Kenora District | |
|---|---|
 Location of Kenora District in Ontario | |
| Coordinates:54°N89°W / 54°N 89°W /54; -89 | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Ontario |
| Region | Northwestern Ontario |
| Created | 1907 |
| Government | |
| • MPs | Eric Melillo (CPC),Charlie Angus (NDP) |
| • MPPs | Greg Rickford (PC),Guy Bourgouin (NDP),Sol Mamakwa (NDP) |
| Area | |
| • Land | 395,432.07 km2 (152,677.18 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 505 m (1,657 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• Total | 66,000 |
| • Density | 0.2/km2 (0.5/sq mi) |
| Time zones | |
| West of90° west | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (Central Daylight (CDT)) |
| East of90° west | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight (EDT)) |
| Pickle Lake/Mishkeegogamang | UTC-5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| Postal Code FSA | |
| Area code | 807 |
| Largest communities[2] | Kenora (15,177) Dryden (8,195) Sioux Lookout (5,183) |
Kenora District is a district andcensus division inNorthwestern Ontario, Canada. The district seat is the City ofKenora.
It is geographically the largest division in Ontario: at 407,213.01 square kilometres (157,225.82 sq mi), it covers 38 percent of the province's area, making it larger thanNewfoundland and Labrador, and slightly smaller thanSweden or roughly the land size ofCalifornia. Kenora District also has the lowest population density of any of Ontario's census divisions (it ranks37th out of 50 by total population).
The district was created in 1907 from parts ofRainy River District. The northern part (north of theAlbany River) only became part of Ontario in 1912 (transferred from theNorthwest Territories).[4] The separatePatricia District upon transfer, it was in 1937 annexed to Kenora District and known sometimes as thePatricia Portion.[5]
As with the other districts of Northern Ontario, the Kenora District does not have an organized government like those of counties orregional municipalities inSouthern Ontario. All government services in the district are instead provided by the local municipalities, bylocal services boards in some unincorporated communities, or directly by the provincial government.
Theclimate is very harsh because of the influence of the cold waters ofHudson andJamesBays: most of the region istaiga characterized bydiscontinuous permafrost, but on the extreme northern coast there are – remarkably for a latitude of only 54°N – patches of true Arctictundra and continuous permafrost. This is the southernmost point in the Northern Hemisphere reached by the circumpolar line of continuous permafrost on any continent.
Kenora District is geographically extensive enough to share borders with both thecontiguous United States (theboundary between it and theNorthwest Angle is located in theLake of the Woods) and the Canadian Arctic waters (Hudson Bay), the only district in Canada to do so.
The District contains theSturgeon Lake Caldera, which is one of the world's best preservedNeoarcheancaldera complexes and is some 2.7 billion years old.[6]
Cities:
Towns:
Townships:
Unorganized areas:
The Patricia Portion is the part of the Kenora District lying north of theAlbany River, which was transferred from theNorthwest Territories to Ontario on May 15, 1912, inThe Ontario Boundaries Extension Act.[4] This area was originally a separate division, Patricia District, but became part of Kenora District in 1937.[5]
With the exception of a few communities along the northernmost ends ofHighway 599 and theHighway 105/Highway 125 corridor, the Patricia Portion consists almost entirely of remoteFirst Nations communities that are only accessible byfloat plane orwinter road. Accordingly, the term "Patricia Portion" is still sometimes used to distinguish the region from the relatively more populated and road-accessible southern portion.
As acensus division in the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, the Kenora District had a population of66,000 living in24,818 of its32,914 total private dwellings, a change of0.7% from its 2016 population of65,533. With a land area of 395,432.07 km2 (152,677.18 sq mi), it had a population density of0.2/km2 (0.4/sq mi) in 2021.[1]
| 2021 | 2016 | 2011 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 66,000 (+0.7% from 2016) | 65,533 (+13.8% from 2011) | 57,607 (−10.6% from 2006) |
| Land area | 395,432.07 km2 (152,677.18 sq mi) | 407,268.65 km2 (157,247.30 sq mi) | 407,213.01 km2 (157,225.82 sq mi) |
| Population density | 0.2/km2 (0.52/sq mi) | 0.2/km2 (0.52/sq mi) | 0.1/km2 (0.26/sq mi) |
| Median age | 37.6 (M: 36.8, F: 38.4) | 36.5 (M: 35.8, F: 37.1) | |
| Private dwellings | 32,914 (total) 24,818 (occupied) | 31,191 (total) 23,931 (occupied) | 29,606 (total) |
| Median household income | $78,500 | $66,198 |
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| Excludes census data for one or more incompletely enumerated Indian reserves. Population counts are not adjusted for boundary changes. Source: Statistics Canada[1][10] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Most of the population is concentrated in the district's extreme south where some agriculture is possible: the main crop isbarley. Traditionalnative activities such as hunting and fishing dominate the north of the district outside of mining settlements.
The area near Lake Minnehaha saw a gold rush between 1902 and 1909. The settlement of Gold Rock served 14 area mines, which included the Big Master, Laurentian, Detola and Elora. According to Barnes, "Approximately 180,000 ounces of gold was won from 27 mines in the Kenora district from 1880 to 1976," with "over 331 known gold occurrences." The more successful mines included the Bully Boy, Cameron Island, Champion, Combined, Cornucopia, Gold Hill, Golden Horn, Kenricia, Mikado, Oliver, Olympia, Ophyr, Regina, Scramble, Severn, Stella, Sultana, Treasure and Wendigo.[11]
Mining is currently extremely extensive in northern Kenora District, which contains some of the world's largest and highest-grade reserves ofuranium and some of the world's major producers of nickel. A major mining exploration project is currently underway in theRing of Fire region, centred on the district's isolatedMcFaulds Lake.
Permanent roads (Highway 599) only reach about halfway to the northernmost point of Kenora district, with theprovincial highway network ending atPickle Lake. Some more northerly communities connect seasonally through anice/winter road network to theNorthern Ontario Resource Trail.
Year-round air and summertime river transport are the only means of reaching the most remote parts of the district.
The major railroad lines between Toronto andBritish Columbia pass through the south of the district. The district is served byVia Rail'sCanadian atRice Lake,[12]Copelands Landing,[13] Malachi,Ottermere,Minaki,Redditt,Farlane station,Canyon,Red Lake Road,Richan, andSioux Lookout stations.
| Current services at Rice Lake station | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preceding station |  Via Rail | Following station | ||
| Winnitoba towardVancouver | TheCanadian | Copelands Landing towardToronto | ||
| Former services at Rice Lake station | ||||
| Preceding station | Canadian National Railway | Following station | ||
| Winnitoba towardVancouver | Main Line | Malachi towardMontreal | ||
| Current services at Copelands Landing | ||||
| Preceding station | Via Rail | Following station | ||
| Rice Lake towardVancouver | TheCanadian | Malachi towardToronto | ||
| Former services at Copelands Landing | ||||
| Preceding station | Canadian National Railway | Following station | ||
| Rice Lake towardVancouver | Main Line | Malachi towardMontreal | ||
| Current services at Malachi station | ||||
| Preceding station | Via Rail | Following station | ||
| Copelands Landing towardVancouver | TheCanadian | Ottermere towardToronto | ||
| Former services at Malachi station | ||||
| Preceding station | Canadian National Railway | Following station | ||
| Copelands Landing towardVancouver | Main Line | Ottermere towardMontreal | ||
Media related toKenora District at Wikimedia CommonsPlaces adjacent to Kenora District | |
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