Product Code Database
Elliot Lake is a city in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is north of Lake Huron, midway between the cities of Greater Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie in the Northern Ontario region. Once dubbed the "uranium capital of the world," Elliot Lake has since diversified to a hub for advanced manufacturing, forest harvesting, mine reclamation expertise, retirement living, all-season tourism and remote work. The nearby Mississagi Provincial Park is one of only ten operating parks in Ontario with back country hiking and camping, and is the eighth-largest hiking network in Ontario among all operating parks.
The town takes its name from the lake. There is no official record of origin of name; the earliest appearance is on the Dominion map of 1901. Folklore suggest it was named for a logging camp cook who drowned in the lake. The townsite name was approved on August 14, 1952. Elliot Lake was incorporated as a city in 1990.
By 1958 it was apparent that world production of uranium was far outstripping demand and Canadian producers received unofficial notice that US options on Canadian uranium production between 1962 and 1966 would not be exercised. This was confirmed in 1959.
During the 1970s, federal plans for and Ontario Hydro's interest in atomic energy led the town, anticipating a population of 30,000, to expand again. However, by the early 1990s depleted reserves and low prices caused the last mines in the area to close.
According to University of Toronto history professor Laurel Sefton MacDowell in her 2012 article 'The Elliot Lake Uranium Miners’ Battle to Gain Occupational Health and Safety Improvements, 1950–1980', the health concerns over radiation in the local environment are perpetual, and must be monitored perpetually.
The 2017 performance of Rio Algom (a subsidiary of BHP), who own nine of the decommissioned mines, was described as "below expectations" by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission reported radium releases above limits at the Stanleigh effluent treatment plant, prompting engineering work plus increased site monitoring by the owners.
On June 23, 2012, part of a roof collapsed at Algo Centre Mall, sending metal and concrete debris crashing down through two floors of the shopping centre. The accident killed two people. Pearson Plaza has since opened.
On February 21, 2019, part of the theatre roof of the Lester B. Pearson Civic Centre collapsed due to an abnormally heavy snow load. The building has since been completely demolished.
Today, the economy of Elliot Lake has seen steady growth. Major employers in Elliot Lake include major mining services firms such as Komatsu, Weir, and Denison Environmental; specialty manufacturing organizations such as St. Regis Group, HiRail Leasing and Prestige Pulpits; numerous forestry businesses; a collection of professional services offices such as Cambridge Law LLP, KPMG and BrokerLink and an increasing number of technology organizations. Government organizations found in the community are numerous and include the City of Elliot Lake, Elliot Lake Retirement Living, a range of Ontario Ministries, a set of federal government offices, a hospital, many health service providers and several schools.
The city has four major retail areas: Downtown, Highway 108 Corridor, Hillside, and Paris; and two industrial parks, located at north and south ends of the City. The new mall is Pearson Plaza, and opened downtown in 2016.
In January 2023, just weeks after being elected in the 2022 Algoma District municipal elections, mayor Chris Patrie was removed from office in a ruling that he had violated municipal conflict of interest rules by lobbying, in his prior term as a city councillor, to have the city's new recreation centre built near the Oakland Plaza, in which he is a part owner, instead of on the former Algo Centre Mall site. Deputy mayor Andrew Wannan served as acting mayor, while Patrie appealed the ruling. Patrie lost his appeal, and Wannan was elevated to the full mayoralty by the city council in February 2024.
Local wildlife include moose, white-tailed deer, American black bear, American beaver, loon, muskrat, otter, Canada goose, and lynx, to name but a few. Fish species include lake trout, Brook trout, rainbow trout, smallmouth bass, walleye, and sturgeon.
Since December 1990 the town has been home to the Elliot Lake Research Field Station, established by Laurentian University to investigate environmental radioactivity.
Acclaimed Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has taken landscape pictures of uranium and nickel tailings during the mid-1990s, providing evidence of the after-effects to the ecosystem.
In January 2023, just weeks after being elected in the 2022 Algoma District municipal elections, mayor Chris Patrie was removed from office in a ruling that he had violated municipal conflict of interest rules by lobbying, in his prior term as a city councillor, to have the city's new recreation centre built near the Oakland Plaza, in which he is a part owner, instead of on the former Algo Centre Mall site. Deputy mayor Andrew Wannan served as acting mayor, while Patrie appealed the ruling. Patrie lost his appeal, and Wannan was elevated to the full mayoralty by the city council in February 2024. Patrie was barred from holding office for two years and ordered to pay $101,000 (Canadian dollar) in legal costs to the city's integrity commissioner.
As an improvement district, the city was chaired by the following:
Its reeves and mayors since incorporation have been:
A 1991 study by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation proposed the extension of Highway 555 (Granary Lake Road) from Blind River to meet Spine Road in Elliot Lake, creating a new route which would reduce the length of a commute between the two communities by approximately 20 kilometres. "Council considers old idea for new road" . Elliot Lake Standard, August 5, 2015. Although the ministry has announced no firm plans to construct the proposed road, Elliot Lake City Council passed a motion in August 2015 calling for the project's revival.
As a general aviation facility Elliot Lake Municipal Airport has no regularly scheduled flights. The closest scheduled airport with flights are located in Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie.
Elliot Lake Transit provides hourly bus service except on Sundays and statutory holidays.
Intercity motor coach service is provided by Ontario Northland.
The city is home to Denison House, a hotel and convention facility located in the former corporate lodge of Denison Mines, and the Elliot Lake Mining and Nuclear Museum. Two community monuments, the Uranium Atom Monument downtown and the Miners Memorial Monument on Horne Lake, are also found in the city, as well as a scenic lookout at the former fire tower.
In 1975, Canadian musician Stompin' Tom Connors recorded "Damn Good Song for a Miner," about the city of Elliot Lake and its mining culture in the 1960s. Elliot Lake is also a prominent setting in Alistair MacLeod's award-winning novel No Great Mischief.
In March of 2024 Elliot Lake was named the winner of the 2024 iteration of the Kraft Hockeyville contest after winning a nationwide vote. The other nominees were Enderby, British Columbia; Cochrane, Alberta; and Wolseley, Saskatchewan. As winners they received $250,000 towards repairs at Rogers Arena (formerly known as Centennial Arena) and the right to host an NHL preseason game in the fall of 2024. The NHL Preseason game took place on September 29th at the Sudbury Community Arena in Sudbury, ON. The game saw the Ottawa Senators play the Pittsburgh Penguins in a preseason game which ended in a 5-2 victory for the Penguins. The game featured goals by Nick Cousins, Tim Stutzle, Sidney Crosby and a Hat Trick by Evgeni Malkin.
The North Shore Bulletin is the city's bi-weekly advertising flyer, which also prints current news events.
Elliot Lake was previously served by CBEC-TV, VHF channel 7, and CBLFT-TV-6, VHF channel 12, which rebroadcast the Toronto-based stations CBLT-DT (CBC Television) and CBLFT-DT (Ici Radio-Canada Télé), respectively. These rebroadcasters were shut down in 2012 due to budget cuts at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Arts and culture
Local festivals include the Jewel in the Wilderness Festival, Heritage Weekend and the Elliot Lake Arts on the Trail festival.
Tourist attractions
Education
Current schools
Defunct postsecondary and adult schools
Sports
Ice hockey
The city is home to the Elliot Lake Vikings of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL). The league placed the team on an indefinite leave of absence in December 2024 due to the protracted closure of Rogers Arena, the team's official home in Elliot Lake. The team was forced to vacate the building, which is owned by the city, due to "structural concerns" at the beginning of the 2023–24 season. As a temporary solution, the team relocated to the Massey and District Community Centre some away in Blind River. In December 2024, after the Elliot Lake city council delayed the reopening of its arena, the league placed the Vikings on leave for the rest of the 2024–25 season. In May 2025, the Vikings extending its leave of absence through the 2025–26 season.
Baseball
Martial Arts
Softball
Swimming
Media
Print media
The Elliot Lake Standard is the city's newspaper, owned by Postmedia. The city is also served by Elliot Lake Today, a community news website operated as part of the Village Media network.
Radio
Elliot Lake has one commercial radio station, which operates two transmitters due to signal deficiencies in parts of the city. All of its other radio services are of stations from Greater Sudbury.
FM Broadcasting 90.3 CBCS-FM CBC Radio One Talk radio, public radio Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Rebroadcaster of CBCS-FM Sudbury FM Broadcasting 94.1 CKNR-FM Moose FM Adult contemporary Vista Broadcast Group FM Broadcasting 98.7 CKNR-FM Moose FM Adult contemporary Vista Broadcast Group Additional transmitter due to signal deficiencies FM Broadcasting 101.7 CBON-FM Ici Radio-Canada Première Talk radio, public radio Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Rebroadcaster of CBON-FM Sudbury FM Broadcasting 102.5 CJTK-FM KFM Christian music Harvest Ministries Sudbury Rebroadcaster of CJTK-FM Sudbury
Television
3 (VHF) CICI-TV CTV Rebroadcaster of CICI-TV Sudbury
People from Elliot Lake
See also
External links
|
|
