Windsor, Ontario

**Windsor** is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The city is across the Detroit River from the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. It is the most southern city in Canada. In 2021, Statistics Canada said the city has 229,660 people living in it. It is inside Essex County, but it is independent from the county.

## History

The land first was from Native Americans. Then in 1749, the French got the land and made it a farm. The land was named _la Petite Côte_, meaning "Little Coast". It was later called _La Côte de Misère_, meaning "Poverty Coast" because of the sandy soil near LaSalle. In 1797, after the American Revolution, the British made the city "Sandwich". It was later renamed Windsor, after the town in Berkshire, England.

Windsor was part of a battle in the Upper Canada Rebellion. It was attacked by Detroit rebels who burned a steamboat and 2-3 houses. They were kicked out by the police. Windsor was also part of the Patriot War.

In 1846, Windsor had 300 people. They had ferries that would go from Detroit to Windsor. The city being close to the US border made it a stop for slaves along the Underground Railroad. People said there were 20,000 to 30,000 refugees in Canada.  Most of them stop at Essex County.

Windsor was incorporated as a village in 1854,. The village was then connected to the Canadian National Railway. In 1858, it turned into a town. In 1892 when Windsor tried to become a city, they let people decide the name. Some names are _South Detroit_, _The Ferry_, _Windsor_, and _Richmond_. _Windsor_ was chosen to promote English people in the city. It was also for Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England. But, _Richmond_ was used until World War II.

The Windsor Police Service was created on July 1, 1867.

A fire burned a lot of downtown Windsor on October 12, 1871, destroying more than 100 buildings.

In 1935, the towns Sandwich, Ford City and Walkerville were merged into Windsor.

On October 25, 1960, a explosion destroyed the Metropolitan Store on Ouellette Avenue. 10 people were killed and at least 100 injured. It was featured on History Television's _Disasters of the Century_.

In 1966, the nearby villages of Ojibway and Riverside were also merged into Windsor.

## Climate

Windsor has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification _Dfa_). Windsor has the hottest climate in Ontario due to hot summers. The yearly temperature is . The coldest month is January and the hottest month is July. The coldest temperature ever was  on January 29, 1873, and the hottest was  on June 25, 1988.

### Emergencies

Windsor had historic flooding in 2016, 2017 and 2019. In 2016, the mayor of Windsor, Drew Dilkens, declared a state of emergency because of the really bad flooding that occurred. In spring of 2019 Windsor asked for money following a lot of flooding.

In 2013 a fire broke out at a plastic recycling warehouse. This state of emergency was called due to bad air quality caused by the fire.

In 2017, Windsor faced a storm that left  of rain in 32 hours.

Windsor had a lot of tornadoes. The worst tornado to touch down Windsor was an F4 in 1946.

## Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population by Statistics Canada, Windsor had  living in  of its  total houses in the city.

At the census metropolitan area (CMA) level in the 2021 census, the Windsor CMA had a population of  living in  of its  total houses, a change of  from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of  in 2021.

Windsor has a lot of immigrants. In 2016, 17.7% of the people are foreign-born in the metropolitan area, 22.9% of the population was foreign-born. Visible minorities make up 25.7% of the people, making it the most diverse city in Ontario outside of the Greater Toronto Area.

## Twin towns

Windsor has 12 twin towns:

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Windsor
- **official name**: City of Windsor
- **settlement type**: List of cities in Ontario, City (List of municipalities in Ontario#Single-tier municipalities, single-tier)
- **imagesize**: 300px
- **image caption**: From top, left to right: Downtown Windsor skyline, Ambassador Bridge, WFCU Centre, Dillon Hall at University of Windsor, and Caesars Windsor
- **image shield**: <noinclude>Coat of arms of Windsor, Ontario.svg</noinclude>
- **image blank emblem**: City of Windsor Vertical Logo.svg
- **nickname**: List of city nicknames in Canada#Ontario, "The City of Roses", "Automotive Capital of Canada"
- **named for**: Windsor, Berkshire
- **motto**: The river and the land sustain us. - “The Place to Be.”
- **image map**: Windsor locator, Detroit, 2021.svg
- **map caption**: Location in the Detroit–Windsor region
- **pushpin map**: Canada Southern Ontario#Ontario#Canada
- **pushpin map caption**: Location within southern Ontario##Location within Ontario##Location within Canada
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: Canada
- **subdivision type1**: Provinces and territories of Canada, Province
- **subdivision type2**: List of Ontario census divisions, Census division
- **subdivision name1**: Ontario
- **subdivision name2**: Essex County, Ontario, Essex
- **established title**: Settled
- **established date**: 1749
- **established title2**: Incorporated
- **established date2**: 1854
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 146.32
- **area urban km2**: 175.77
- **area metro km2**: 1022.84
- **elevation m**: 190
- **population total**: 229,660 (List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, 23rd)
- **population as of**: 2021
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population urban**: 306,519 (List of the largest population centres in Canada, 16th)
- **population metro**: 422,630 (List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada, 16th)
- **population demonym**: Windsorite
- **demographics type2**: Gross Metropolitan Product
- **demographics2 title1**: Windsor
- **demographics2 info1**: Canadian dollar, CA$16.4billion (2019)
- **postal code type**: Canadian postal code#Forward sortation areas, Forward sortation area
- **postal code**: List of N postal codes of Canada, N8N to N8Y, N9A to N9K
- **area codes**: Area codes 519 and 226, 519, 226 and 548
- **website**: [http://www.citywindsor.ca/ www.citywindsor.ca]
- **government type**: Council-Manager
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **leader name**: Drew Dilkens
- **leader title1**: Governing body
- **leader name1**: Windsor City Council
- **leader title2**: House of Commons of Canada, MPs
- **leader name2**: Brian Masse (New Democratic Party (Canada), NDP),
Irek Kusmierczyk (Liberal Party of Canada, LPC)
- **leader title3**: Legislative Assembly of Ontario, MPPs
- **leader name3**: Lisa Gretzky (Ontario New Democratic Party, NDP),
Andrew Dowie (Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, PC)
- **timezone**: Eastern Time Zone, EST
- **utc offset**: −05:00
- **timezone dst**: Daylight saving time in Canada, EDT
- **utc offset dst**: −04:00
- **blank emblem type**: Logo