Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 104,316)"Census Profile, 2016 Census Chatham-Kent, Municipality"
Statistics Canada, August 25, 2017. is a

single-tier municipality A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governm ...

Southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake ...

, Canada. Mostly rural, its population centres are Chatham,

Wallaceburg Wallaceburg ( 2016 population 10,098) is an unincorporated community in the municipality of Chatham-Kent in Southern (Southwestern) Ontario, Canada. Originally a small settlement, it was recognized for its significant contribution to the lumbe ...

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an anc ...

Blenheim Blenheim ( ) is the English name of Blindheim, a village in Bavaria, Germany, which was the site of the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. Almost all places and other things called Blenheim are named directly or indirectly in honour of the battle. Places ...

Ridgetown Ridgetown is a community located in south-east Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus. It has a 2021 population of 2,797 and is one of many small farming communities in Chatham-Kent. The town motto ...

Wheatley Wheatley may refer to: Places * Wheatley (crater), on Venus * Wheatley, Ontario, Canada * Wheatley, Hampshire, England * Wheatley, Oxfordshire, England ** Wheatley railway station * Wheatley, South Yorkshire, England * Wheatley, now Ben Rhyddi ...

and

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. The current Municipality of Chatham-Kent was created in 1998 by the amalgamation of Blenheim, Bothwell, Camden, city of Chatham, township of Chatham, Dover, Dresden, Erie Beach, Erieau, Harwich, Highgate, Howard, Orford, Raleigh, Ridgetown, Rodney, Thamesville, Tilbury East, Tilbury, Wallaceburg, Wheatley and Zone. The Chatham-Kent

census division Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic uni ...

, which includes the independent

Delaware Nation at Moraviantown Moravian 47 (Munsee: ''Náahii'', literally 'downstream', in contrast with Munsee-Delaware Nation, referred to as "Nalahii", meaning "upstream") is an Indian reserve located in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, with an area of . It is occupied by the Delawar ...

First Nation, had a population of 102,042 in the 2016 census.

History

The area of Chatham-Kent is part of the traditional territory of the

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They h ...

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

and

Wyandot Wyandot may refer to: Native American ethnography * Wyandot people, also known as the Huron * Wyandot language * Wyandot religion Places * Wyandot, Ohio, an unincorporated community * Wyandot County, Ohio * Camp Wyandot, a Camp Fire Boys and ...

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 Nat ...

of Canada. After the Treaty of Paris in 1763 ceded control of the area from the French to the British, it became part of the Territory of Quebec. The title to the Chatham-Kent area was surrendered to the British as part of the 1790 McKee's Purchase, (named for

Alexander McKee Alexander McKee ( – 15 January 1799) was an American-born military officer and colonial official in the British Indian Department during the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, and the Northwest Indian War. He achieved the ...

) to provide land for settlers. McKee's Purchase was designated an Event of National Historic Significance in Canada in 1931. A historical plaque for the purchase is located in Blenheim Park in Blenheim. Indigenous persons remain resident in the area today at the Delaware Nation at Moraviantown and

Walpole Island First Nation Walpole Island is an island and First Nation reserve in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the border between Ontario and Michigan in the United States. It is located in the mouth of the St. Clair River on Lake St. Clair, about by road from Wi ...

. European settlement of the former city of Chatham area began with a naval dockyard in 1792, at the mouth of the

Thames River The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

. The town was named after

William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...

. It was built as a naval dockyard, a characteristic shared by Chatham, Kent, England. In England, the name Chatham came from the British root ''ceto'' and the Old English ''ham'' thus meaning a forest settlement.The Place Names of Kent, Judith Glover, 1976, Batsford. Following 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 Revolu ...

and the

Gnadenhutten massacre The Gnadenhutten massacre, also known as the Moravian massacre, was the killing of 96 pacifist Moravian Christian Indians (primarily Lenape and Mohican) by U.S. militiamen from Pennsylvania, under the command of David Williamson, on March 8, ...

, a group of

Christian Munsee The Christian Munsee are a group of Lenape (also known as ''Delaware''), an Indigenous people in the United States, that primarily speak Munsee and have converted to Christianity, following the teachings of Moravian missionaries. The Christian M ...

settled in what is now the Moraviantown reserve. In the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

, the

Battle of the Thames The Battle of the Thames , also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was an American victory in the War of 1812 against Tecumseh's Confederacy and their United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British allies. It took place on October 5, 1813 ...

took place between Moraviantown and

Thamesville Thamesville is a community in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the junction of former provincial Highways 2 and 21, between Chatham and London. Its name comes from the Thames River that flows nearby and the suffix -"ville". ...

on October 5, 1813.

Black population

During the 19th century, the area was the northern

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

of 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. ...

. As a result, Chatham-Kent is now part of the African-Canadian Heritage Tour. Josiah Henson Museum for African-Canadian History, formally known as

Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site The Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History (french: Musée Josiah Henson l'histoire des Afro-Canadiens) is an open-air museum in Dresden, Ontario, Canada, that documents the life of Josiah Henson, the history of slavery, and the Underg ...

is a museum of the Dawn Settlement, established in 1841 by

Josiah Henson Josiah Henson (June 15, 1789 – May 5, 1883) was an author, abolitionist, and minister. Born into slavery, in Port Tobacco, Charles County, Maryland, he escaped to Upper Canada (now Ontario) in 1830, and founded a settlement and laborer's ...

near Dresden as refuge for the many slaves who escaped to Canada from the United States.

John Brown John Brown most often refers to: *John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859 John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to: Academia *John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Iri ...

, the abolitionist, planned his raid on the Harpers Ferry Arsenal in Chatham and recruited local men to participate in the raid. He held in Chatham a

Convention of Colored Men Convention may refer to: * Convention (norm), a custom or tradition, a standard of presentation or conduct ** Treaty, an agreement in international law * Convention (meeting), meeting of a (usually large) group of individuals and/or companies in a ...

on May 8–10, 1858. The small village of

North Buxton North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

, part of the

African Canadian Heritage Tour This is a List of Ontario Tourist Routes throughout the province, which are designated to highlight places of cultural, environmental, or social importance. It is currently unknown if the majority of these trails are still listed since many of the ...

, also played an important role in the

. By the 1850s, the city of Chatham was referred to as the "

black mecca A black mecca, in the United States, is a city to which African Americans, particularly singles, professionals, and middle-class families, are drawn to live, due to some or all of the following factors: * superior economic opportunities for blac ...

of Canada". A museum in the city, the Black Mecca Museum, still bears this name. Chatham was home to a number of

black churches The black church (sometimes termed Black Christianity or African American Christianity) is the faith and body of Christian congregations and denominations in the United States that minister predominantly to African Americans, as well as thei ...

and business, with

Black Canadians Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though ...

making up one-third of the city's population and controlling a significant portion of the city's political power. Nearby

and

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Chatham Motor Car Company The Chatham Motor Car Company was a Canadian brass era automobile manufacturer, based in Chatham, Ontario, from 1906 to 1909. History The company was created in 1906. Investors included Joseph T. O'Keefe and Thomas A. Drew (partners in the O ...

,Rhodes, John. "Car company made 35 units", written June 17, 2008, at
''Chatham This Week'' online
(retrieved June 13, 2017) and from 1919 to 1921, Denby Motor Truck Company of Canada. It was also where the

Hyslop and Ronald Hyslop and Ronald was a Canadian brass era steam fire engine A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of ...

steam

fire engine A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

manufacturer was located; the factory would be taken over by Chatham Motor Car. In addition, it hosted

meat packer The meat-packing industry (also spelled meatpacking industry or meat packing industry) handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of meat from animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. Poultry is generally ...

O'Keefe and Drew O'Keefe and Drew was a meat packer and pork retailer based in Chatham, Ontario.Rhodes, John. "Chatham was home to luxury car manufacturer that took on city's name", written 18 October 2016, a''Chatham This Week'' online(retrieved 13 June 2017) H ...

. The

Hawaiian pizza Hawaiian pizza is a pizza originating in Canada, and is traditionally topped with pineapple, tomato sauce, cheese, and either ham or bacon. History Sam Panopoulos, a Greek-born Canadian, created the first Hawaiian pizza at the Satellite R ...

is claimed to have been invented in Chatham in 1962 at the Satellite Restaurant by

Sam Panopoulos Sotirios "Sam" Panopoulos ( el, Σωτήριος Πανόπουλος; 20 August 1934 8 June 2017) was a Greek-born Canadian cook and businessman, credited as the inventor of Hawaiian pizza. Early life Sotirios Panopoulos was born in Vourvoura ...

. In the U.S., former

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

Governor

Jim Rhodes James Allen Rhodes (September 13, 1909 – March 4, 2001) was an American Republican politician who served as Governor of Ohio from 1963 to 1971 and again from 1975 to 1983. , Rhodes was one of only seven U.S. governors to serve four four-year ...

proposed building a bridge across Lake Erie linking

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

to the southern coast of Kent County. Before 1998, Kent County consisted of the

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

, Chatham,

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton- ...

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also prob ...

, Orford,

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

, Romney, Tilbury East and

Zone Zone or The Zone may refer to: Places Climate and altitude zones * Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span * Frigid zone, ...

. In some of Canada's earliest post-Confederation censuses, some residences in Kent County were incorrectly reported as being in Bothwell "County", which was a separate electoral district comprising parts of Kent and Lambton counties but not a distinct county in its own right. In 1998, the

County of Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces th ...

and the city of Chatham were amalgamated by the Province of Ontario to form the Municipality of Chatham–Kent. Most services were also combined. Since then, bus service has begun to serve all of Chatham-Kent. Starting in 2007, routes were set up to include the former towns of

and

. Before 1998, each town had their own fire department. It then became the Chatham-Kent Fire Department upon amalgamation. The county also had separate police departments until 1998. The city of Chatham, as well as the towns of

, and

, each had their own departments. The Chatham-Kent Police Service was formed on September 1, 1998. Many residents opposed amalgamation, as 18 city councillors boycotted the official vote, and the final decision to amalgamate was imposed on the County by a provincial commissioner. In a study on amalgamations in Ontario from 2003, 48% of respondents in Chatham-Kent felt the value they received as taxpayers became worse after amalgamation, and 64% of respondents still did not think of the community as "the Municipality of Chatham-Kent." Chatham-Kent has many historic festivals throughout the year, such as the

Battle of Longwoods The Battle of Longwoods took place during the Anglo-American War of 1812. On 4 March 1814, a mounted American raiding party defeated an attempt by British regulars, volunteers from the Canadian militia and Native Americans to intercept them near ...

reenactment, which takes place on Labour Day weekend at Fairfield Museum on Longwoods Road. Chatham Kent is also home to many historic buildings which are part of an annual ghost tour offered each year at Halloween. The participants go on a guided walk of downtown while the guide informs them of various ghost stories tied to the local buildings in which they pass. Chatham-Kent was a major part of the

and as such hosts the

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

; Croton, Dawn Mills, North Thamesville; Wabash; Oakdale * Chatham Township: ** Chatham,

; Appledore, Arkwood, Darrell, Eberts, Kent Bridge, Louisville, Oldfield, Thornecliffe, Tupperville, Turnerville, Whitebread; Ennett, Riverside * Dover Township: ** Mitchell's Bay,

Pain Court Pain Court (often incorrectly spelled Paincourt) is a primarily French-speaking agricultural village in southwestern Ontario, Canada, in the municipality of Chatham-Kent. It was established in 1854, as one of the earliest French-speaking settleme ...

; Bagnall, Baldoon, Bearline, Bradley, Dover Centre, Electric, Grande Pointe, Oungah; Bass Haven * Harwich Township: **

, Erieau,

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...

; Bates Subdivision, Eatonville, Erie Beach, Fargo Station, Guilds, Huffman Corners, Kent Centre, Lake Morningstar Estates, McKay's Corners, Mull, New Scotland, Northwood, Pinehurst, Raglan, Rondeau Bay Estates, Troy, Van Horne, Vosburg, Wilson's Bush; Blenheim Junction, Lynnwood Subdivision, Porkies Corners, Richardson Station, Rushton's Corners * Howard Township: ** Morpeth,

; Beechwood, Botany, Selton; Slabtown, Trinity * Orford Township: **

Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organis ...

; Clearville, Duart, Muirkirk, Palmyra, Turin; Austen's, Clachan, Henderson's, Lee's * Raleigh Township: **

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

; Dealtown, Doyles,

, Ouvry, Pardoville, Prairie Siding, Rhodes, Ringold, Sleepy Hollow, South Buxton; Sandison, Southside Estates; Cedar Springs * Romney Township: **

; Coatsworth, Port Alma, Renwick; Holiday Harbour * Tilbury East Township: **

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

; Fletcher, Glenwood, Jeannette, Jeannette's Creek, Port Crewe, Quinn, Stevenson, Stewart, Valetta * Zone Township: **

Bothwell Bothwell is a conservation village in the South Lanarkshire council area of Scotland. It lies on the north bank of the River Clyde, adjacent to Uddingston and Hamilton, east-south-east of Glasgow city centre. Description and history An anc ...

; Bothwell Station, Briarwood Estates; Fairfield, Zone Centre

Geography

At , Chatham-Kent is the 12th largest municipality by area in Canada and the largest in southwestern Ontario. Over 44,000 of the 107,000 residents live in the former City of Chatham. Other population centres in the municipality include

and

. The Lower

runs through Chatham–Kent to

Lake St. Clair Lake St. Clair (french: Lac Sainte-Claire) is a freshwater lake that lies between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. It was named in 1679 by French Catholic explorers after Saint Clare of Assisi, on whose feast day ...

in the west, while the

Sydenham River The Sydenham River is a river in Chatham-Kent, Lambton County and Middlesex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, flowing southwest from its source west of London, Ontario and emptying into Lake Saint Clair. The length of the river is and it ...

flows through Wallaceburg and Dresden. The municipality has approximately 88 kilometres of shoreline along lake

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 at ...

and 24 kilometres along lake St. Clair. The

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." Indi ...

of Bkejwanong (commonly referred to as Walpole Island) borders on Chatham–Kent, whereas the Indian reserve of Moravian 47 is an enclave within the city and is part of the Chatham–Kent census agglomeration and census division.

Climate

Chatham-Kent 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 freez ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Dfa''), with cold, snowy winters and warm to hot, humid summers. A typical summer will feature heat waves with temperatures exceeding often. Winters are cold, and feature occasional cold snaps bringing temperatures below , but also commonly include mild stretches of weather above freezing.

Adjacent counties and municipalities

Lambton County Lambton County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which is drained by the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake Saint Cl ...

(north and northwest) * Middlesex County (northeast) *

Elgin County Elgin County is a county of the Canadian province of Ontario with a 2016 population of 50,069. Its population centres are St. Thomas, Aylmer, Port Stanley, Belmont, Dutton and West Lorne. The county seat is St. Thomas, which is separated from ...

(northeast and east) * Across

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 has t ...

: the City of

and

Cuyahoga Cuyahoga may refer to: Places * Cuyahoga County, Ohio * Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio * Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio * Cuyahoga River, northeast Ohio * Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio Ships * , a U.S. Coast Guard Cutter that sank in the Chesapeake Bay i ...

Lorain Lorain may refer to: Places * Lorain, Ohio * Lorain, Pennsylvania * Lorain, Wisconsin * Lorain County, Ohio ** Lorain County Community College * Lorain Township, Minnesota People * René Lorain (born 1900), French athlete * Sophie Lorain, C ...

and

Counties,

, US (south) * Essex County (southwest and west) * Across

: Macomb and St. Clair Counties,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, US (west)

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, Chatham-Kent 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.

Racial statistics

*White: 92% *Black: 2.1% *First Nations: 2% *Metis: 1.5% *South Asian: 0.6% *Other groups: 1.8%

Ethnocultural statistics

''For all groups that comprise at least 1% of the population. Note that a person can report more than one ethnic origin.'' *"Canadian": 34.7% *English: 32.9% *French: 21.9% *Scottish: 20.2% *Irish: 19.1% *German: 12.2% *Dutch: 11.1% *Belgian: 5.9% *First Nations: 3.1% *Italian: 2.1% *African descent: 2.1% *Polish: 2.1% *Ukrainian: 2.0% *Welsh: 1.5% *Czech: 1.4% *Metis: 1.2% *American (modern immigrant): 1.2% *Hungarian: 1.2% *Portuguese: 1.2% *Mexican: 1.0%

Language

Although most of the population of Chatham-Kent is English-speaking, a few of its communities and Catholic parishes were settled by francophone (French-speaking) farmers in the mid-nineteenth century. These include Pain Court, Tilbury and Grande Pointe, where French is still spoken by a significant percentage of the population. These communities are designated French language service areas under Ontario's

French Language Services Act The ''French Language Services Act'' (french: Loi sur les services en français) (the ''Act'') is a law in the province of Ontario, Canada which is intended to protect the rights of Franco-Ontarians, or French-speaking people, in the province. ...

. Approximately 8,500 residents of Chatham-Kent have French as a mother tongue and 1,500 have French as their home language. Essex County also has a relatively large francophone population, especially in the municipality of

Lakeshore Lake Shore or Lakeshore may refer to: * the shore of a lake Places * Lakeshore, Ontario, Canada **Lakeshore (provincial electoral district) * Lakeshore, California (disambiguation), the name of several places in the U.S. * Lakeshore, Florida, U.S. ...

. Together, Chatham–Kent and Essex Counties make up one of the concentrations of

Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians (french: Franco-Ontariens 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 2016, the Government of O ...

s in the province of Ontario. Both elementary and secondary francophone schools exist across the municipality. A French cultural organization, ''La Girouette'', which is based in Pain Court, promotes French-Canadian culture and language in the area. Knowledge of official language statistics:Community Profiles from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada – Census Division
*English only: 92.2% *French only: <0.1% *English and French: 7.2% *Neither English nor French: 0.5%

Economy and industry

Chatham–Kent's economy has a base in the agricultural and automotive sectors. The municipality and senior levels of government are keen to promote continuing diversification. The CP railway splits Chatham city in two, and the unstaffed

Chatham railway station Chatham railway station may refer to *Chatham railway station (Kent), England *Chatham railway station, Melbourne, Australia *Chatham railway station (Ontario), Canada *Chatham station (Massachusetts), United States *Chatham station (NJ Transit), N ...

attends to

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 operati ...

passengers.

Agribusiness and chemical

At the outskirts of Chatham is the headquarters for Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited (a division of DuPont), a major agricultural seed breeding and biotechnology company. GreenField Specialty Alcohols Inc.'s Commercial Alcohols division, Canada's largest

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a h ...

plant and one of the world's largest, opened in Chatham in 1996. The plant produces ethanol for industrial, medical, and beverage uses. There are a number of

vineyards A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vine ...

in the municipality.

Automotive

Chatham's roots in the automotive sector go back to Gray-Dort Motors Ltd., one of Canada's earliest automobile manufacturers. In the 21st century, auto industry plants in the municipality include

Autoliv Autoliv Inc. is a Swedish-American automotive safety supplier with sales to all leading car manufacturers worldwide. Together with its joint ventures, Autoliv has over 68,000 employees in 27 countries, of whom 5700 are involved in research, dev ...

Canada in Tilbury (airbags), Mahle in Tilbury (emissions controls and plastics), in Ridgetown (automotive electronic pedal assembly and sensors), Dana Canada in Chatham (heat shields for thermal and acoustic management of exhaust manifolds, catalytic converters, and turbochargers), and Continental Corporation (Powertrain Canada ULC) in Chatham (design, development, and testing of Actuators for clean, efficient vehicles). Chatham-Kent also is home to RM Auctions, a vintage automobile auction house, and RM Restorations, a vintage automobile restoration company. The nickname "The Classic Car Capital of Canada"comes from the abundance of classic car events in the community.

Energy

Chatham is home to a major corporate office of Enbridge Gas Inc., a natural gas utility and

Enbridge Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. ...

company. Other energy related companies include

wind farms Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few h ...

near the shores of

Public sector

The Canadian Federal government is one of the largest employers in the Chatham-Kent area with over 450 employees in several departments in the area. The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Disability Unit is housed in the Judy Lamarsh (see Notable Residents) Building in downtown Chatham. This federal office is the single largest disability processing centre in Canada, processing 50% of all CPP Disability benefits. The office also processes Old Age Security benefit claims.

Retail hub

Chatham serves as a retail centre for the municipality and surrounding area. This includes the large

big-box stores A big-box store (also hyperstore, supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The te ...

in Super Centre on St. Clair Street and arguably the north end of Communication Road in Blenheim.

Attractions

The long, white sandy beaches, fishing, hiking trails and conservation areas make Erieau a popular vacation spot. There are two

Provincial Parks Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to the ...

in Chatham-Kent:

Rondeau Provincial Park Rondeau Provincial Park is the second oldest provincial park in Ontario, Canada, having been established with an order in council on 8 September 1894. The park is located in Southwestern Ontario, on an 8 km long crescentic sand spit extend ...

and

Wheatley Provincial Park Wheatley Provincial Park is a protected area in the municipality of Chatham–Kent in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Erie near the community of Wheatley and occupies an area of . Visitors to nearby Point Pelee National Park ...

, There are also numerous local conservation areas. Downtown Chatham is home to the annual "Retrofest" organized by the Historic Downtown Chatham BIA, in partnership with the Kent Historic Auto Club. Hundreds of classic car enthusiasts travel to downtown Chatham to showcase their classic cars and vintage vehicles. Downtown Chatham is also home to the Chatham Capitol Theatre, a theatre that, when it opened in 1930, was the largest in the region. The theatre is run by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent and hosts world class shows and entertainers. Chatham was home to the iconic Wheels Inn, a family resort for four decades until its closure in 2010. In 2011, the Chatham-Kent John D. Bradley Convention Centre was constructed on the site of the Wheels Inn. In July 2019, a new Cascades casino was opened in Chatham, close to the Convention Centre on Richmond Street.

Arts and culture

Chatham-Kent boasts a rich visual culture throughout the entirety of the municipality. Both the Thames Art Gallery and ARTspace, located in the historic downtown, feature exhibitions showcasing local artists from the Chatham-Kent area, while also housing other Canadian and international works.

Health care

Chatham-Kent is served by the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. The Public General Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital in Chatham were moved to a single campus in 2004, while the former Sydenham District Hospital remains in Wallaceburg. The eastern portion of the municipality is served by the Four Counties Health Services in Newbury in nearby Middlesex County. Research published in 2002 by the

Heart and Stroke Foundation The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada is a Canadian charity dedicated to advocacy, education, and the funding of research surrounding heart disease and stroke. Nomenclature In November 2016, the organization re-branded as ''Heart & Strok ...

cited Chatham-Kent as a hotspot for

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, ...

in Ontario. Further research is underway to determine the reasons for this and other hotspots. The Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit launched a campaign in fall 2007 to tackle other ailments prevalent throughout the community, including

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, c ...

chronic allergies Chronic may refer to: * Chronic (cannabis), a slang name for high quality marijuana * Chronic condition, a condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects * Chronic toxicity, a substance with toxic effects after c ...

sinus problems Sinus may refer to: Anatomy * Sinus (anatomy), a sac or cavity in any organ or tissue ** Paranasal sinuses, air cavities in the cranial bones, especially those near the nose, including: *** Maxillary sinus, is the largest of the paranasal sinuses, ...

, many types of cancer,

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

inflammatory bowel disease Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammatory conditions of the colon and small intestine, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine and large intestine, as wel ...

, alcoholism, and

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...

. In October 2008, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance was named one of "

Canada's Top 100 Employers Canada's Top 100 Employers is an annual editorial competition that recognizes the best places in Canada to work. First held in 1999, the project aims to single out the employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional working conditions ...

" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in ''

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 ...

'' newsmagazine. Chatham-Kent features one of the 14 provincial

Local Health Integration Network {{for, the superseding agency, Ontario Health (agency) Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) were the health authorities responsible for regional administration of public healthcare services in the Canadian province of Ontario. Legacy LHIN func ...

s (LHIN). The Erie St. Clair (ESC) LHIN services the Chatham-Kent Community as well as Sarnia/Lambton and Windsor/Essex. The ESC LHIN is located in the town of Chatham.

Media

Television stations

Chatham-Kent is also served by stations coming from Windsor, London,

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 ...

Toledo Toledo most commonly refers to: * Toledo, Spain, a city in Spain * Province of Toledo, Spain * Toledo, Ohio, a city in the United States Toledo may also refer to: Places Belize * Toledo District * Toledo Settlement Bolivia * Toledo, O ...

, and

Radio broadcast stations

Print media

The ''Chatham Daily News'' is the only daily newspaper in Chatham-Kent. There are several weeklies located in Chatham and the various communities in the municipality, including the ''Chatham Voice, Wallaceburg Courier Press'', the ''Blenheim News Tribune'', ''Chatham-Kent This Week'', ''Ridgetown Independent News'', ''Tilbury Times'', and the ''Wheatley Journal''. The ''Chatham Daily News'', ''Chatham-Kent This Week'', and ''Wallaceburg Courier Press'' are all owned by

Postmedia Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is a Canadian media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news ...

Online media

''The Chatham Daily News'', ''Chatham-Kent This Week'', ''Wallaceburg Courier Press'', ''Chatham Voice'' and ''CKReview'' are daily online news media in Chatham-Kent with coverage of local news, sports, entertainment, and cultural events as well as a number of regular contributing columnists. The ''Chatham-Kent Sports Network'' is an online source covering local sports news, scores, and highlights from each of Chatham-Kent's communities. CKSN also follows Chatham-Kent athletes who have progressed to the Junior, College, International, or Professional ranks.

Education

Elementary and secondary

There are two anglophone school boards and one francophone school board in Chatham–Kent. These are the

Lambton Kent District School Board The Lambton Kent District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 10 prior to 1999) is the school board responsible for public education in Lambton County and Kent County. Lambton and Kent Counties are made up of ...

(headquartered in both Chatham and Sarnia), the

St. Clair Catholic District School Board The St. Clair Catholic District School Board (SCCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 39 prior to 1999) is the separate school board that manages Catholic education in the county of Lambton including the city of Sarni ...

(headquartered in Wallaceburg) and the ''

Conseil scolaire catholique Providence The ''Conseil scolaire catholique Providence'' (Csc Providence) is the French-language Catholic school board for southwestern Ontario, Canada. The Providence Catholic School Board includes 10,000 students in its 31 schools: 23 elementary schools ...

'' (CSC Providence). The LKDSB is a public school board, and consists of 13 secondary and 53 elementary schools.

Chatham-Kent Secondary School Chatham-Kent Secondary School is located in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada. With a student population of about 1200, it is the largest public secondary school in Chatham-Kent operating at 85% capacity. The school is currently undergoing multi-mil ...

is the largest public high school in Lambton-Kent. The St. Clair Catholic board consists of two secondary schools (one in Chatham and one in Sarnia) and 26 elementary schools. There are also independent schools, such as Wallaceburg Christian School and Chatham Christian Schools—an elementary and secondary school in the same building. The French Catholic board, headquartered in Windsor, has its Chatham-Kent regional office in

Post-secondary

Chatham–Kent is the home of two colleges –

St. Clair College St. Clair College of Applied Arts and Technology is a college in the Southwestern Ontario counties of Essex and Chatham-Kent. Campus Its main administration and largest campus sites are in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. In addition, other campuses ...

and

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

Ridgetown Campus, popularly known as

Ridgetown College The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) originated at the agricultural laboratories of the Toronto Normal School, and was officially founded in 1874 as an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto. Since 1964, it has become affili ...

. St. Clair College is a satellite of St. Clair College of Windsor. There are two campuses located in the municipality – Thames Campus (located in Chatham) and the Wallaceburg Campus (located in Wallaceburg). More than 5,000 full-time and 12,000 part-time students attend the college each year. The Ridgetown Campus of the University of Guelph offers diplomas in agriculture, horticulture, and

veterinary technology Paraveterinary worker is the professional of veterinary science that performs procedures autonomously or semi autonomously, as part of a veterinary assistance system. The job role varies throughout the world, and common titles include veterinary n ...

. It is part of the University of Guelph's Ontario Agricultural College, and formerly known as Ridgetown College of Agricultural Technology.

Sports

Hockey

The

Chatham Maroons The Chatham Maroons are a junior ice hockey team based in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Western division of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL). The Maroons were the 1970 Western Ontario Junior A Champions and 1973 So ...

are a team in the

Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League The Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) is a Canadian junior ice hockey league based in Southern Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association, Ontario Hockey Federation, and Hockey Canada. The league is ...

. There are also four teams in the

Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League The Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League was a Junior "C" ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada, sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Association. The champion of the Great Lakes competed for the All-Ontario Championship and the Clarence Schmalz Cup. ...

Blenheim Blades The Blenheim Blades are a Canadian junior ice hockey team based in Blenheim, Ontario. They play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association and Hockey Canada. History The Blenheim Golden Blades were founded in 196 ...

Dresden Jr. Kings The Dresden Jr. Kings are a junior ice hockey team based in Dresden, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association and Hockey Canada. The Kings won the Clarence Schmalz Cup in 1971 at Ontar ...

Wheatley Sharks The Wheatley Sharks are a junior hockey team based in Wheatley, Ontario, Canada. As of the 2016-17 season the Sharks began play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association. Previously, they were members of the Grea ...

Wallaceburg Lakers The Wallaceburg Thunderhawks are a Canadian Junior ice hockey club based in Wallaceburg, Ontario. They play in the Provincial Junior Hockey League of the Ontario Hockey Association. History The Wallaceburg Thunderhawks have made the All-Ont ...

Other teams in Chatham-Kent include the Chatham Outlaws Girls Hockey Association, the Chatham AAA Cyclones and the AA Kent Cobras.

Canadian football

The Chatham-Kent Cougars Football Club started in 2006. In 2006 Chatham-Kent entered a team into the inaugural season of the Allstar Peewee Football League, and in 2007 entered a team into the Jr. Ontario Varsity Football League. Now Chatham-Kent plays in the OFC with 4 spring/summer teams.

Rugby Union football

Founded in 2001, the Chatham-Kent Havoc rugby team plays in the Southwest Rugby Union.

Transportation

Road

Chatham-Kent is situated just off

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a Controlled-access highway, controlled-access 400-series high ...

, connecting

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, Toronto,

Kitchener Kitchener may refer to: People * Earl Kitchener, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom ** Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850–1916), British Field Marshal and 1st Earl Kitchener ** Henry Kitchener, 2nd Earl Kitchener (1846–1937) ...

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, a battle on 18 June 1815 in which Napoleon met his final defeat * Waterloo, Belgium, where the battle took place. Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Antarctica * King George Island ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

; and Detroit, Michigan via the

Ambassador Bridge The Ambassador Bridge is a tolled international suspension bridge across the Detroit River that connects Detroit, Michigan, United States, with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1929, it is the busiest international border crossing in North ...

. Blenheim, Chatham and Wallaceburg are linked with

Sarnia Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron ...

, Ontario and the

Blue Water Bridge The Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge across the St. Clair River that links Port Huron, Michigan, United States, and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Water Bridge connects Highway 402 in Ontario with both Interstate 6 ...

to the United States by Highway 40. The sections of

Highway 2 The following highways are numbered 2. For roads numbered A2, see list of A2 roads. For roads numbered B2, see list of B2 roads. For roads numbered M2, see list of M2 roads. For roads numbered N2, see list of N2 roads. International * AH2, As ...

and

Highway 3 The following highways are numbered 3, H-3, PRI-3, AH3, E03 and R3. For roads numbered A3, see A3 roads. For roads numbered M3, see M3. For roads numbered N3, see N3. For roads numbered 3A, see 3A. International * Asian Highway 3 * Europ ...

(the

Talbot Trail This is a List of Ontario Tourist Routes throughout the province, which are designated to highlight places of cultural, environmental, or social importance. It is currently unknown if the majority of these trails are still listed since many of the ...

) in Chatham–Kent were downloaded by the province in 1998, becoming local roads 2 and 3, but they remain significant through routes and are still locally known by their old names. The first gas station in Canada to sell

E85 E85 is an abbreviation typically referring to an ethanol fuel blend of 85% ethanol fuel and 15% gasoline or other hydrocarbon by volume. In the United States, the exact ratio of fuel ethanol to hydrocarbon may vary according to ASTM 5798 ...

fuel to the public is located on Park Avenue East in Chatham.

Rail

Chatham station is served by

passenger services between Toronto and Windsor, part of the

Quebec City – Windsor Corridor Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

with four trips in each direction daily, and the community is served by both the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

and the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canad ...

for freight transportation.

Bus

Within Chatham public bus services are provided by

CK Transit CK Transit (branded as Ride CK) provides the conventional bus transportation in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada. There are five local bus routes within the urban boundaries of the old City of Chatham. Routes 1 through 4 provide services every 30 ...

. Chatham-Kent has an intercity bus service, also provided by CK Transit, between all communities in the municipality except Wheatley.

Air

There is a municipal airport located 14 km south east of Chatham featuring a 1500m paved, lighted runway, with refuelling facilities, tie-down services, pilot training and chartered flights. The nearest airports served by regional carriers are Windsor and

Notable people

Sally Ainse Sally Ainse (also known as Sally Montour, Sara Montour, Sara Hands, Sara Hains, Sara Willson, and Sarah Hance) (c. 1728–1823) was an Oneida people, Oneida diplomat and fur trader, who was most commonly known as Sally throughout her life. As a ...

–

Oneida Oneida may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Oneida people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy * Oneida language * Oneida Indian Nation, based in New York * Oneida Na ...

diplomat and

fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

* Chris Allen – former NHL player with the

Florida Panthers The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference, and initially played their home game ...

Doug Anakin Douglas Thomas Anakin (November 6, 1930 – April 25, 2020) was a Canadian bobsleigh competitor. He was born in Chatham, Ontario and was selected by Vic Emery as a member of Canada's gold medal-winning four-man bobsleigh team at the 1964 Win ...

– won a gold medal at the

1964 Olympics 1964 Olympics refers to both: *The 1964 Winter Olympics, which were held in Innsbruck, Austria *The 1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held fro ...

in the bobsled *

Bill Atkinson Bill Atkinson (born March 17, 1951) is an American computer engineer and photographer. Atkinson worked at Apple Computer from 1978 to 1990. Atkinson was the principal designer and developer of the graphical user interface (GUI) of the Apple ...

– former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weather d ...

* Courtney Babcock – Olympic distance runner *

Shae-Lynn Bourne Shae-Lynn Bourne (born January 24, 1976) is a Canadian ice dancer and choreographer. In 2003, she and partner Victor Kraatz became the first North American ice dancers to win a World Championship. They competed at three Winter Olympic Games, pl ...

– championship

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are m ...

T. J. Brodie Thomas James Brodie (born June 7, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was a fourth round selection of the Calgary Flames, 114th overall, at the 2008 NHL Entry Draf ...

– NHL hockey player with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Divi ...

Ernest Burgess Ernest Watson Burgess (May 16, 1886 – December 27, 1966) was a Canadian-American urban sociologist born in Tilbury, Ontario. He was educated at Kingfisher College in Oklahoma and continued graduate studies in sociology at the University of C ...

– 24th President of the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

, author and urban sociologist who is known for his groundbreaking

social ecology Social ecology may refer to: * Social ecology (academic field), the study of relationships between people and their environment, often the interdependence of people, collectives and institutions * Social ecology (Bookchin), a theory about the relat ...

research *

June Callwood June Rose Callwood, (June 2, 1924 – April 14, 2007) was a Canadian journalist, author and social activist. She was known as "Canada's Conscience". Callwood achieved acclaim and a loyal following for her articles and columns written for na ...

– prominent magazine writer in the 1950s who became an Officer in the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

in 1986 *

Joseph Caron Joseph Caron (born 1947) is a Canadian diplomat. He served as the former Canadian high commissioner to India and former Canadian ambassador to China and Japan. Born and raised in the small francophone agricultural village of Pain Court in South- ...

– former High Commissioner to India and former Canadian ambassador to China and Japan *

Bridget Carleton Bridget Carleton (born May 22, 1997) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Iowa State Cyclones and competed internationally ...

- WNBA Player for the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded ...

Chandra K. Clarke Chandra K. Clarke is a Canadian author, columnist, and business woman. Career Clarke began her career as a freelance journalist, working for several small weeklies and community newspapers in Southwestern Ontario, specializing in municipal affairs ...

– entrepreneur, published author, and humour columnist *

James Couzens James J. Couzens (August 26, 1872October 22, 1936) was an American businessman, politician and philanthropist. He served as mayor of Detroit (1919–1922) and U.S. Senator from Michigan (1922–1936). Prior to entering politics he served as vice ...

–

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

, Mayor of Detroit, industrialist, philanthropist, and vice president and general manager of the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobiles ...

* Robertson Davies – novelist, playwright *

Kenne Duncan Kenne Duncan (February 17, 1903 – February 5, 1972) was a Canadian-born American B-movie character actor. Hyped professionally as "The Meanest Man in the Movies," the vast majority of his over 250 appearances on camera were Westerns, bu ...

– western/action movie actor *

Andy Fantuz Andrew Fantuz (born December 18, 1983) is a former professional Canadian football wide receiver. Fantuz spent the majority of his professional career with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League ...

– former

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

offensive MVP, former slotback for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded i ...

and

Hamilton Tiger Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

Wally Floody Clarke Wallace Chant Floody, (April 28, 1918 – September 25, 1989) was a Canadian fighter pilot and prisoner of war in the Second World War. He was instrumental in organizing and implementing the " Great Escape" from the German prisoner of war ...

– the "Tunnel King" from '' The Great Escape'' *

Dave Gagner David Rene Gagner (born December 11, 1964) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current Director of Player Development for the Orr Hockey Group player agency. Playing career Dave Gagner spent two full seasons with the OHL's B ...

– retired NHL hockey player; brother-in-law of Diane Gagner; former Chatham–Kent mayor *

W. B. George William Bryden George (November 28, 1899June 25, 1972), also known as Baldy George, was a Canadian sports administrator and agriculturalist. He was president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association from 1952 to 1955, when Canada debated whe ...

(1899–1972), president of the

Canadian Amateur Hockey Association The Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA; french: Association canadienne de hockey amateur) was the national governing body of amateur ice hockey in Canada from 1914 until 1994, when it merged with Hockey Canada. Its jurisdiction included ...

and agriculturalist at Kemptville Agricultural School, was born in Highgate * Ashley Goure –

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

sledge hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilit ...

player *

Lee Giffin Lee Giffin (born April 1, 1967) is a professional ice hockey player who played 27 games in the National Hockey League. He played with the Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hoc ...

– professional ice hockey player *

Frank Gross Frank George Gross, OMC (May 23, 1919 – January 13, 2006) was a philanthropist awarded the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship (OMC) one month after his death in 2006.Boughner B., Schwab D. Frank Gross remembered with medal, Chatham Daily News, ...

, philanthropist; awarded the

Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship The Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship is a Orders, decorations, and medals of the Canadian provinces, provincial medal of merit that is awarded in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. It was established by the Go ...

in 2006 *

Ken Houston Kenneth Ray Houston (born November 12, 1944) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in ...

(born September 15, 1953) – former NHL player *

Tracey Hoyt Tracey Hoyt (born January 14, 1964 in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian voice actress and alumna of York University and the Second City National Touring Company (Toronto), possessing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance. She p ...

– actress, Aurora Farqueson on the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

series '' The Tournament'' * Jeff Jackson – NHL hockey player *

Ferguson Jenkins Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins CM (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and coach. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1965 to 1983 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and Bo ...

–

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball ...

r *

Anna H. Jones Anna H. Jones (September 2, 1855 – March 7, 1932) was a Canadian-born American clubwoman, suffragist, and educator based in later life in Kansas City, Missouri. Early life Anna Holland Jones was born on September 2, 1855, in Chatham, Ontario, ...

– teacher, speaker at the

First Pan-African Conference The First Pan-African Conference was held in London from 23 to 25 July 1900 (just prior to the Paris Exhibition of 1900 "in order to allow tourists of African descent to attend both events").Ramla Bandele"Pan-African Conference in 1900", Article ...

in 1900 *

Ryan Jones Ryan Paul Jones (born 13 March 1981) is a Wales former international rugby union player who played at Number eight (rugby union), number eight, Flanker (rugby union), blindside flanker or Lock (rugby union), second row. He was involved in three ...

– former finalist of 2008

Hobey Baker Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 41 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton University ...

and former member of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

; currently playing in the

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...

for the Cologne Sharks *

Judy LaMarsh Julia Verlyn LaMarsh, (December 20, 1924 – October 27, 1980) was a Canadian politician, lawyer, author and broadcaster. In 1963, she was only the second woman to ever serve as a federal Cabinet Minister. Under Prime Minister Lester Pearson's ...

– former Canadian

Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Coun ...

Archibald Lampman Archibald Lampman (17 November 1861 – 10 February 1899) was a Canadian poet. "He has been described as 'the Canadian Keats;' and he is perhaps the most outstanding exponent of the Canadian school of nature poets." ''The Canadian Encyclope ...

– one of Canada's finest 19th-century

Romantic poets Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Enlightenment ideas of the 18th ...

, born Morpeth, Kent County, 1861 *

Bobbi Lancaster Bobbi Lancaster (born June 23, 1950) is a family physician, champion golfer, author, human rights advocate and motivational speaker. She is also a transgender woman, and underwent undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 2010. She attempted to qu ...

, a medical doctor and

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may Gender transitioning, transition; this process commonly includes Feminizing horm ...

noted for playing in the

LPGA Qualifying Tournament In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of th ...

in 2013Boivin, P. (2013)
Transgender golfer dreams of playing in LPGA
/ref> *

Lori Lansens Lori Lansens is a Canadian novelist and screenwriter.Judy Stoffman, "Toronto writer signs big U.S. deal ; Lori Lansens' novel tells of descendants of runaway slaves". ''Toronto Star'', April 10, 2002. Profile Lansens, a successful screenwriter, ...

– author of ''Rush Home Road'' and '' The Girls'' *

Chad Laprise Chad Laprise (born July 23, 1986) is a retired Canadian professional mixed martial artist who competed for the UFC in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2010, Laprise won '' The Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs. Austral ...

– UFC fighter *

John B. Lee John Busteed Lee (born 1951) is a Canadian author and poet who is Poet Laureate of Brantford, Ontario. He has received more than 60 prestigious international awards for poetry. Biography Early life Born in Highgate, Ontario, Lee was rais ...

– author, poet and current

Poet Laureate A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, 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 independ ...

, Ontario *

Doug Melvin Robert Douglas Melvin (born August 8, 1952) is a Canadian front-office executive in Major League Baseball (MLB) who previously served as the general manager of the Texas Rangers (1995–2001) and Milwaukee Brewers (2002–2015). He is currently a ...

– general manager of the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

* Harry Garnet Bedford Miner –

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

winner during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, born in Cedar Springs *

Dave Nichol David Alexander Nichol (February 9, 1940 – September 22, 2013) was a Canadian businessman and product marketing expert. As head of product development and eventually President of Loblaws Supermarkets, Nichol introduced the President's Choice s ...

– award-winning product marketing expert and former president of

Loblaw's Loblaws Inc. is a Canadian supermarket chain with stores located in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Loblaws is a subsidiary of Loblaw Companies Limited, C ...

Geoffrey O'Hara Geoffrey O'Hara (February 2, 1882 – January 31, 1967) was a Canadian American composer, singer and music professor. Early life O'Hara was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. He initially planned a military career. O'Hara entered the Royal Milit ...

– early 20th-century composer, singer and music professor who was the writer of such popular songs as the 1918 hit "K-K-K-Katy" *

– inventor of the

Ron Pardo Ron Pardo (born May 15, 1967) is a Canadian actor and comedian. He has performed roles in over 90 animated series. On ''PAW Patrol'', Pardo has voiced Cap'n Turbot since the first episode, and later voiced the breakout villain Mayor Humdinger as ...

– comic-impressionist; actor for ''

History Bites ''History Bites'' is a television series on the History Television network that ran from 1998 to 2004. Created by Rick Green, ''History Bites'' explored what would be on television if the medium had been around for the last 5,000 years of human h ...

'' and voice actor on animated shows like ''

PAW Patrol ''PAW Patrol'' is a Canadian computer-animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman. It is produced by Spin Master Entertainment, with animation provided by Guru Studio. In Canada, the series is primarily broadcast on TVOKi ...

and ''

World of Quest ''World of Quest'' is a sci-fi comedy animated television series based on the graphic novel series of the same name by Jason T. Kruse. The series was produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment, in association with Teletoon and Kids' WB!. It appear ...

''; from Pardoville *

Ray Robertson Ray Robertson is a Canadian novelist and contributing book reviewer at '' The Globe and Mail'' who lives in Toronto, Ontario. His work, "Why Not? Fifteen Reasons to Live," was short-listed for the Hilary Weston ...

– novelist * Brooklyn Roebuck – 2012 ''The Next Star''; under licence with

Sony Music Canada Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

Doug Shedden Douglas Arthur Shedden (born April 29, 1961) is a Canadian ice hockey coach and former player. He played in the National Hockey League between 1981 and 1991. After his playing career he became a coach, and worked in the minor leagues for several ...

– professional ice hockey coach and former player *

Glen Skov Glen Frederick Skov (January 26, 1931 – September 10, 2013) was a professional ice hockey centre who played 12 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks and Montreal Canadiens. Skov won three ...

–

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL)

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

player * Ron Sparks – award-winning comedian, actor, writer and producer ('' Video on Trial'') *

Joseph Storey Joseph William Storey (July 5, 1923 – August 12, 1975) was an internationally renowned architect based in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. He graduated from the University of Toronto School of Architecture in 1946. He designed hundreds of uniqu ...

– architect, designer of many local landmarks in the 1950s and 1960s *

Shaun Suisham Shaun Christopher Suisham (; born December 29, 1981) is a Canadian-born former American football placekicker in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers. He was signed b ...

–

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

kicker (formerly with

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

) *

Sylvia Tyson Sylvia may refer to: People *Sylvia (given name) * Sylvia (singer), American country music and country pop singer and songwriter * Sylvia Robinson, American singer, record producer, and record label executive *Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer cre ...

– singer-songwriter, broadcaster, and guitarist who found early fame with her then-husband Ian Tyson in their folk duo

Ian and Sylvia Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. Hi ...

Todd Warriner Todd Eaton Warriner (born January 3, 1974) is a Canadian retired ice hockey forward. Over the course of his career, Warriner played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tampa Bay Lightning, Phoenix Coyotes, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, ...

– former NHL hockey player picked 4th overall in the

1992 NHL Entry Draft The 1992 NHL Entry Draft was the 30th NHL Entry Draft. It was held on June 20 at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec. A total of 264 players were drafted. The last active player in the NHL from this draft class was Sergei Gonchar, who reti ...

by the

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the ...

Derek Whitson Derek Whitson (born 21 June 1989) is a Canadian ice sledge hockey player. Whitson was born in Chatham, Ontario in 1989, with cerebral palsy. He joined the Canadian Sledge Hockey Team in 2007 after playing sledge hockey in the Windsor Ice Bullets ...

–

player *

Brian Wiseman Brian M. Wiseman (born July 13, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward and NHL assistant coach. Biography As a novice player, Wiseman scored 413 goals in a single season. This broke a record held by Wayne Gretzky, and brough ...

– 1999 IHL MVP Houston Aeros *

Michelle Wright Michelle Wright (born July 1, 1961) is a Canadian country music artist. She is one of the country's most widely recognized and awarded female country singers of the 1990s, winning the Canadian Country Music Association's Fans' Choice Award twice ...

– country music singer

Notes

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