Chatham-Kent

Chatham-Kent(2021 population: 103,988)is asingle-tier municipalityinSouthwestern Ontario, Canada. It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham,Wallaceburg,Tilbury,Blenheim,Ridgetown,WheatleyandDresden. The current Municipality of Chatham-Kent was created in 1998 by the amalgamation of Blenheim,Bothwell, Camden, the City of Chatham, the Township of Chatham, Dover, Dresden,Erie Beach,Erieau, Harwich,Highgate, Howard, Orford, Raleigh, Ridgetown, Romney, Thamesville, Tilbury East, Tilbury, Wallaceburg, Wheatley and Zone.
The Chatham-Kentcensus division, which includes the independentDelaware Nation at MoraviantownFirst Nation, had a population of 104,316 in the 2021 census.
The area of Chatham-Kent is part of the traditional territory of theOdawa,Potawatomi,OjibweandWyandotFirst Nationsof 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 forAlexander McKee) 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 andWalpole Island First Nation.
European settlement of the former city of Chatham area began with a naval dockyard in 1792, at the fork of theThames Riverwith McGregor's Creek. The town was named afterWilliam Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham.  It was built as a naval dockyard, a characteristic shared byChatham, Kent, England. In England, the name Chatham came from the British rootcetoand the Old Englishhamthus meaning a forest settlement.Following theAmerican Revolutionand theGnadenhutten massacre, a group ofChristian Munseesettled in what is now the Moraviantown reserve. In theWar of 1812, theBattle of the Thamestook place between Moraviantown andThamesvilleon October 5, 1813.
During the 19th century, the area was the northernterminusof theUnderground Railroad. As a result, Chatham-Kent is now part of the African-Canadian Heritage Tour. Josiah Henson Museum for African-Canadian History, formally known asUncle Tom's Cabin Historic Siteis a museum of the Dawn Settlement, established in 1841 byJosiah Hensonnear Dresden as refuge for the many slaves who escaped to Canada from the United States.John Brown, the abolitionist, plannedhis raid on the Harpers Ferry Arsenalin Chatham and recruited local men to participate in the raid. He held in Chatham a Convention of Colored Men on May 8–10, 1858.The small village ofNorth Buxton, part of theAfrican Canadian Heritage Tour, also played an important role in theUnderground Railroad. By the 1850s, the city of Chatham was referred to as the "black meccaof Canada".A museum in the city, the Black Mecca Museum, still bears this name.Chatham was home to a number ofblack churchesand business, withBlack Canadiansmaking up one-third of the city's population and controlling a significant portion of the city's political power. NearbyDresdenandBuxtonwere also home to thousands of land-owning black residents.However, after the abolition of slavery in the United States, many black families left the area. Today the city of Chatham is just 3.3% black, with Chatham-Kent as a whole being 2.1% black. Few of the black-owned institutions are still in operation.
In 1846, the town of Chatham had a population of about 1,500, with part of the town being called Chatham North. There were four churches, a theatre, a weekly newspaper and a cricket club. The road between London and Amherstburg was open, and transportation by stagecoach was available. A fast boat also provided transportation to Detroit and Buffalo. Chatham had many tradesman, a foundry, two banks, three schools, a tavern and a library where one could read books and newspapers.By 1869, the population was 3,000 in this industrial area with several mills, foundries, and breweries; a great deal of wood was being produced. A steamboat offered transportation to Windsor and Detroit. There was one bank office.
Between 1906 and 1909, the city was home to theChatham Motor Car Company,and from 1919 to 1921, Denby Motor Truck Company of Canada.It was also where theHyslop and Ronaldsteamfire enginemanufacturer was located; the factory would be taken over by Chatham Motor Car.In addition, it hostedmeat packerO'Keefe and Drew.
TheHawaiian pizzais claimed to have been invented in Chatham in 1962 at the Satellite Restaurant bySam Panopoulos.In the U.S., formerOhioGovernorJim Rhodesproposed building a bridge across Lake Erie linkingClevelandto the southern coast of Kent County.
Before 1998, Kent County consisted of thetownshipsofCamden,Chatham,Dover,Harwich,Howard,Orford,Raleigh,Romney,Tilbury EastandZone. In some of Canada's earliest post-Confederation censuses, some residences in Kent County were incorrectly reported as being inBothwell "County", which was a separateelectoral districtcomprising parts of Kent andLambtoncounties but not a distinct county in its own right.
In 1998, theCounty of Kentand thecity of Chathamwere 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 ofWallaceburgandDresden. 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. Thecity of Chatham, as well as the towns of Wallaceburg, Dresden, andTilbury, 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 theBattle of Longwoodsreenactment, 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 theUnderground Railroadand as such hosts theBuxtonHomecoming each September. This celebrates the area's black culture and the roots laid by early black settlers in the Buxton area.
The Municipality of Chatham-Kent currently consists of the following communities, listed by the Townships of the former Kent County (pre-1998 amalgamation):
At 2,458 square kilometres (949 sq mi), Chatham-Kent is the ninth largest municipality by area in Canada.  Over 44,000 of the 107,000 residents live in the former City of Chatham.  Other population centres in the municipality includeWallaceburg,BlenheimandTilbury,RidgetownandDresden.
The LowerThames Riverruns through Chatham–Kent toLake St. Clairin the west, while theSydenham Riverflows through Wallaceburg and Dresden.  The municipality has approximately 88 kilometres of shoreline along lakeErieand 24 kilometres along lake St. Clair.
TheIndian reserveofBkejwanong(commonly referred to as Walpole Island) borders on Chatham–Kent, whereas the Indian reserve ofMoravian 47is an enclave within the city and is part of the Chatham–Kent census agglomeration and census division.
Chatham-Kent has ahumid continental climate(Köppen climate classificationDfa),with cold, snowy winters and warm to hot, humid summers. A typical summer will feature heat waves with temperatures exceeding 30 °C (86 °F) often. Winters are cold, and feature occasional cold snaps bringing temperatures below −15 °C (5 °F), but also commonly include mild stretches of weather above freezing.
In the2021 Census of Populationconducted byStatistics Canada, Chatham-Kent had a population of103,988living in44,028of its46,752total private dwellings, a change of2.3% from its 2016 population of101,647. With a land area of 2,451.9 km(946.7 sq mi), it had a population density of42.4/km(109.8/sq mi) in 2021.
2006 censusFor all groups that comprise at least 1% of the population. Note that a person can report more than one ethnic origin.
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'sFrench Language Services Act.
Approximately 8,500 residents of Chatham-Kent have French as a mother tongue and 1,500 have French as their home language.Essex Countyalso has a relatively large francophone population, especially in the municipality ofLakeshore. Together, Chatham–Kent and Essex Counties make up one of the concentrations ofFranco-Ontariansin the province of Ontario.
Both elementary and secondary francophone schools exist across the municipality. A French socio-cultural organization,La Girouette, which is based in Chatham, promotes French-Canadian culture and language in the area.
Knowledge of official language statistics:
A breakdown of the total labour force in Chatham-Kent shows the leading industries (NAICS) are manufacturing, health care, and retail:
At the outskirts of Chatham is the headquarters for Corteva Agriscience (Formerly Pioneer ), a major agricultural seed breeding and biotechnology company.
GreenField Specialty Alcohols Inc.'s Commercial Alcohols division, Canada's largestethanolplant 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 ofvineyardsin the municipality.
Chatham's roots in the automotive sector go back toGray-Dort Motors Ltd., one of Canada's earliest automobile manufacturers. In the 21st century, auto industry plants in the municipality includeAutolivCanada in Tilbury (airbags),Mahlein Tilbury (emissions controls and plastics), in Ridgetown (automotive electronic pedal assembly and sensors),Dana Canadain Chatham (heat shields for thermal and acoustic management of exhaust manifolds, catalytic converters, and turbochargers), andVitesco Technologies(Powertrain Canada ULC) in Chatham (design, development, and testing of Actuators for clean, efficient vehicles).
Chatham-Kent also is home toRM 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.
Chatham is home to a major corporate office of Enbridge Gas Inc., a natural gas utility andEnbridgecompany. Other energy related companies includewind farmsnear the shores ofLake Erie.
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.
Chatham serves as a retail centre for the municipality and surrounding area. This includes the largebig-box storesin Super Centre on St. Clair Street. Wallaceburg also houses a number of big box stores and fast food locations.
The long, white sandy beaches, fishing, hiking trails and conservation areas make Erieau a popular vacation spot.
There are twoProvincial Parksin Chatham-Kent:Rondeau Provincial ParkandWheatley Provincial 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 shows and entertainers.
Chatham was home to the 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.
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.
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 inNewburyin nearbyMiddlesex County.
Research published in 2002 by theHeart and Stroke Foundationcited Chatham-Kent as a hotspot forheart diseasein 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, includingasthma,chronic allergies,sinus problems, many types of cancer,diabetes,inflammatory bowel disease, alcoholism, andobesity.
In October 2008, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured inMaclean'snewsmagazine.
Chatham-Kent features one of the 14 provincialLocal Health Integration Networks(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.
Chatham-Kent is also served by stations coming from Windsor, London,Detroit,Toledo, andCleveland.
TheChatham Daily Newsis the only daily newspaper in Chatham-Kent.  There are several weeklies located in Chatham and the various communities in the municipality, including theChatham Voice, Wallaceburg Courier Press, theBlenheim News Tribune,Chatham-Kent This Week,Ridgetown Independent News,Tilbury Times, and theWheatley Journal.
TheChatham Daily News,Chatham-Kent This Week, andWallaceburg Courier Pressare all owned byPostmedia.
The Chatham Daily News,Chatham-Kent This Week,Wallaceburg Courier Press,Chatham VoiceandCKRevieware 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. TheChatham-Kent Sports Networkis 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.
There are two anglophone school boards and one francophone school board in Chatham–Kent. These are theLambton Kent District School Board(headquartered in both Chatham and Sarnia), theSt. Clair Catholic District School Board(headquartered in Wallaceburg) and theConseil scolaire catholique Providence(CSC Providence).The LKDSB is a public school board, and consists of 13 secondary and 53 elementary schools.Chatham-Kent Secondary Schoolis 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 inWindsor, has its Chatham-Kent regional office inPain Courtand consists of four elementary schools and one high school.
Chatham–Kent is the home of two colleges –St. Clair CollegeandUniversity of GuelphRidgetown Campus, popularly known asRidgetown College.
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, andveterinary technology. It is part of the University of Guelph'sOntario Agricultural College, and formerly known as Ridgetown College of Agricultural Technology.
TheChatham Maroonsare a team in theGreater Ontario Junior Hockey League.
There are also four teams in theGreat Lakes Junior C Hockey League
Other teams in Chatham-Kent include CK CRUSH (Chatham Girls Minor Hockey Association), the Chatham AAA Cyclones and the A Kent Cobras.
Founded in 2001, the Chatham-Kent Havoc rugby team plays in the Southwest Rugby Union.
Chatham-Kent is situated just offHighway 401, connectingMontreal, Toronto,Kitchener-Waterloo,London, andWindsor, Ontario; and Detroit, Michigan via theAmbassador Bridge. Blenheim, Chatham and Wallaceburg are linked withSarnia, Ontario and theBlue Water Bridgeto the United States byHighway 40.
The sections ofHighway 2andHighway 3(theTalbot Trail) 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 sellE85fuel to the public is located on Park Avenue East in Chatham.
Chatham stationis served byVia Railpassenger services between Toronto and Windsor, part of theQuebec City – Windsor Corridorwith four trips in each direction daily, and the community is served by both theCanadian National Railwayand theCanadian Pacific Railwayfor freight transportation.
Within Chatham public bus services are provided byCK Transit. Chatham-Kent has an intercity bus service, also provided by CK Transit, between all communities in the municipality except Wheatley.
There is amunicipal airportlocated 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 areWindsorandLondon.