Kingsville is a town in Essex County in southwestern

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. It is Canada's southernmost municipality with town status. The town had a population of 21,552 in the

Canada 2016 Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...

, up from 21,362 in the Canada 2011 Census.

History

Kingsville was incorporated as a town in 1901. On 1 January 1999, the Town was amalgamated with the adjoining Township of Gosfield North and Township of Gosfield South to form an expanded municipality.

Geography

Kingsville is west of the Municipality of Leamington, south of the Town of Lakeshore and southeast of the Town of Essex and north of

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also h ...

. The geography of Kingsville is typical of most of Essex County. The terrain is generally flat, and consists of glacial drift which is a mixture of various rocks, sand and clay. The town is approximately 570 feet above sea level.

Communities

In addition to the primary settlement at Kingsville, the municipality also includes the smaller communities of Cedar Beach, Cedar Island, Cedarhurst Park, Cottam, Klondyke, Linden Beach, North Ridge, Olinda, Ruthven and Union. The community of Albuna is located on the boundary between Kingsville and Leamington, and the communities of Arner and Elford are located on the boundary between Kingsville and Essex.

Climate

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, Kingsville 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.

Attractions

Kingsville is home to the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary. Jack Miner was awarded The

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) for his achievements in conservation in the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. It was awarded June 23, 1943, by King George VI, as

King of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional Canadian federalism, federal structure and Westminster system, Westminster-style Parliamentar ...

. Jack Miner is considered "the father of the conservation movement on the continent". Kingsville is home to Colasanti's Tropical Gardens which attracts people from all over Ontario. The gardens have many varieties of tropical plants and animals. Kingsville is also home to the Kingsville Folk Festival which is directed by Michelle Law. It began in early August 2014 and hopes to continue each year with headliners such as

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to jazz-influenced rock and his lyrics cover a broad range of topics including human rights, environmental issues, p ...

Sports

Kingsville was, for 26 years, the home town of the Great Lakes Jr. C team Kingsville Comets. The team was sold and moved to Amherstburg in 2013, becoming the Amherstburg Admirals. The town was among the top 5 places in Canada chosen for CBC's Kraft Hockeyville 2008, and finished in 2nd place in the competition with over 1.5 million votes. In 2015, the

Kingsville Kings The Kingsville Kings are a junior ice hockey team based in Kingsville, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the South Division of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL). The Kings were founded in 2015 and joined the GMHL to compete in t ...

were formed and added to the South Conference of the

Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League The Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League (GMHL) is a Canadian developmental junior ice hockey league. The league has primarily had teams in the Greater Toronto Area, Central Ontario, Northeastern Ontario, and Quebec. In 2019, they added three ...

. They play out of the Kingsville Arena Complex. After playing a neutral site game in Kingsville during the 2016–17 season, the

St. Clair Shores Fighting Saints The St. Clair Shores Fighting Saints were a minor professional ice hockey team in the Federal Hockey League that began play in the 2016–17 season based in St. Clair Shores, Michigan. The Fighting Saints played their home games at the St. Clai ...

of the

Federal Hockey League The Federal Prospects Hockey League (FPHL) is a professional ice hockey independent minor league with teams in the Midwestern, Southern, and Northeastern United States. The FPHL began operations in November 2010 as the Federal Hockey League. Do ...

relocated to Kingsville for the 2017–18 season as the North Shore Knights. The team played most of its home games out of the Kingsville Arena Complex with a few other neutral site home games in various cities in Ontario and Quebec. After cancelling several games during the season, the Knights were not listed as an FHL member the following season. Team Canada women's

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player

Meghan Agosta Meghan Christina Agosta (born February 12, 1987) is a Canadian women's ice hockey forward, who last played for the Montreal Stars of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. Agosta plays for the Canada women's national ice hockey team and is a gol ...

is from the Ruthven community in Kingsville. Agosta scored a hat trick on her birthday during the 2006 Winter Olympic games in Turin Italy. Former major league baseball pitcher, Paul Quantrill, although born in London, Ontario, grew up in Kingsville.

Education

Kingsville has three elementary schools, Kingsville Public School, Jack Miner Public School and St. John de Brebeuf Catholic Elementary School. A fourth school, Ruthven Public School, was closed in the summer of 2013 due to overall declining enrollment. Students from Ruthven were assigned to Jack Miner Public School. Kingsville District High School has a student population of 656.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places on Lake Erie in Canada Towns in Ontario Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in Essex County, Ontario