on bringing a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

team to his hometown.

International sporting events

* Windsor hosted rounds of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship in 2009 and 2010 (Detroit hosted the race in 2008). The races took place on a course of pylons set up on the Detroit River, right over the border between Canada and the United States. * The

2016 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

"Short Course Worlds" took place in Windsor. * Windsor hosted

World Junior Baseball Championship 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 1986, 1987 and 1993.

Notable people

Notes

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, France, North America, History, Ontario, Canada 1749 establishments in North America Busking venues Cities in Ontario Detroit River Ontario populated places on Lake St. Clair Catholic missions of New France Ontario populated places on the Detroit River Populated places established in 1749 Populated places on the Underground Railroad Port settlements in Ontario Single-tier municipalities in Ontario