Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a 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 C ...

, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully independent of the county's municipal government. Brantford is situated on the

Haldimand Tract The ''Haldimand Proclamation'' was a decree that granted land to the Mohawk (or Kanien'kehà:ka) (Mohawk nation) who had served on the British side during the American Revolution. The decree was issued by the Governor of the Province of Quebec, ...

, traditional territory of the

Neutral Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...

, Mississauga, and

Haudenosaunee 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 ...

peoples. The city is named after Joseph Brant, an important Mohawk leader, soldier, farmer and slave owner. Brant was an important Loyalist leader during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and later, after the Haudenosaunee moved to the Brantford area in

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...

. Many of his descendants, and other

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

people, live on the nearby Six Nations of the Grand River reserve south of Brantford; it is the most populous reserve in Canada. Brantford is known as the "Telephone City" as the city's famous resident, Alexander Graham Bell, invented the first

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

at his father's homestead, Melville House, now the Bell Homestead, located on Tutela Heights south of the city. Brantford is also known as birthplace and hometown of

Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky ( ; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "the Great One ...

History

The Iroquoian-speaking Attawandaron, known in English as the

Neutral Nation The Neutral Confederacy (also Neutral Nation, Neutral people, or ''Attawandaron'' by neighbouring tribes) were an Iroquoian people who lived in what is now southwestern and south-central Ontario in Canada, North America. They lived throughout ...

, lived in the Grand River valley area before the 17th century; their main village and seat of the chief, Kandoucho, was identified by 19th-century historians as having been located on the Grand River where present-day Brantford developed. This community, like the rest of their settlements, was destroyed when the Iroquois declared war in 1650 over the fur trade and exterminated the Neutral nation. In 1784, Captain Joseph Brant and the Mohawk people of the Iroquois Confederacy left New York State for Canada. As a reward for their loyalty to the British Crown, they were given a large land grant, referred to as the

, on the Grand River. The original Mohawk settlement was on the south edge of the present-day city at a location favourable for landing canoes. Brant's crossing (or fording) of the river gave the original name to the area: Brant's ford The Glebe Farm Indian Reserve exists at the original site today. The area began to grow from a small settlement in the 1820s as the Hamilton and London Road was improved. By the 1830s, Brantford became a stop on 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. ...

, and a sizable number of runaway African-Americans settled in the town. From the 1830s to the 1860s - several hundred people of African descent settled in the area around Murray Street, and in Cainsville. In Brantford, they established their own school and church, now known as the S.R. Drake Memorial Church. In 1846, it is estimated 2000 residents lived in the city's core while 5199 lived in the outlying rural areas. There were 8 churches in Brantford at this time - Episcopal, Presbyterian, Catholic, two Methodist, Baptist, Congregational, and one for the African-Canadian residents. By 1847, Europeans began to settle further up the river at a ford in the Grand River and named their village Brantford. The population increased after 1848 when river navigation to Brantford was opened and again in 1854 with the arrival of the railway to Brantford. Because of the ease of navigation from new roads and the Grand River, several manufacturing companies could be found in the town by 1869. Some of these factories included Brantford Engine Works, Victoria Foundry and Britannia Foundry. Several major farm implement manufacturers, starting with Cockshutt and Harris, opened for business in the 1870s. The history of the Brantford region from 1793 to 1920 is described at length in the book ''At The Forks of The Grand''. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, both the United States and Canadian governments encouraged education of First Nations children at residential schools, which were intended to teach them English and European-American ways and assimilate them to the majority cultures. These institutions in Western New York and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

included the Thomas Indian School, Mohawk Institute Residential School (also known as Mohawk Manual Labour School and Mush Hole Indian Residential School) in Brantford, Southern Ontario, Haudenosaunee boarding school, and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Decades later and particularly since the late 20th century, numerous scholarly and artistic works have explored the detrimental effects of the schools in destroying Native cultures. Examples include: the film ''Unseen Tears: A Documentary on Boarding School Survivors'', Ronald James Douglas' graduate thesis titled ''Documenting Ethnic Cleansing in North America: Creating Unseen Tears'', and the Legacy of Hope Foundation's online media collection: "Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools". In June 1945, Brantford became the first city in Canada to fluoridate its water supply. Brantford generated controversy in 2010 when its city council expropriated and demolished 41 historic downtown buildings on the south side of its main street, Colborne Street. The buildings constituted one of the longest blocks of pre-Confederation architecture in Canada, and included one of Ontario's first grocery stores and an early 1890s office of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada. The decision was widely criticized by Ontario's heritage preservation community, however the city argued it was needed for downtown renewal.

Historical plaques and memorials

Plaques and monuments erected by the provincial and federal governments provide additional glimpses into the early history of the area around Brantford. The famed Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanega) led his people from the Mohawk Valley of New York State to Upper Canada after being allied with the British during 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 Revoluti ...

where they lost their land holdings. A group of 400 settled in 1788 on the Grand River at Mohawk Village which would later become Brantford. Nearly a century later (1886), the Joseph Brant Memorial would be erected in Burlington, Ontario in honour of Brant and the Six Nations Confederacy. The Mohawk Chapel, built by the British Crown in 1785 for the

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

and Iroquois people (Six Nations of the Grand River) was dedicated in 1788 as a reminder of the original agreements made with the British during the

. In 1904 the chapel received Royal status by King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

in memory of the longstanding alliance. Her Majesty's Royal Chapel of the Mohawks is an important reminder of the original agreements made with Queen Anne in 1710. It is still in use today as one of two royal Chapels in Canada and the oldest Protestant Church in the province. Joseph Brant and his son John Brant are buried here. Chief John Brant (Mohawk leader) (Ahyonwaeghs) was one of the sons of Joseph Brant. He fought with the British during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

and later worked to improve the welfare of the First Nations. He was involved in building schools and improving the welfare of his people. Brant initiated the opening of schools and from 1828 served as the first native Superintendent of the Six Nations. Chief Brant was elected to Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada for Haldimand in 1830 and was the first aboriginal Canadian in Parliament. The stone and brick Brant County Courthouse was built on land purchased from the Six Nations in 1852. The structure housed court rooms, county offices, a law library and a gaol. During additions in the 1880s, the Greek Revival style, with Doric columns, was retained. Among the most famed residents were Alexander Graham Bell and his family, who arrived in mid 1870 from Scotland while Bell was suffering from tuberculosis. They lived with Bell's father and mother who had settled in a farmhouse on Tutela Heights (named after the First Nations tribe of the areaPatten, William; Bell, Alexander Melville
Pioneering The Telephone In Canada
, Montreal: Herald Press, 1926, pg.7. (Note: Patten's full name as published is William Patten, not Gulielmus Patten as stated at Google Books) and later absorbed into Brantford.) Then called Melville House, it is now a museum, the Bell Homestead National Historic Site. This was the site of the invention of the telephone in 1874 and ongoing trials in 1876. The Bell Memorial, also known as the Bell Monument, was commissioned to commemorate Bell's

invention of the telephone The invention of the telephone was the culmination of work done by more than one individual, and led to an array of lawsuits relating to the patent claims of several individuals and numerous companies. Early development The concept of th ...

in Brantford; it is also one of the National Historic Sites of Canada. file:Alexander Graham Bell Brantford Monument 0.98.jpg, 500px, center, The Bell Memorial, commemorating the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell. The monument, paid by public subscription and sculpted by Walter Seymour Allward, W.S. Allward, was dedicated by the Governor General of Canada, Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire with Dr. Bell in The Telephone City's Alexander Graham Bell Gardens in 1917. Included on the main tableau are figures representing "Man, the Inventor," "Inspiration whispering to Man, his power to transmit sound through space," as well as "Knowledge, Joy, Sorrow." Courtesy: Brantford Heritage Inventory, alt=A majestic, broad monument with figures mounted on pedestals to its left and right sides. Along the main portion of the monument are five figures mounted on a broad casting, including a man reclining, plus four floating female figures representing Inspiration, Knowledge, Joy, and Sorrow.

Invention of the telephone

Some articles suggest that the telephone was invented in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

where Alexander Graham Bell did a great deal of work on the development of the device. However, Bell confirmed Brantford as the birthplace of the device in a 1906 speech: "the telephone problem was solved, and it was solved at my father's home". At the unveiling of the Bell Memorial on 24 October 1917, Bell reminded the attendees that "Brantford is right in claiming the invention of the telephone here... hich wasconceived in Brantford in 1874 and born in Boston in 1875" and that "the first transmission to a distance was made between Brantford and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

" (on 3 August 1876). As well, the second successful voice transmission (over a distance of 6 km; 4 miles) was also made in the area, on 4 August 1876, between the telegraph office in Brantford, Ontario and Bell's father's homestead over makeshift wires. Canada's first telephone factory, created by James Cowherd, was located in Brantford and operated from about 1879 until Cowherd's death in 1881. The first telephone business office which opened in 1877, not far from the Bell Homestead, was located in what is now Brantford. The combination of events has led to Brantford calling itself "The Telephone City".

Law and Government

Brantford is located within the County of Brant; however, it is a single-tier municipality, politically separate from the County. ''Ontario's Municipal Act, 2001'' defines single-tier municipalities as "a municipality, other than an upper-tier municipality, that does not form part of an upper-tier municipality for municipal purposes". Single-tier municipalities provide for all local government services. At the federal and provincial levels of government, Brantford is part of the Brant riding. Brantford City Council is the municipal governing body. As of October 22, 2018, the mayor is Kevin Davis.

Safety

Brantford's economy was hit hard in the 1980s when farm equipment manufacturers

Massey Ferguson Massey Ferguson Limited is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. The company was established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of the United Kingdom. It was based in ...

and

White Farm Equipment White Farm Equipment is a manufacturer of agricultural machinery, now discontinued except for planters, and owned by AGCO. History In 1960, the White Motor Company entered the agriculture market with the purchase of the Oliver Farm Equipment ...

closed their local plants. By the end of 1981, the city's unemployment rate reached 22%. As with other small Ontario cities hit by the decline of manufacturing, the community struggled with an increase in social problems. In more recent times, the city was hit hard by the

opioid crisis The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and Drug overdose, overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It in ...

. In 2018, Brantford had the highest rate of emergency department visits for overdose of any city in Ontario. In 2018, Brantford police reported an overall crime rate of 6,533 incidents per 100,000 population, 59% higher than in Ontario (4,113) and 19% higher than in Canada (5,488). The same year, ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

'' magazine ranked Brantford as having a higher rate of crime severity than most of the province.

Economy

The electric telephone was invented here, leading to the establishment of Canada's first telephone factory here in the 1870s. Brantford developed as an important Canadian industrial centre for the first half of the 20th century, and it was once the third-ranked Canadian city in terms of cash-value of manufactured goods exported. The city developed at the deepest navigable point of the Grand River. Because of existing networks, it became a railroad hub of Southern Ontario. The combination of water and rail helped Brantford develop from a farming community into an industrial city with many blue-collar jobs, based on the agriculture implement industry. Major companies included S.C. Johnson Wax, Massey-Harris, Verity Plow, and the

Cockshutt Plow Company Cockshutt was a large agricultural machinery manufacturer, known as Cockshutt Farm Equipment Limited (1957–1962), based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Founded as the Brantford Plow Works by James G. Cockshutt in 1877, the name was changed to the ...

. This industry, more than any other, provided the well-paying and steady employment that allowed Brantford to sustain economic growth through most of the 20th century. By the 1980s and 1990s, the economy of Brantford was in steady decline due to changes in heavy industry and its restructuring. Numerous companies suffered bankruptcies, such as

(and its successor, Massey Combines Corporation), Koering-Waterous, Harding Carpets, and other manufacturers. The bankruptcies and closures of the businesses left thousands of people unemployed and created one of the most economically depressed areas in the country, and had a particular impact on the once vibrant downtown. An economic revival was prompted by the completion of the Brantford-to- Ancaster section of Highway 403 in 1997, bringing companies easy access to Hamilton and

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 anch ...

and completing a direct route from

Detroit 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 t ...

to Buffalo. In 2004

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

and

Ferrero SpA Ferrero SpA (), more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba, Italy. manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate produc ...

chose to locate in the city. Though Wescast Industries, Inc. recently closed their local foundry, their corporate headquarters will remain in Brantford.

SC Johnson S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. (commonly referred to as S. C. Johnson) is an American multinational, privately held manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals based in Racine, Wisconsin. In 2017, S. C. Joh ...

Canada has their headquarters and a manufacturing plant in Brantford, connected to the Canadian National network. Other companies that have their headquarters here include Gunther Mele and GreenMantra Technologies. On February 16, 2005, Brant, including Brantford, was added to the Greater

Golden Horseshoe The Golden Horseshoe is a secondary region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. The ...

along with Haldimand and

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

counties. In February 2019, Brantford's unemployment rate stood at 4.6% – lower than Ontario's rate of 5.6%.

Climate

Brantford 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 ...

(

Dfb DFB may refer to: * Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city * Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas * Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia * Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate * Distributed-feedback ...

) with warm to hot summers and cold, moderately snowy winters, though not severe by Canadian standards.

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, Brantford 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 The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of stat ...

(CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Brantford 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. 95,780 gave their ethnic background on the 2016 census. Brantford has the highest proportion of Status Indians in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

, outside of an

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." In ...

. In 2021, 51.8% of residents were Christian, down from 64.8% in 2011. 22.2% of residents were

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, 17.6% were

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, and 7.7% were Christian not otherwise specified. All other Christian denominations and Christian-related traditions accounted for 4.1% of the population. 40.4% of residents had no religion, up from 31.6% in 2011. All other religions and spiritual traditions made up 8.1% of the population. The largest non-Christian religions were

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

(2.6%), Islam (2.0%),

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

(1.7%) and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

(0.5%).

Film and television

Brantford has been used as a filming location for TV and films. *The television series '' Murdoch Mysteries'' has used the Carnegie Building, now part of Wilfrid Laurier University's Brantford campus, as the courthouse. The interior of the Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts has also been featured in the series. In addition, Victoria Park and many of the older homes along Dalhousie and George streets have been used for shot locations. *The television series '' The Boys'' upcoming season 3 was partially filmed in Brantford during the spring of 2021. *The television series ''The Handmaid's Tale'' had several locations filmed in Brantford during 2018,2020 and 2022. *Several movies have had scenes shot at the Brantford Airport, including '' Welcome to Mooseport'' and '' Where the Truth Lies''. Many '' Mayday'' episodes have also been filmed there. *An episode of '' Due South'', "Dr. Long Ball", was filmed at

Arnold Anderson Stadium Arnold Anderson Stadium at Cockshutt Park is a baseball venue located in Brantford, Ontario and home to the Brantford Red Sox of the Intercounty Baseball League and the Brantford Jr. Red Sox of the Junior Intercounty Baseball League. Cockshutt Pa ...

in Cockshutt Park. *Brantford's downtown provided locations for ''

Weirdsville ''Weirdsville'' is a black comedy film directed by Allan Moyle and written by Willem Wennekers. It premiered January 18, 2007 at the 2007 Slamdance Film Festival.

'' in 2006 and "

Silent Hill is a horror anthology media franchise centered on a series of survival horror games created by Keiichiro Toyama and published by Konami. The first four video games in the series, '' Silent Hill'', ''Silent Hill 2'', ''Silent Hill 3'' and '' ...

" in 2005. Many area residents observed that little work had to be done to make downtown look decayed and haunted. *Brantford's Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts was used as "The Rose" mainstage theatre of the "New Burbage Festival" in the series ''

Slings & Arrows ''Slings & Arrows'' is a Canadian television series set at the fictional New Burbage Festival, a Shakespearean festival similar to the real-world Stratford Festival. It stars Paul Gross, Stephen Ouimette and Martha Burns. Rachel McAdams appeared ...

.''

Education

Statistics from the Federal 2016 Census indicated that 54.1% of Brantford's adult residents (age 25 to 64) had earned either a Post-secondary certificate, diploma, or university degree.

Universities and colleges

Several post-secondary institutions have facilities in Brantford. * Laurier Brantford, a campus of Wilfrid Laurier University, offers a variety of programs at their downtown campus. The 2013-14 enrollment is 2,800 full-time students. **The Faculty of Liberal Arts includes Contemporary Studies, Journalism, History, English, Youth and Children's Studies, Human Rights and Human Diversity, Languages at Brantford and Law and Society programs. The Faculty of Human and Social Sciences includes Criminology, Health Studies, Psychology and Leadership. **The Faculty of Social Work includes the Bachelor of Social Work. **The Faculty of Graduate and Post-Doctoral Studies includes Social Justice and Community Engagement (MA) and Criminology (MA) **The School of Business and Economics includes Business Technology Management. * Six Nations Polytechnic operates out of the former Mohawk College campus. The school offers various 2-year college programs from their campus in Brantford. They also have a campus on the nearby Six Nations of the Grand River, catering to mostly university programs. *

Nipissing University , mottoeng = Spirit of Integrity , established = , former_names = Northeastern University (1960-1967), Nipissing College (1967-1992) , type = Public University , academic_affiliation = COU, CVU, Universities Canada , endowment ...

, in partnership with Laurier Brantford, offers the Concurrent Education program in Brantford. In five years, students earn an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Society, Culture & Environment from Laurier Brantford, and a Bachelor of Education from Nipissing University. During the 2013–14 academic year there were 70 full-time and 100 part-time students in the program. * Conestoga College offers academic programming in Brantford's downtown core in partnership with Wilfrid Laurier University and its Laurier Brantford campus. Conestoga College offer diplomas in Business and Health Office Administration, a graduate certificate in Human Resources Management, and a certificate in Medical Office Practice in Brantford. This program has 120 full-time students in the 2013–14 academic year. * Mohawk College had a satellite campus; however, the college ceased operations in Brantford and transferred the property to Six Nations Polytechnic at the end of the 2013–14 academic year.

Secondary schools

Public education in the area is managed by the

Grand Erie District School Board The Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB, Originally known as Haldimand Norfolk Brant (English-language Public) District School Board No. 23 prior to May 1998) is a school board that has legal jurisdiction over Norfolk County, Haldimand Coun ...

, and Catholic education is managed by the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board. *

Assumption College 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 ...

(Catholic) *

Brantford Collegiate Institute Brantford Collegiate Institute and Vocational School, also known as "Brantford Collegiate Institute" or "BCI", is a secondary school in the city of Brantford. It is a member of the Grand Erie District School Board, a medium-sized school board in ...

- successor to Brantford Grammar School (c. 1852) and Brantford High School (c. 1871). * North Park Collegiate & Vocational School *

Pauline Johnson Collegiate & Vocational School Pauline Johnson Collegiate & Vocational School in Brantford, Ontario, Canada is a composite high school with collegiate and vocational departments. It was named in honour of the Canadian First Nations poet E. Pauline Johnson, who was born nearby ...

* St. John's College (Catholic) *Tollgate Technological Skills Centre (formerly known as Herman E. Fawcett) *Grand Erie Learning Alternatives (GELA)

Elementary schools

Public education in the area is managed by the

, and Catholic education is managed by the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board and the

Conseil Scolaire de District Catholique Centre-Sud Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir ( en, My Future Catholic School Board) is a Roman Catholic French first language public- separate school board that manages elementary and secondary schools in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The school board o ...

. *Christ The King School (Catholic) *St. Peter School (Catholic) *Holy Cross School (Catholic) *St. Basil Catholic Elementary School (Catholic) *Jean Vanier Catholic Elementary School (Catholic) *Notre Dame Catholic Elementary School (Catholic) *St. Pius X Catholic Elementary School (Catholic) *St. Gabriel Catholic Elementary School (Catholic) *Our Lady of Providence Catholic Elementary School (Catholic) *Resurrection School (Catholic) *St. Leo School (Catholic) *St. Patrick School (Catholic) *Russell Reid Elementary School *Woodman-Cainsville School *Echo Place School *Cedarland Public School *Centennial-Grand Woodlands School *École Confederation (French Immersion) *Dufferin Public School (French Immersion) *Walter Gretzky Elementary School * Mount Pleasant Public School *Ryerson Heights Elementary School *Graham Bell-Victoria Public School *Lansdowne-Costain Public School *Major Ballachey Public School *Agnes G. Hodge Public School *Prince Charles Public School *Greenbrier Public School *James Hillier Public School *Grandview Public School *Banbury Heights School *King George School *Branlyn School *Brier Park School *Central School *Princess Elizabeth Public School *Bellview Public School *St. Marguerite Bourgeois (French) *Brantford Christian School (Separate) *Central Baptist Academy (Baptist)

Other

*The W. Ross Macdonald School for blind and deafblind students is located in Brantford. *The Mohawk Institute Residential School, a Canadian Indian residential school, was located in Brantford. It was closed after emphasis on educating children in their home communities and encouraging their own cultures, in part because of reporting of abuses at such facilities. *Victoria Academy is a private secondary school in Brantford. *Braemar House School is a private elementary school in Brantford offering diverse Montessori and Elementary School curriculum.

Media

Print

The ''

Brantford Expositor The ''Brantford Expositor'' is an English language newspaper based in Brantford, Ontario and owned by Postmedia. It provides the readers with coverage of local news, sports and events to the community as well as coverage of provincial, national a ...

'', started in 1852, is published six days per week (excluding Sundays) by Sun Media Corp. The ''Brant News'' was a weekly paper, delivered Thursdays until 2018; it publishes breaking news online at their website, and is published by

Metroland Media Group Metroland Media Group (also known as Community Brands) is a Canadian mass media publisher and distributor which primarily operates in Southern Ontario. A division of the publishing conglomerate Torstar Corporation, Metroland publishes more than 7 ...

. The '' Two Row Times,'' a Free weekly paper started in 2013, is published on Wednesdays, delivered to every reservation in Ontario and globally online at their website, published by Garlow Media. BScene, a Free community paper founded in 2014, is published monthly and distributed locally throughout Brantford and Brant County via local businesses and community centers, It can also be viewed online at their website. Independently published.

Radio

*AM 1380 -

CKPC (AM) CKPC (1380 kHz, ''Arise Christian Radio AM 1380'') is a commercial AM radio station in Brantford, Ontario. Owned by Evanov Communications, it broadcasts a Christian format. Mornings, afternoons and late nights, the station plays Christian conte ...

, religious *FM 92.1 -

CKPC-FM CKPC-FM (92.1 FM broadcasting, FM, ''Lite 92'') is a radio station in Brantford, Ontario. Owned by Evanov Communications, it broadcasts a soft adult contemporary format, billed as "Southern Ontario's Lite Favourites". With an 80,000 watt signal, ...

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

*FM 93.9 - CFWC-FM,

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

Television

Brantford's only local television service comes from Rogers TV (cable 20), a local community channel on Rogers Cable. Otherwise, Brantford is served by stations from

, Hamilton and Kitchener.

Transportation

Air

Brantford Municipal Airport is located west of the city. It hosts an annual air show, featuring the

Snowbirds The Snowbirds, officially known as 431 Air Demonstration Squadron (french: 431e Escadron de démonstration aérienne, links=no), are the military aerobatics flight demonstration team of the Royal Canadian Air Force. The team is based at 15 Wing ...

. The John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Hamilton is located about 35 km (20 miles) east of Brantford.

Toronto Pearson International Airport Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surr ...

is located in Mississauga, about 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Brantford.

Rail

Brantford station is located just north of downtown Brantford.

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

has daily passenger trains on the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. Trains also stop at

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

. Street rail began in Brantford in 1886 with horse-drawn carriages; by 1893 this system had been converted to electric. The City of Brantford took over these operations in 1914. Around 1936 it began to replace the electric street car system with gas-run buses, and by the end of 1939 the change-over was complete.

Bus

* Brantford Transit serves the city with nine regular routes operating on a half-hour schedule from the downtown Transit Terminal on Darling Street, with additional school service. * GO bus service between downtown Brantford and Aldershot GO Station in Burlington, stopping at

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

. *An on-demand service, Brant eRide, provides service to

, St. George, and Burford.

Provincial highways

* Highway 403, East to Hamilton, West to Woodstock. * Highway 24, North to Cambridge, South to Simcoe.

Cycling

, there are at least of

bikeway Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by Motor vehicle, motorists are also cycling infrastructu ...

s in Brantford. There are some planned street redesigns which include protected bike lanes and

multi-use trail A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...

s, which are in the public consultation phase. Some former rail lines serving Brantford have been converted to rail trails, which allow for intercommunity cycling connections to the north, south, and east. This includes the SC Johnson Trail to Paris (with further connections north to Cambridge and beyond) and the Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail, which provides a connection east to Hamilton through Dundas and Jerseyville. Twin rail trails, the LE&N Trail and TH&B Trail, connect south to Mount Pleasant, where they connect further south ultimately to

Port Dover Port Dover is an unincorporated community and former town located in Norfolk County, Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Erie. It is the site of the recurring Friday the 13th motorcycle rally. Prior to the War of 1812, this community ...

Culture and entertainment

Local museums include the Bell Homestead, Woodland Cultural Centre, Brant Museum and Archives, Canadian Military Heritage Museum and the Personal Computer Museum. Annual events include the "Brantford International Villages Festival" in July; the "Brantford Kinsmen Annual Ribfest" in August; the "Chili Willy Cook-Off" in February; the "Frosty Fest", a Church festival held in winter; The Bell Summer Theatre Festival, takes place from Canada Day to Labour Day at the Bell Homestead Brantford is the home of several theatre groups including Brant Theatre Workshops, Dufferin Players, His Majesty's players, ICHTHYS Theatre, Stage 88, Theatre Brantford and Whimsical Players. Brantford has a casino, Elements Casino Brantford. The Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts is a local performance venue.

Brantford Public Library

Brantford Public Library's central branch is located downtown on Colborne Street. It has an additional branch on St. Paul Avenue. It has been

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

since 1984. In 2000, the library was the first in North America to join the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

model library network.

Sports teams and tournaments

Current intercounty or major teams

* Brantford Red Sox of the

Intercounty Baseball League The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is a Canadian amateur baseball league, comprising teams of college players and former professionals from North America and beyond. The teams are located in Southern Ontario. The league was formed in 1919 and ...

who play at Arnold Anderson Stadium *Brantford Braves of the Junior Intercounty Baseball League who also play at Arnold Anderson Stadium * Brantford Blast of the Allan Cup Hockey League who play at the Brantford Civic Centre * Brantford 99ers of the

Ontario Junior Hockey League The Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) is a Junior A ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. It is under the supervision of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) and the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The league was listed as the 7th best d ...

* Brantford Bandits of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League *

Brantford Galaxy SC Brantford Galaxy Soccer Club was a semi-professional Canadian Association football, soccer club based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, with their home venue located in Hamilton, Ontario at the Heritage Field Turf. The club competes in the Canadian S ...

of the Canadian Soccer League who play at Lion's Park. * Brantford Harlequins of the

Ontario Rugby Union The Ontario Rugby Union (ORU) also known as 'Rugby Ontario'' is the provincial governing body for the sport of rugby union in the Canadian province of Ontario and a Provincial Union of Rugby Canada. Rugby Ontario governs various levels of rugby (U ...

Defunct teams

* Brantford Alexanders (1976 to 1978), a former team of the Senior Ontario Hockey Association who played at the Brantford Civic Centre. Won 1978 Allan Cup. * Brantford Motts Clamatos. Won 1987 Allan Cup. * Brantford Golden Eagles of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League, moved in 2012 to become

Caledonia Corvairs The Caledonia Corvairs are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Caledonia, Ontario, Canada. They played in the Golden Horseshoe Conference of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League. The team announced it would not participate in the 201 ...

. * Brantford Alexanders (1978 to 1984), a former team of the

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 overa ...

who played at the Brantford Civic Centre. They are now the

Erie Otters The Erie Otters are a Major junior ice hockey team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Midwest division of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), one of only three American teams in the circuit. The team name refers to the North Am ...

. * Brantford Smoke (1991–1998) of the CoHL,

Colonial Hockey League Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

who played at the Brantford Civic Centre. The team moved to Asheville in 1998. *Brantford Blaze of the Canadian National Basketball League, played only a few exhibition games in 2003–04.

Events

*The Wayne Gretzky International Hockey Tournament, which celebrated its 9th anniversary in 2015, is held in Brantford annually *Brantford hosted and won the 2008

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 ...

, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the event. *The city served as the pre-season camp and facility for the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

during the late 1960s, hosting the franchise's first preseason training camp and its first preseason exhibition game. *The Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament, celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2016, is held in Brantford annually. In 2010, this "great" tournament was recognized and established a Guinness World Record for the largest Street Hockey Tournament in the world with 205 teams with just over 2,096 participants.

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

Brantford is twinned with: * Ostrów Wielkopolski, Poland *

Kamianets-Podilskyi Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...

, Ukraine

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1877 establishments in Ontario Cities in Ontario Populated places established in 1877 Populated places on the Underground Railroad Populated places on the Grand River (Ontario) Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Southwestern Ontario