Smooth Rock Falls is an incorporated town in the

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 ...

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, with a population of 1,330 at the 2016 census.

Geography and transportation

The town lies on the

Mattagami River The Mattagami River is a river in Northern Ontario, Canada. The Mattagami flows from its source at Mattagami Lake in Township (Canada)#Ontario, geographic Gouin Township in the Unorganized North Sudbury District, Unorganized North Part of Sudbur ...

and on Highway 11. The next full-service towns in each direction are Cochrane, about 59 km (37 mi) to the east and slightly south by road, and

Kapuskasing Kapuskasing ( ) is a town on the Kapuskasing River in the Cochrane District of Northern Ontario, Canada, approximately east of Hearst, Ontario, Hearst and northwest of Timmins, Ontario, Timmins. The town was known as MacPherson until 1917. ...

, about 65 km (40 mi) to the west and slightly north. Highway 634 connects Smooth Rock Falls northward with the railway point of Fraserdale, and Highway 655, starting in

Driftwood Driftwood is a wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. It is part of beach wrack. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides ...

east of Smooth Rock Falls, provides easier access to

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...

, the dominant regional centre, about 102 km (63 m) south by that route. The town is served by the

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 ...

for freight service, and by Ontario Northland passenger buses.

Economy

The Smooth Rock Falls economy was dominated by the

Tembec Tembec Industries Inc., known as Tembec, was a paper company in Canada, founded by Frank Dottori. In 2011, Tembec had approximately 3000 employees,pulp mill A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ...

, which was closed on December 5, 2006. Prior to that, the mill had been in a state of indefinite shutdown since July 31, 2006. The closure of the mill meant the loss of about 210 jobs. The town of Smooth Rock Falls made a series of announcements regarding community investments since Tembec's departure and the closure of the pulp mill. On July 13, 2007 a joint news conference between the town and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources revealed the former Tembec pulp mill would be converted into a value-added cedar plant. Quebec-based Hardy Cedar Lumber took control of the mill and was provided with 50,000 cubic metres of cedar from the province. The cedar project would provide the community with as many as 44 full-time jobs. One month prior to the cedar announcement, the town made public an investor's plan to build a new seniors retirement home, 80-100 room hotel and establish a new Indian restaurant. Nightingale Premier, an investment company based in Great Britain, first met with town officials in November 2006. The British company made its plans for a new seniors home, hotel and restaurant known on June 13, 2007. In 2017. the town announced incentives to encourage new construction that included up to $2,500 off building permit fees, property tax forgiveness over three years of 100%, 75%, and 25% per year and 90% of the market value of building lots. The long-closed motel reopened in August 2017.

NorthernTel NorthernTel LP (formerly Northern Telephone Limited or NTL) is a telephone company in Ontario, Canada. NorthernTel began in April 1905 in New Liskeard, Ontario, as the Temiskaming Telephone Company. It grew by buying other regional telephone prov ...

, Ontera, and

Persona Communications Persona Communications, formerly Regional Cablesystems, was a cable television, Internet and telecommunications provider in Canada. Persona was purchased by EastLink in 2007. At that point it ceased to be an independent company, and the Persona ...

provide telecommunications services.

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; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Smooth Rock Falls had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . There has been a steady population decline in Smooth Rock Falls with every five-year census since 1986; the town's population decreased by 45.7% between 1986 and 2021. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Politics

Smooth Rock Falls is part of the provincial electoral district of Mushkegowuk—James Bay and the federal electoral district of Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk. Its Member of Provincial Parliament is

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

, a

New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...

, and its Member of Parliament is Gaétan Malette.

Health care

The Smooth Rock Falls Hospital includes 14

acute care Acute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery.Alberta Health ServicesAcute care.Acce ...

and 23

long-term care Long-term care (LTC) is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical needs of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods. Long-term care is focused on individualized and ...

beds, and its Cochrane District

Detoxification Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period o ...

Centre serves the larger region.

Education

District School Board Ontario North East operates *Smooth Rock Falls Public School (JK-6) Conseil scolaire catholique de district des Grandes-Rivières operates *L'École catholique Georges-Vanier. For postsecondary education, a Contact North

distance education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

access centre serves the town. The Smooth Rock Falls Resource Centre offers Adult Education for those who want to upgrade or finish their grade 12 secondary school diploma.

Media

CKGN-1, a repeater of CKGN-FM Kapuskasing, provides

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

service for the

Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians ( 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 2021, according to the Government of Ontario, ther ...

population.

Attractions

Town attractions include the Reg Lamy Cultural Centre, which includes a hockey arena and Smooth Rock Falls

Curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

Club; the Smooth Rock Falls Golf Course (9 holes), a public library, and a public swimming pool in the summer. Some years the town hosts the Smooth Truck Fest, a popular festival that features truck pulls and other motorized pull contests alongside children's activities, concerts, canoe races and much more.

Notable people

Notable people from Smooth Rock Falls include: *

Jeffrey Buttle Jeffrey Buttle (born September 1, 1982) is a Canadian figure skater and choreographer. He is the 2006 Winter Olympics bronze medalist, the 2008 World champion, the 2002 and 2004 Four Continents champion and the 2005–2007 Canadian champion. ...

, figure skater * Carl Hudson, ice hockey defenceman * Louise Pitre, singer and actress *

J. P. Parisé Jean-Paul Joseph-Louis Parisé (December 11, 1941 – January 7, 2015) was a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and player. Parisé played in the National Hockey League (NHL), most notably for the Minnesota North Stars and the New York Islande ...

, NHL/ Team Canada 1972 hockey left winger, and father of NHL hockey forward

Zach Parise Zachary Justin Parise (born July 28, 1984) is an American former professional ice hockey left winger who played for the New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, New York Islanders, and Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League (NHL) Parise capt ...

Charlotte L'Écuyer Charlotte L'Écuyer (16 August 1943 – 1 February 2021) was a politician in Quebec, Canada. She was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Pontiac in Western Quebec, and a member of the Quebec Liberal Party caucus, ...

, Quebec politician and current Member of National Assembly of

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

* Dick Mattiussi, NHL and AHL hockey player. * Grant Martin, NHL and AHL hockey player.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Municipalities in Cochrane District Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Towns in Ontario