Abitibi Canyon was a community on the Abitibi River in northeastern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. Abitibi Canyon was part of Northern Unorganized Cochrane District, in

Cochrane District Cochrane District is a district and census division in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1921 from parts of Timiskaming and Thunder Bay districts. In 2021, the district's population was 77,963, with a l ...

. It was located northeast of Fraserdale.

History

The construction of the Abitibi Canyon Generating Station at Abitibi Canyon began in 1930 for the Ontario Power Service Corporation, a subsidiary of the Abitibi Power and Paper Company, today's

Resolute Forest Products Resolute Forest Products (French: ''Produits forestiers Résolu''), formerly known as AbitibiBowater Inc., is a Canada-based Pulp and paper industry in Canada, pulp and paper company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the company was formed in 2 ...

. Work was suspended several years later, the company went into receivership and the project was taken over by the provincial

Ontario Hydro Ontario Hydro, established in 1906 as the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, was a publicly owned electricity utility in the Province of Ontario. It was formed to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity ge ...

in 1933. The Abitibi Canyon settlement was established in 1930 to support the construction of the dam. In early years, construction and later support staff came by

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

train to Fraserdale, then further by private siding, or used

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

s. In 1966, a road connection via Fraserdale to Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario was built, designated today as Highway 634. In the early 1960s Ontario Hydro released a documentary, ''Call of the Canyon'', about the community and the construction of this road. In 1940s, 130 people lived in the Ontario Hydro settlement, which rose to 300 by 1982. However, in 1980, Ontario Hydro decided to close the community as a cost-saving measure.

Climate

Island Falls is a weather station located approximately 36 km (22.4 miles) to the south of Abitibi Canyon. Island Falls 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 cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfb'') bordering on a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

''Dfc'').

References

* *

External links

Abitibi Canyon reunion website
* Communities in Cochrane District {{NorthernOntario-geo-stub