SUDBURY PROFILE

The City of Greater Sudbury was formed on January 1, 2001, as recommended by the Report to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on Local Government Reform for Sudbury (November 1999). Population: 160,274, (2011 census)

The new City represents the amalgamation of the towns and cities which comprised the former Regional Municipality of Sudbury (Sudbury, Capreol, Nickel Centre, Onaping Falls, Rayside-Balfour, Valley East and Walden), as well as several unincorporated townships (Fraleck, Parkin, Aylmer, Mackelcan, Rathbun, Scadding, Dryden, Cleland and Dill).

Sudbury is located in southeastern Ontario, on Ramsey Lake, north of Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. It was named for Sudbury, Suffolk, Eng.

Its settlement began with the location of a station of the new Canadian Pacific Railway on the site. Copper- and nickel-bearing ores were discovered there in 1883-84 during the railway's construction, and smelting operations got underway in 1888.

Sudbury became the most important mining centre in Canada, with a majority of its population employed in that industry. Huge nickel concentrators and smelters were erected at Copper Cliff west of the city and at Falconbridge. The city and the surrounding district still produce as much as one-fifth of all the nickel mined in the world and almost all of Ontario's copper.

Significant amounts of gold, silver, platinum, cobalt, sulfur, and iron ore are also mined. Other industries include lumber milling, woodworking, machine shops, and brick works.

Mining's importance in the city's economy began to decline in the 1960s relative to such sectors as health care, education, and public administration.

Sudbury lies along the Trans-Canada Highway and two transcontinental railways and is the chief service and commercial centre for northern Ontario.

The City boasts three post-secondary institutions - Laurentian University (1960), Cambrian College (1966), and Collège Boréal.

Hôpital régional de Sudbury Regional Hospital feates a multi-million dollar expansion. Combined with the Northeastern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre, both institutions support Sudbury's role as the main provider of health services in northeastern Ontario.

Science North, the popular interactive science centre and IMAX theatre, successfully anchors a vibrant tourism trade that continues to expand.

Incorporated as a town, 1893; city, 1930; The City of Greater Sudbury was formed on January 1, 2001.