Thunder Bay, Ontario

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City of Thunder Bay

Downtown Port Arthur in Thunder Bay

Flag

Logo

Nickname: (The) Lakehead; Tundra Bay; TBay

Motto: Superior by Nature

Location of Thunder Bay in Ontario

Coordinates: 48°22′56″N 89°14′46″W / 48.38222, -89.24611

Thunder Bay

Settled

1679 as Fort Caministigoyan

See histories of

Port Arthur and Fort William

Amalgamation

1 January 1970

Government ^[1]^[2]

- Type

Municipal Government

- Mayor

Lynn Peterson

- CAO

Darrell Matson (acting)^[3]

- Governing Body

Thunder Bay City Council

- MPs

Ken Boshcoff (LPC)
Joe Comuzzi (CPC)

- MPPs

Michael Gravelle (OLP)
Bill Mauro (OLP)

Area ^[4]^[5]^[6]

- City

447.5 km² (172.8 sq mi)

- Land

328.5 km² (126.8 sq mi)

- Water

119.0 km² (45.9 sq mi) 26.6%

- Urban

179.7 km² (69.4 sq mi)

- Metro

2,550.4 km² (984.7 sq mi)

Elevation

183 m (600 ft)

Population (2006)^[4]^[5]

- City

109,140 (Ranked 43rd)

- Density

332.3/km² (860.7/sq mi)

- Urban

103,247 (Ranked 29th)

- Urban Density

574.5/km² (1,487.9/sq mi)

- Metro

122,907 (Ranked 31st)

- Metro Density

48.2/km² (124.8/sq mi)

- Demonym

Thunder Bayer

Time zone

EST (UTC-5)

- Summer (DST)

EDT (UTC-4)

NTS Map

052A06

GNBC Code

FCWFX

Website: City of Thunder Bay

The Port of Thunder Bay, as seen from Hillcrest Park

Thunder Bay (2006 census population 109,140), formerly the twin cities of Fort William and Port Arthur, is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario, and the second most populous in Northern Ontario after Greater Sudbury. The census metropolitan area of Thunder Bay has a population of 122,907, and consists of the city of Thunder Bay, the municipalities of Oliver Paipoonge and Neebing, the townships of Shuniah, Conmee, O'Connor and Gillies and the Fort William First Nation.

European settlement in the region began in the late 1600s with a French fur trading outpost on the banks of the Kaministiquia River.^[7] The city was formed in 1970 by the merger of the cities of Fort William, Port Arthur and the geographic townships of Neebing and McIntyre.^[8] Its port forms an important link in the shipping of grain and other products from western Canada through the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway to the east coast. Forestry and manufacturing play important roles in the city's economy, but with their decline in recent years they are being replaced by a "knowledge economy" based on medical research and education.

The city takes its name from the immense bay at the head of Lake Superior, known on 18th century French maps as "Baie du Tonnerre".^[7] The city is often referred to as the Lakehead or Canadian Lakehead because of its location at the end of Great Lakes navigation.^[9]

[edit] History

Main articles: Port Arthur, Ontario and Fort William, Ontario

[edit] Before 1900

European settlement on Thunder Bay began with two French fur trading posts (1679, 1717) which were subsequently abandoned (see Fort William, Ontario). Permanent settlement began in 1803 with the establishment of Fort William by the Montreal-based North West Company as its mid-continent entrepôt. The fort thrived until 1821 when the North West Company merged with the Hudson's Bay Company and Fort William lost its raison d'être. By the 1850s the Province of Canada began to take an interest in its western extremity, largely because of a demand for mining locations on the Canadian shores of Lake Superior following the discovery of copper in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. In 1849 French-speaking Jesuits established the Mission de l'Immaculée-Conception (Mission of the Immaculate Conception) on the Kaministiquia to evangelize the Ojibwe. The Province of Canada negotiated a treaty with the Ojibwe of Lake Superior known as the Robinson Treaty in 1850. As a result, an Indian reservation was set aside south of the Kaministiquia River. In 1859–60 the Department of Crown Lands surveyed two townships (Neebing and Paipoonge) and the Town Plot of Fort William.

Another settlement developed a few miles to the north of Fort William with the construction by the federal Department of Public Works of a road connecting Lake Superior with the Red River Colony under the direction of Simon James Dawson. (see Port Arthur, Ontario) This public works depot or construction headquarters acquired its first name in May 1870 when Colonel Garnet Wolsley named it Prince Arthur's Landing. It was renamed Port Arthur by the CPR in May 1883.

The arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1875 sparked a long battle for supremacy which did not end until the amalgamation of 1970. Until the 1880s, Port Arthur was a much larger and dynamic community, but the CPR in collaboration with the Hudson's Bay Company preferred east Fort William, located on the lower Kaministiquia river where the fur trade posts were. Further provoked by a prolonged tax dispute with Port Arthur and the seizure of a locomotive in 1889, the CPR relocated all its employees and facilities to Fort William. The collapse of silver mining after 1890 further undermined the economy of Port Arthur which entered a period of deep depression while Fort William thrived.

[edit] The 20th Century

Thunder Bay began a period of extraordinary growth in the era of Sir Wilfrid Laurier as a result of transcontinental railway building and the western wheat boom. The CPR double-tracked its Winnipeg–Thunder Bay line. The Canadian Northern Railway established facilities at Port Arthur. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway began construction of its facilities at the Fort William Mission in 1905, and the federal government began construction of the National Transcontinental Railway. Grain elevator construction boomed as the volume of grain shipped to Europe increased. Both cities indebted themselves by granting bonuses to manufacturing industries. By 1914 the twin cities had modern infrastructures (sewers, safe water supply, street lighting, electric light, etc.). Both Fort William and Port Arthur were proponents of municipal ownership. As early as 1892 Port Arthur built Canada's first municipally-owned electric street railway, and both cities spurned Bell Telephone Company of Canada to establish their own municipally-owned telephone systems in 1902.

The boom came to an end in 1913–14 aggravated by the First World War, but a war time economy emerged with the making of munitions and shipbuilding. The cities raised men for the 52nd, 94th and 141st Battalions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Railway employment was hurt when the federal government took over the National Transcontinental Railway and Lake Superior Division from the Grand Trunk in 1915, and the Canadian Northern Railway in 1918 which were amalgamated with other government-owned railways in 1923 to form the Canadian National Railways. The CNR closed many of the Canadian Northern Railway facilities in Port Arthur and opened the Neebing yards in Neebing Township in 1922. By 1929 the population of the two cities had recovered to pre-war levels.

The forest products industry has always played an important role in the Thunder Bay economy from the 1870s. Logs and lumber were shipped primarily to the United States. In 1917 the first pulp and paper mill was established in Port Arthur. It was followed by a mill at Fort William in 1920. Eventually there were four mills operating.

Manufacturing resumed in 1937 when the Canada Car and Foundry Company plant re-opened to build aircraft for the British. Now run by Bombardier Transportation, the plant has remained a mainstay of the post-war economy producing forestry equipment, then transportation equipment for urban transit systems such as the Toronto Transit Commission and GO Transit.

The expansion of highways beginning with the Trans-Canada Highway culminating with the opening of a highway linking Sault Ste Marie to Thunder Bay has significantly diminished railway and shipping activity. The St Lawrence Seaway has not therefore lived up to expectations. Grain shipping has declined substantially in favor of Pacific Coast ports. As a result many grain elevators have been closed and demolished, and the Kaministiquia River has been abandoned by industry and shipping.

[edit] Today

Thunder Bay has become the regional services centre for Northwestern Ontario with most provincial departments represented. Lakehead University, established through the lobbying of local businessmen and professionals, has proved to be a major asset, reinforced by Confederation College. The same businessmen and professionals were the driving force behind the amalgamation of Fort William and Port Arthur in 1970.

[edit] Government and politics

See also: Thunder Bay City Council

Map of Thunder Bay's seven municipal wards

The city is governed by a mayor and twelve councillors. The mayor and five of the councillors are elected at large by the whole city. Seven councillors are elected for the seven wards: Current River Ward, McIntyre Ward, McKeller Ward, Neebing Ward, Northwood Ward, Red River Ward, and Westfort Ward.^[10]

Thunder Bay is represented in the Canadian Parliament by Joe Comuzzi (Conservative) and Ken Boshcoff (Liberal), and in the Ontario Legislature by Michael Gravelle (Liberal) and Bill Mauro (Liberal).

[edit] Thunder Bay's name

Thunder Bay's name is the result of a referendum held on June 23rd, 1969 to determine the new name of the amalgamated Fort William and Port Arthur. Officials debated over the names to be put on the ballot, taking suggestions from residents including "Lakehead" and "The Lakehead". Predictably, the vote split between the two, and "Thunder Bay" was the victor. The final tally was "Thunder Bay" with 15,870, "Lakehead" with 15,302, and "The Lakehead" with 8,377.^[11]

[edit] City symbols

Sleeping Giant

A large formation of mesas on the Sibley Peninsula in Lake Superior which resembles a reclining giant has become a symbol of the city. Sibley peninsula partially encloses the waters of Thunder Bay, and dominates the view of the lake from the northern section of the city (formerly Port Arthur). The Sleeping Giant also figures on the city's coat of arms and the city flag.

Coat of arms

The Coat of Arms of the City of Thunder Bay, which incorporates features from the coats of arms of Port Arthur and Fort William.

The Coat of arms of Thunder Bay, Ontario is a combination of the coats of arms of both Port Arthur and Fort William, with a unifying symbol—the Sleeping Giant—at the base of the arms.^[12]

Corporate logo

The city logo depicts a stylized thunderbird, called Animikii, a statue of which is located on the city's Kaministiquia River Waterfront Park. The slogan, Superior by Nature, is a double play on words reflecting the city's natural setting on Lake Superior.^[12]

City flag

Thunder Bay's flag was created in 1972, when mayor Saul Laskin wanted to promote the city by having a distinctive flag. The city held a contest, which was won by Cliff Redden. The flag has a 1:2 ratio, and depicts a golden sky from the rising sun behind the Sleeping Giant, which sits in the blue waters of Lake Superior. The sun is represented by a red maple leaf, a symbol of Canada. Green and gold are Thunder Bay's city colours.^[12]

[edit] Sister cities

Thunder Bay has five sister cities on three continents,^[13] which are selected based on economic, cultural and political criteria.

Seinäjoki, Finland since 1974
Little Canada, Minnesota since 1977
Duluth, Minnesota since 1980
Keelung, Taiwan since 1988
Gifu, Japan since 2007

[edit] Geography

Thunder Bay from space, October 1994.

McVicar Creek in wintertime.

The city has an area of 328.48 square kilometres which includes the former cities of Fort William and Port Arthur as well as the townships of Neebing, Ontario and McIntyre.

The former Fort William section occupies flat alluvial land along the Kaministiquia River which has a river delta at its mouth of two large islands known as Mission Island and McKellar Island. The former Port Arthur section is more typical of the Canadian Shield, with gently sloping hills and very thin soil lying on top of bedrock with many bare outcrops. Thunder Bay, which gives the city its name, is immense—about 22.5 kilometres (14 miles) from the Port Arthur downtown to Thunder Cape at the tip of the Sleeping Giant.

The city reflects the settlement patterns of the 19th century. It is therefore highly spread out for historical reasons. Anchoring the west end of the city, the Fort William Town Plot surveyed in 1859–60 was named West Fort William (Westfort) in 1888 by the CPR. The land adjoining the lower Kaministiquia River became the residential and central business district of the town and city of Fort William. A large uninhabited area adjoining the Neebing and McIntyre rivers which became known as Intercity separated Fort William from the residential and central business district of Port Arthur. At the extreme east of the city, a part of McIntyre Township was annexed to the town of Port Arthur in 1892, forming what later became known as the Current River area.

Since 1970, the central business districts of Fort William and Port Arthur have suffered a serious decline as business and government have relocated to the Intercity area. There has also been substantial residential growth in adjacent areas of the former Neebing and McIntyre townships.

[edit] Climate

The climate of Thunder Bay and area is influenced by Lake Superior, which is especially noticeable in the city's north end, resulting in cooler summer temperatures and warmer winter temperatures for an area extending inland as far as 16 km. The average daily temperatures range from a high of 17.6 °C in July and a low of -14.8 °C in January. The average daily high in July is 24.2 °C and the average daily high in January is -8.6 °C. On January 10, 1982, the local temperature in Thunder Bay dropped to -36 °C, with a wind speed of 54km/hr for a wind chill temperature that dipped to -58 °C. As a result, it holds Ontario's record for coldest day with wind chill.^[14] The city is quite sunny with an average of 2167.7 hours of bright sunshine each year, ranging from 283.4 hours in July to 88.8 hours in November, sunnier than any city in Canada located to the east of it.^[15]

Thunder Bay Climatological Data
Temperature
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
Record high °C (°F)	8 (47)	12 (54)	23 (73)	28 (83)	35 (95)	36 (96)	37 (99)	40 (105)	32 (89)	28 (83)	22 (71)	12 (54)
Average high °C (°F)	-9 (17)	-6 (22)	0.3 (33)	9 (48)	16 (62)	21 (69)	24 (76)	23 (74)	17 (63)	10 (51)	2 (35)	-6 (21)	9 (48)
Mean °C (°F)	-15 (5)	-12 (10)	-6 (21)	3 (37)	10 (49)	14 (57)	18 (64)	17 (62)	11 (52)	5 (41)	-3 (27)	-12 (11)	3 (37)
Average low °C (°F)	-21 (-6)	-18 (-1)	-11 (12)	-3 (26)	3 (37)	7 (45)	11 (52)	10 (50)	5 (41)	-0.5 (31)	-8 (18)	-17 (1)	-4 (26)
Record low °C (°F)	-41 (-42)	-40 (-40)	-38 (-36)	-22 (-8)	-9 (16)	-3 (27)	0 (32)	-1 (30)	-8 (17)	-13 (8)	-31 (-23)	-38 (-36)
Precipitation and Sunshine Hours
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
Total mm (in)	31 (1.2)	25 (1.0)	42 (1.6)	42 (1.6)	67 (2.6)	86 (3.4)	89 (3.5)	88 (3.4)	88 (3.5)	63 (2.5)	56 (2.2)	38 (1.5)	712 (28)
Rainfall mm (in)	3 (0.1)	3 (0.1)	18 (0.7)	30 (1.2)	65 (2.6)	86 (3.4)	89 (3.5)	86 (3.4)	86 (3.4)	57 (2.2)	33 (1.2)	4 (0.1)	559 (22)
Snowfall cm (in)	41 (16.2)	27 (10.6)	27 (10.6)	12 (4.9)	2 (0.7)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0.5 (0.2)	6 (2.4)	28 (11.0)	44 (17.4)	187.6 (74)
Sunshine hours	114	134	159	219	265	264	283	258	163	128	89	92	2168
Data recorded at Thunder Bay International Airport by Environment Canada. Data spans 1971 to 2000.

[edit] Neighbourhoods

Thunder Bay is composed of two formerly separate cities, Port Arthur and Fort William, and both still retain a large amount of their civic identity, reinforced by the buffering effect the Intercity area has between them. Both Port Arthur and Fort William have their own central business districts and suburban areas. Some of the more well-known neighbourhoods include: the Bay and Algoma area, which has a large northern European population centred around the Finnish Labour Temple; Simpson-Ogden and the East End, two of the oldest neighbourhoods in Fort William located north of Downtown Fort William; Intercity, a large business district located between Fort William and Port Arthur; Current River, the northernmost neighbourhood of Port Arthur, and Westfort, the oldest settlement in Thunder Bay. Within city limits are some small rural communities, such as Vickers Heights and North McIntyre, which were located in the former townships of Neebing and McIntyre respectively.

[edit] Economy

Labour force^[16]^[17]
Rate	Thunder Bay	Ontario	Canada
Employment	61.9%	63.9%	63.9%
Unemployment	5.3%	6.4%	6.0%
Participation	65.4%	68.3%	68.0%
As of: March 2008

As the largest city in Northwestern Ontario, Thunder Bay is the region's commercial, administrative and medical centre. Many of the city's largest single employers are in the public sector. The City of Thunder Bay, the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, the Lakehead District School Board and the Government of Ontario each employ over 1,500 people.^[18] Bowater Forest Products is the largest private employer, employing over 1500 people.^[19] Other major employers in the forestry sector include Abitibi-Consolidated and Buchanan Forest Products. Bombardier Transportation operates a plant in Thunder Bay which manufactures mass transit vehicles and equipment, employing approximately 800 people.^[19]

Employment by industry, 2006^[20]
Industry	Thunder Bay	Ontario
Agriculture and resource-based	3.6%	2.9%
Construction	5.4%	5.9%
Manufacturing	7.7%	13.9%
Wholesale Trade	2.8%	4.7%
Retail trade	12.7%	11.1%
Finance and real estate	4.2%	6.8%
Health care and social services	15.2%	9.4%
Education services	8.9%	6.7%
Business services	16.8%	19.7%
Other services	22.6%	18.7%

The rising cost of electricity in Ontario has threatened the viability of primary industries in the region, resulting in the laying off of workers at pulp and saw mills. The grain trade has declined because of the loss of grain transportation subsidies and the loss of European markets. The gradual transition from shipping by train and boat to shipping by truck, and the free trade agreement with the United States have ended Thunder Bay's privileged position as a linchpin in Canadian east-west freight-handling trade. As a result the city has lost its traditional raison d'être as a break-bulk point, and the city is in economic decline.

In an effort to rejuvenate its economy, the city has been actively working to attract quaternary or "knowledge-based" industries, primarily in the fields of molecular medicine and genomics.^[21]^[22] The city is home to the western campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, the first medical school to open in Canada in a generation.^[23]

[edit] Infrastructure

[edit] Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Thunder Bay, Ontario

Thunder Bay receives air, rail and shipping traffic due to its prime location along major continental transportation routes. Greyhound Canada provides coach service to both regional and national destinations, with the municipally owned Thunder Bay Transit providing 17 routes across the city's urban area. The city is served by the Thunder Bay International Airport, the fourth busiest airport in Ontario by aircraft movements.^[24] The main highway through the city is Highway 11/17, a four lane highway designated as the Thunder Bay Expressway.

The city is an important railway hub, served by both the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railway. Passenger rail service to Thunder Bay ended on 15 January 1990, with the cancellation of VIA Rail's southern transcontinental service.^[25]

Harbour

Thunder Bay has been a port since the days of the North West Company which maintained a schooner on Lake Superior. The Port of Thunder Bay is the largest outbound port on the St. Lawrence Seaway System,^[26] and the sixth largest port in Canada.^[23] The Thunder Bay Port Authority manages Keefer Terminal, built on a 320,000 square metre site on Lake Superior.

[edit] Medical centres and hospitals

Thunder Bay has one major hospital, the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. Other health care services include the St. Joseph's Care Group, which operates long term care centres such as the Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital, St. Joseph's Hospital, and Hogarth Riverview Manor. The Northern Ontario School of Medicine has a campus at Lakehead University. The city is also home to a variety of smaller medical and dental clinics.

[edit] Population and demographics

Selected Ethnic Origins, 2001^[27]
Ethnic origin	Population
English	26,710
Canadian	26,675
Scottish	20,425
Irish	17,495
French	16,565
Ukrainian	14,415
Italian	14,330
Finnish	11,530
German	9,965
Polish	6,975
Aboriginal	6,840
Swedish	4,135
Visible minorities	2,635
multiple responses included

City of Thunder Bay
Population by year^[28]
1911	27,719
1921	35,427
1931	46,095
1941	55,011
1951	66,108
1956	77,600
1961	92,490
1966	104,539
1971	108,411
1976	111,476
1981	112,486
1986	112,272
1991	113,946
1996	113,662
2001	109,016
2006	109,140

According to the 2006 Census, there were 109,140 people residing in Thunder Bay on 16 May 2006, of whom 48.4% were male and 51.6% were female. Residents 19 years of age or younger accounted for approximately 22.9% of the population. People aged by 20 and 39 years accounted for 24.6%, while those between 40 and 64 made up 35.9% of the population. The average age of a Thunder Bayer in May 2006 was 41.7, compared to the average of 39.5 for Canada as a whole.^[4]

Between the censuses of 2001 and 2006, Thunder Bay's population increased by 0.1%, compared to the average of 6.6% for Ontario and 5.4% for Canada. The population density of the city of Thunder Bay averaged 332.3 people per square kilometre, compared with an average of 13.4 for Ontario.

A further 13,767 people live in Thunder Bay's Census Metropolitan Area, which apart from Thunder Bay includes the municipalities of Neebing and Oliver Paipoonge, the townships of Conmee, Gillies, O'Connor and Shuniah, and the aboriginal community of Fort William First Nation.^[29]

Ethnicity

Thunder Bay is home to 12,825 people of Finnish descent,^[30] the highest concentration of persons of Finnish origin per capita in Canada, and the second largest Finnish population in Canada after Toronto which has 14,750 persons of Finnish origin.

Language

In terms of Canada's official languages, 81.6% of Thunder Bayers speak only English, and 2.6% speak only French. Other languages spoken in Thunder Bay include Finnish, Italian and Ojibwe.

Religion

The 2001 census states that 82.0 per cent of Thunder Bay residents belong to a Christian denomination, 39.8% of which are Roman Catholic, 39.5% Protestant, and 2.6% other following Christian denominations, mostly Eastern Orthodox. Those who follow other religions make up less than 1% of the population, while the remaining 17.0% are non-religious.

[edit] Visitor attractions

Thunder Bay's main tourist attraction is Fort William Historical Park, a reconstruction of the North West Company's Fort William fur trade post as it was in 1815, which attracts 100,000 visitors annually.^[31] The marina in downtown Port Arthur, an area known as The Heart of the Harbour, draws visitors for its panoramic view of the Sleeping Giant and the presence of various water craft. The marina also includes a lake walk, playground, harbour cruises, a children's museum, and a Chinese/Canadian restaurant. There are several small surface amethyst mines in the area, some of which allow visitors to search for their own crystals.^[32] A 2.74m (9 ft) statue of Terry Fox is situated at the Terry Fox Memorial and Lookout on the outskirts of the city near the place where he was forced to abandon his run. Other tourists attractions are listed below.

Intercity Shopping Centre
Kakabeka Falls
Mount McKay Lookout
Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame
Ouimet Canyon
Port Arthur Stadium
Silver Falls
Thunder Bay Art Gallery
Thunder Bay Community Auditorium
Thunder Bay Historical Museum
Thunder Bay Marina
International Friendship Gardens
Trowbridge Falls
Victoriaville
Waverley Park

Hillcrest Park, looking south to Fort William.

[edit] Education

Main article: Education in Thunder Bay, Ontario

Thunder Bay has 38 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, 8 secondary schools, 2 private schools, and an adult education facility. The city also has several other private for-profit colleges and tutoring programmes. Post secondary institutions in Thunder Bay include Confederation College and Lakehead University.

The Lakehead District School Board is the largest school board in the city, with 22 elementary schools, 4 secondary schools and a centre for adult studies. The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board is the second largest with 16 elementary schools, 3 middle schools and 2 high schools. Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boréales operates one elementary and one high school in Thunder Bay, and an additional six schools throughout the Thunder Bay District.

[edit] Culture

The city of Thunder Bay was declared a "Cultural Capital of Canada" in 2003.^[33] Throughout the city are cultural centres representing the diverse population. Places such as the Finnish Labour Temple, Scandinavia House, the Italian Cultural Centre, the Polish Legion, and a wide variety of others. Shags, a combination shower and stag held to celebrate the engagement of a couple,^[34] and Persians, a cinnamon bun pastry with pink icing, originated in the city.^[35]^[36] Thunder Bay is served by the Thunder Bay Public Library, which has four branches.

[edit] The arts

Magnus Theatre is located in the old Central Schoolhouse.

Thunder Bay is home to a variety of music and performance arts venues. The largest professional theatre is Magnus Theatre. Founded in 1971, it offering six stage plays each season and is located in the renovated Port Arthur Public School on Red River Road. The Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, which seats 1500, is the primary venue for various types of entertainment. It is the home of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, which has 30 full-time and up to 20 extra musicians presenting a full range of classical music.^[37] Thunder Bay also has a large and extensive music scene, with concerts almost nightly in many venues, such as Kilroy's, Jack's, and The Apollo.

The Bay Street Film Festival, established in 2005, is an independent film festival that features local, national, and international films with the theme of "Films for the People." The festival is held in September at 314 Bay Street in the historic Finnish Labour Temple.^[38] Thunder Bay is also home to the North of Superior Film Association (NOSFA). Established in 1992, the NOSFA features monthly screenings of international and Canadian films at the Cumberland Cinema Centre, with a spring film festival that attracts several thousand patrons.^[39]

[edit] Museums and galleries

The Thunder Bay Art Gallery which was founded in 1976, specializes in the works of First Nations artists, having a collection of national significance. The Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society, founded in 1908, presents local and travelling exhibitions and houses an impressive collection of artifacts, photographs, paintings, documents and maps in its archives.

[edit] Sports and recreation

Thunder Bay's proximity to the wilderness of the Boreal Forest and the rolling hills and mountains of the Canadian Shield allow its residents to enjoy very active lifestyles. The city has hosted several large sporting events including the Summer Canada Games in 1981, the Nordic World Ski Championships in 1995, and the Continental Cup of Curling in 2003.

[edit] Recreational facilities

Thunder Bay enjoys many recreational facilities. The city operates fifteen neighbourhood community centres, which offer various sporting and fitness facilities as well as seasonal activities such as dances. The city also operates six indoor ice rinks and 84 seasonal outdoor rinks,^[40] two indoor community pools and three seasonal outdoor pools as well as a portable pool and two maintained public beaches, several curling sheets, and three golf courses, among others.^[41] Listed below are some of the city's major facilities.

Multi-Use Facilities

Municipal Ice Rinks and Indoor Pools

Current River Arena
Delaney Arena
Grandview Arena
Neebing Arena
Port Arthur Arena
Thunder Bay Tournament Centre (2 ice surfaces)
Sir Winston Churchill Community Pool
Volunteer Community Pool

Golf Courses^[43]

Centennial Golf Course (9 holes)
Chapples Memorial Golf Course (18 Holes)(Municipal)
Dragon Hills Golf Course (9 holes)
Emerald Greens Golf Course (9 holes)
Fort William Country Club (18 Holes)
Municipal Golf Course (9 holes)(Municipal)
Northern Lights Golf Complex (9 holes par 3/9 holes regulation)
Strathcona Golf Course (18 holes)(Municipal)
Thunder Bay Country Club (9 holes)
Whitewater Golf Club (18 holes)

Ski Hills

Lappe Nordic Ski Centre
Loch Lomond Ski Resort
Mount Baldy Ski Resort

[edit] Sports teams

Club	Sport	League	Venue
Fort William North Stars	Ice Hockey	Superior International Junior Hockey League	Fort William Gardens
Lakehead Thunderwolves	Basketball	Ontario University Athletics	C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse
Lakehead Thunderwolves	Ice Hockey	Ontario University Athletics	Fort William Gardens
Lakehead Thunderwolves	Volleyball	Ontario University Athletics	C.J. Sanders Fieldhouse
Thunder Bay Bearcats	Ice Hockey	Superior International Junior Hockey League	Fort William First Nations Arena
Thunder Bay Border Cats	Baseball	Northwoods League	Port Arthur Stadium
Thunder Bay Bulldogs	Ice Hockey	Superior International Junior Hockey League	Port Arthur Arena
Thunder Bay Chill	Soccer	United Soccer Leagues	Chapples Park Stadium

[edit] Media

Main article: Media of Thunder Bay

[edit] Print

Thunder Bay has one daily newspaper, The Chronicle-Journal, which has a circulation of approximately 28,000 and has coverage of all of Northwestern Ontario.^[44] There are two weekly news papers—Thunder Bay's Source, a weekly newspaper operated by Dougall Media, and Canadan Sanomat, a Finnish language weekly newspaper. Lakehead University has a student newspaper called The Argus, which is published weekly during the school year.^[45] The Chronicle Journal publishes a free weekly called Spot every Thursday, focusing on entertainment. The city produces a bi-monthly publication to citizens titled yourCity, which is also available online in a PDF format.^[46] Netnewsledger is a daily updated website covering news and current events in Thunder Bay, which places emphasis on connecting politicians to their constituents.^[47]

[edit] Television

Three English language stations and one French language station supply Thunder Bay with free over-the-air television. CTV and CBC service is provided by a locally-owned twinstick operation branded as Thunder Bay Television, and the city receives TVOntario on channel 9 and the French CBLFT-TV on channel 12.

The cable provider in Thunder Bay is Shaw. The community channel on Shaw Cable is branded as Shaw TV, and airs on cable channel 10.

[edit] Radio

Thunder Bay is home to 10 radio stations, all of which broadcast on the FM band.

There are four commercial radio stations based in the city — Rock 94.3 and CKPR 91.5, owned by Dougall Media, the parent company of Thunder Bay Television and Thunder Bay's Source, and Magic 99.9 and 105.3 The Giant, owned by Newcap Broadcasting. The city receives CBC Radio One as CBQT-FM and CBC Radio 2 as CBQ-FM, at 88.3 FM and 101.7 FM respectively. The French Première Chaîne is available as a repeater of Sudbury-based CBON-FM on 89.3 FM. Lakehead University operates a campus radio station, CILU-FM, at 102.7 FM, and CJOA-FM 95.1 broadcasts Christian-oriented programming and is run by a local non-profit group.

[edit] Notable natives

Main article: List of people from Thunder Bay, Ontario

Thunder Bay is home to a wide variety of notable people. Some of the best known living persons are Paul Shaffer, bandleader on the American Late Show with David Letterman,^[48] and Bobby Curtola, an early rock and roll singer and one-time teen idol,^[49] both of whom have streets named after them. Notable athletes include NHL players (and brothers) Eric Staal, Marc Staal, Jordan Staal,^[50] Olympic gold medalist Katie Weatherston, professional BMX rider and 9-time X-Games medalist Jay Miron,^[51] and Vampiro, the top Canadian wrestler on Mexico's lucha libre circuit.^[52] Clarence Decatur Howe, originally from Massachusetts, moved to Canada in his early adult years and, as "Minister of Everything" played a major role in the economic development of Canada.^[53] Bora Laskin, brother of the city's first mayor Saul Laskin, was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1973 to 1984.^[54] Elizabeth Lawrie Smellie was a nurse, and the first woman to be promoted to the rank of colonel in the Canadian army.^[55]