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Fort Frances | |
|---|---|
| Town of Fort Frances | |
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
| Nickname: Fort | |
| Motto(s): Industry and perseverance | |
  Fort Frances | |
| Coordinates:48°37′N93°24′W / 48.617°N 93.400°W /48.617; -93.400 | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Ontario |
| District | Rainy River |
| Incorporated | 1903 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Andrew Hallikas |
| • Federal riding | Thunder Bay—Rainy River |
| • Prov. riding | Kenora—Rainy River |
| Area | |
| • Land | 25.51 km2 (9.85 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 7,466 |
| • Density | 292.2/km2 (757/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Fort Francians |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (CST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Forward sortation area | |
| Area code | 807 |
| Website | www.fortfrances.ca |
Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of,Rainy River District inNorthwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the2021 census was 7,466[3] Fort Frances is a popularfishing destination. It hosts the annualFort Frances Canadian Bass Championship.
Located on the international border with theUnited States whereRainy Lake narrows to becomeRainy River, it is connected toInternational Falls, Minnesota by theFort Frances–International Falls International Bridge. The town is the fourth-largest community in Northwestern Ontario afterThunder Bay,Kenora andDryden. The Fort Frances Paper Mill was formerly the main employer and industry in the town until its closure in January 2014.[4] Today, there is no manufacturing or major industry in Fort Frances. Healthcare, social services and the town corporation make up the majority of the top tier employers, with big box retail coming in second.New Gold, a Canadian mining company, acquired mineral rights to the area in 2013. The Rainy River mine commenced processing ore on September 14, 2017 and completed its first gold pour on October 5, 2017.[5]
Fort Frances was the firstEuropean settlement west of Lake Superior and was established byFrench CanadianPierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, first commander of the western district. In 1731, he builtFort Saint Pierre near that spot as support for thefur trade with native peoples. In 1732, his expedition builtFort Saint Charles on Magnuson's Island on the west side ofLake of the Woods. After some time, Fort Saint Pierre fell out of use.[6]
In 1817, following theWar of 1812 and the redefinition of borders between Canada and the United States, theHudson's Bay Company (HBC) built a fort here. In 1830 HBC Chief Factor John Dugald Cameron[7] named the fur trading post afterFrances Ramsay Simpson, the 18-year-old daughter of a London merchant,[8] who had married earlier that year in London,George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who would visit the fort many times. In 1841 she became Lady Simpson after George Simpson was knighted, and she died in 1853 atLachine, Quebec.[9]
Incorporated in 1903, the town held a bigcentennial celebration in 2003.
The main employer was apulp and paper mill established in the early 1900s. It had numerous owners over the years, notablyEdward Wellington Backus. Most recently owned byResolute Forest Products, the mill employed about 700 persons until its closure in 2014.
On June 25, 1946, the town was struck by atornado, which caused major damage and struck a week after the deadlyWindsor tornado.
On August 25, 2013, the town hosted the final pitstop in the Kraft Celebration Tour by receiving the most votes out of all 20 communities
On January 14, 2014, Resolute Forest Products announced that it planned to stop operations of the final paper machine and close out its operations in Fort Frances by the end of the month.
On December 13, 2014,Tim Hortons filmed a commercial in Fort Frances. The commercial, which dubs Fort Frances "one of the coldest places in Canada", was shot at the local Tim Hortons. In the days leading up to the filming, yarn was seen covering trees, benches, etc. Workers had spent the night covering the interior of the restaurant with yarn and building a giant toque on the roof. For the day, the coffee was free.
In August 2015 the Seven Generations Education Institute hosted the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium's (WINHEC) Annual General Meeting at the Nanicost Grounds for members attending from all over the world.
There are three airports in the area, one of which is in the United States. The two city airports are for general aviation and the other is a privately ownedfloatplane base.
Fort Frances Municipal Airport does not have regularly scheduled commercial airline service. It was previously served by only one company,Bearskin Airlines, with flights to and from Kenora,Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, andDryden. Falls International Airport has flights toMinneapolis–Saint Paul byDelta Connection.
Ontario Highway 11 andOntario Highway 71, the latter of which ends in Fort Frances, are the two major highways in the community. Both are part of theTrans-Canada Highway. The town is connected toKenora via Highway 71, while Highway 11 provides connections toDevlin,Emo, andRainy River to the west, andAtikokan andThunder Bay to the east.
Canadian National Railway travels into Fort Frances with freight traffic only and travels across theFort Frances-International Falls International Bridge, over the Rainy River, into the US.
Train, truck and car traffic to and from the United States traverses the International Bridge.
Fort Frances Transit operated until 1996, and Fort Frances Handi-Van Transit is a provincially-funded service run by the Town of Fort Frances. Caribou Coach Transportation Company Incorporated cancelled its bus route to and fromThunder Bay in October 2017. The route was once served byGreyhound Canada. North Air operates a taxi service from Fort Frances whose service area includes the International Falls, Minnesota area and airport.
Fort Frances experiences ahumid continental climate (Köppen climate classificationDfb), with cold winters and warm summers. Temperatures beyond 34 °C (93.2 °F) have been measured in all five late-spring and summer months. Summer highs are comparable toParis and theLos Angeles Basin coastline inCalifornia, whereas winter lows on average resemble southernSiberia and polar subarctic inlandScandinavia.
Fort Frances, along withAtikokan hold the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the province of Ontario. On 13 July 1936 the mercury climbed to 42.2 °C (108.0 °F).
| Climate data forFort Frances Municipal Airport, 1991−2020 normals, extremes 1892−present[a] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 10.0 (50.0) | 13.2 (55.8) | 26.4 (79.5) | 31.7 (89.1) | 35.0 (95.0) | 40.0 (104.0) | 42.2 (108.0) | 35.6 (96.1) | 35.6 (96.1) | 31.1 (88.0) | 22.8 (73.0) | 13.9 (57.0) | 42.2 (108.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −9.3 (15.3) | −5.9 (21.4) | 1.7 (35.1) | 9.9 (49.8) | 17.6 (63.7) | 22.7 (72.9) | 25.2 (77.4) | 24.2 (75.6) | 18.9 (66.0) | 10.4 (50.7) | 1.1 (34.0) | −6.3 (20.7) | 9.2 (48.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −15.2 (4.6) | −12.5 (9.5) | −4.6 (23.7) | 3.6 (38.5) | 10.8 (51.4) | 16.3 (61.3) | 18.7 (65.7) | 17.6 (63.7) | 12.7 (54.9) | 5.3 (41.5) | −3.2 (26.2) | −11.2 (11.8) | 3.2 (37.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −21.0 (−5.8) | −19.1 (−2.4) | −11.0 (12.2) | −2.9 (26.8) | 4.0 (39.2) | 9.8 (49.6) | 12.1 (53.8) | 10.9 (51.6) | 6.5 (43.7) | 0.3 (32.5) | −7.3 (18.9) | −16.0 (3.2) | −2.8 (27.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −45.0 (−49.0) | −45.5 (−49.9) | −37.3 (−35.1) | −28.5 (−19.3) | −11.1 (12.0) | −5.0 (23.0) | 0.6 (33.1) | −4.0 (24.8) | −7.8 (18.0) | −16.7 (1.9) | −38.0 (−36.4) | −42.0 (−43.6) | −45.5 (−49.9) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 31.7 (1.25) | 20.8 (0.82) | 32.4 (1.28) | 45.2 (1.78) | 85.8 (3.38) | 109.2 (4.30) | 102.1 (4.02) | 85.2 (3.35) | 84.2 (3.31) | 58.5 (2.30) | 43.3 (1.70) | 32.7 (1.29) | 731.0 (28.78) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 0.0 (0.0) | 2.4 (0.09) | 11.7 (0.46) | 34.9 (1.37) | 85.3 (3.36) | 114.3 (4.50) | 104.0 (4.09) | 86.6 (3.41) | 85.9 (3.38) | 54.2 (2.13) | 22.4 (0.88) | 2.9 (0.11) | 604.4 (23.80) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 38.4 (15.1) | 20.9 (8.2) | 18.8 (7.4) | 12.1 (4.8) | 0.3 (0.1) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 3.9 (1.5) | 30.7 (12.1) | 31.9 (12.6) | 157.0 (61.8) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.2 mm) | 10.6 | 8.8 | 9.2 | 9.6 | 14.8 | 15.6 | 14.6 | 11.9 | 14.0 | 12.7 | 9.9 | 11.1 | 142.8 |
| Average rainy days(≥ 0.2 mm) | 0.0 | 0.63 | 1.7 | 6.4 | 13.2 | 13.1 | 13.3 | 11.0 | 12.7 | 10.1 | 2.9 | 0.56 | 85.5 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.2 cm) | 8.8 | 6.1 | 4.6 | 2.3 | 0.11 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 6.5 | 7.7 | 37.8 |
| Source:Environment Canada[10][11][12] | |||||||||||||
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 697 | — |
| 1911 | 1,611 | +131.1% |
| 1921 | 3,109 | +93.0% |
| 1931 | 5,470 | +75.9% |
| 1941 | 5,897 | +7.8% |
| 1951 | 8,038 | +36.3% |
| 1956 | 9,005 | +12.0% |
| 1961 | 9,481 | +5.3% |
| 1966 | 9,524 | +0.5% |
| 1971 | 9,947 | +4.4% |
| 1976 | 9,325 | −6.3% |
| 1981 | 8,906 | −4.5% |
| 1986 | 8,870 | −0.4% |
| 1991 | 8,891 | +0.2% |
| 1996 | 8,790 | −1.1% |
| 2001 | 8,315 | −5.4% |
| 2006 | 8,103 | −2.5% |
| 2011 | 7,952 | −1.9% |
| 2016 | 7,739 | −2.7% |
| 2021 | 7,466 | −3.5% |
| Source:Statistics Canada [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] | ||
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Fort Frances had a population of7,466 living in3,451 of its3,779 total private dwellings, a change of-3.5% from its 2016 population of7,739. With a land area of 25.55 km2 (9.86 sq mi), it had a population density of292.2/km2 (756.8/sq mi) in 2021.[30]
Fort Frances had a population of 7,739 people in 2016, which represents a decrease of 2.7% from the 2011 census count. The median household income in 2015 for Fort Frances was $62,928, which was below the Ontario provincial average of $74,287.[29]
In 2021, Statistics Canada reported that the age demographic broke down as follows for Fort Frances:
Under 14 — 14.9%
15 to 24 — 11.2%
25 to 34 — 12.1%
35 to 44 — 10.4%
45 to 54 — 12.0%
55 to 64 — 16.0%
Over 65 — 23.4%[30]
The citycoat of arms features a bullmoose;maple leaves; a "Magneto", representative ofelectricity (industry); two men in acanoe; awhite pine tree; and the motto "Industry and Perseverance."
The only local television channel serving Fort Frances is theShaw TV community channel onShaw Cable channel 10.
There are no local broadcast outlets or repeaters serving Fort Frances; Shaw Cable carriesCBWT-DT (CBC),CBWFT-DT (Ici Radio-Canada Télé) andCKY-DT (CTV) fromWinnipeg,CITV-DT (Global) fromEdmonton, and TVO, plusCITY-DT (Citytv),CHCH-DT (independent),CFTM-DT (TVA, live feed) andTFO.CJBN-TV from Kenora used to be available on cable until it permanently signed off on January 27, 2017.
United States network programming on Shaw TV comes fromDetroit (WDIV-TV,WXYZ-TV,WWJ-TV, andWTVS) andRochester (WUHF); stations from theDuluth television market are not available on cable, though they are available over-the-air from repeaters in International Falls.
Another radio station,CKWO FM 92.3 The Wolf, was licensed to the neighbouringCouchiching First Nation in 2003[31] and launched in 2004. Its unknown when the station left the air; the CRTC renewed CKWO-FM's licence from 1 September 2012 to 28 February 2013, with no known license renewals since that date.[32]
Rainy River District School Board
Northwest Catholic District School Board
Rainy River District School Board
Northwest Catholic District School Board
Fort Frances is home to the following amateur sports teams:
Fort Frances was the home of the former amateur sports teams:
Sporting facilities include :
Places adjacent to Fort Frances | |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
