Barrie

For the electoral district, see Barrie (electoral district).

For other uses, see Barrie (disambiguation).

City of Barrie
City
A view of downtown Barrie from Kempenfelt Bay.
Flag Coat of arms Official logo of City of Barrie
Motto:  The People are the City
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Simcoe
First settled	End of War of 1812
Established (town)	1837
Established (city)	1853
Named for	Sir Robert Barrie
Wards	10 wards Ward 1 Ward 2 Ward 3 Ward 4 Ward 5 Ward 6 Ward 7 Ward 8 Ward 9 Ward 10
Government
• Mayor	Dave Aspden
• Council	Barrie City Council
• MPP	Aileen Carroll (LIB)
• MP	Patrick Brown (CON)
Area
• City	76.99 km2 (29.73 sq mi)
• Urban	171.52 km2 (66.22 sq mi)
• Metro	897.47 km2 (346.52 sq mi)
Elevation	76 m (249 ft)
Population  (2006)
• City	128,430
• Density	1,668.14/km2 (4,320.5/sq mi)
• Urban	157,501
• Urban density	918.27/km2 (2,378.3/sq mi)
• Metro	177,061
• Metro density	197.29/km2 (511.0/sq mi)
• Ethnicity	Ethnic groups 92.1% White   2.9% Asian 0.6% Chinese 1.0% South Asian 0.4% Filipino 0.3% Southeast Asian 0.2% Arab 0.2% West Asian 2.2% Korean 0.1% Japanese   1.0% Black   0.7% Latin American   1.3% Multiracial 0.1% White and Chinese 0.1% White and South Asian 0.4% White and Black 0.1% White and Filipino 0.02% White and Southeast Asian 0.06% White and Arab 0.008% White and West Asian 0.01% White and Korean 0.008% White and Japanese 0.2% White and other/multiple visible minority 0.1% Multiple visible minority   2.1% Aboriginal and Other 1.9% Aboriginal 0.2% Other visible minority
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Postal code	L4M-L4N
Area code	705
Website	http://www.barrie.ca

Barrie is a city of 128,430 residents, the 35th largest municipality in Canada. It is located on Kempenfelt Bay, an arm of Lake Simcoe in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. Although geographically a part of Simcoe County, the municipality is politically separate.

The city's north and south ends are separated by a deep valley which contains the downtown area along Kempenfelt Bay.

At the north end of Barrie is the Highway 11 and Highway 400 interchange. Many consider this the gateway to northern Ontario resort destinations (referred to as cottage country).

Barrie is also home to the MacLaren Art Centre, an innovative art gallery that supports the visual arts in Simcoe County. It inspired the "Art City" project, which has had many different large sculptures installed around the city. These can be found in parks and along the scenic waterfront.

History

Barrie at its inception was a small group of houses and warehouses at the foot of the Nine Mile Portage from Kempenfeldt Bay to Fort Willow. The city was named in 1833 after Sir Robert Barrie, who was in charge of the naval forces in Canada and frequently had to portage from Lake Simcoe to Georgian Bay through the city. The Underground Railroad in the mid 1800s allowed many American slaves to enter Barrie. This contributed to the development (and the name) of nearby Shanty Bay. During World War II the Royal Canadian Navy named a Flower class corvette HMCS Barrie.

On 27 September 1977, in dense fog, a small plane hit the 68 meter tall CKVR Television Tower, knocking CHAY FM and CKVR-TV off the air. All on the aircraft were killed, and the tower was destroyed. A new 304 metre tower was erected and operational within a year.

On 31 May, 1985, an F4 tornado struck Barrie, during the The "Barrie" Tornado Outbreak of 1985.

On 12 June - 13 June 1987, a sculpture called Spirit Catcher by Ron Baird was moved to Barrie from Vancouver, British Columbia, where it had been exhibited as part of Expo '86. The sculpture was erected permanently at the foot of Maple Avenue on the shore of Kempenfelt Bay.

In January 2004, Barrie made international news when its city police raided the former Molson brewery, and found Canada's largest illegal cannabis grow operation.

Barrie's Park Place (formerly Molson Park) was chosen to host Live 8 Canada on 2 July, 2005. The success of the concert contributed to the resistance to a plan to convert the concert area to a commercial district. However, the stage, buildings and many of the trees on site have been destroyed since construction of the Park Place commercial district has begun.

An explosion in the Royal Thai restaurant, housed in the landmark Wellington Hotel, at the historic Five Points intersection in Barrie's downtown core occurred at 11:20 PM on 6 December, 2007. The fire quickly spread to several neighbouring buildings. Firefighters battled the blaze well into the following morning, requiring assistance from other Simcoe County fire services. Officials estimate the damages to be in the millions. The Wellington Hotel building collapsed. It was over one hundred years old. On 17 February, 2008, two people were charged in connection with the fire, after the Ontario Fire Marshal's office concluded the explosion and fire were the result of arson.

Geography

Barrie is situated in Central Ontario, Canada.

Barrie is located in the central portion of Southern Ontario, and is accessible via Highways 90, 400, 27, 11 and has convenient access to Highway 401, the Highway 407 Express Toll Route and to neighbouring Toronto. Pearson International Airport in Toronto is a one hour drive from Barrie via Highway 400, a six lane highway that runs directly through Barrie.

Topography

Barrie's downtown is situated in a valley, surrounding the western edge of Kempenfelt Bay. Terrain is generally flat near the city's centre. Moving away from the downtown and up the valleys, the terrain can be rather steep in areas. Over the last few decades, the city has expanded its urban area beyond the confines of the valley, particularly to the south.

The city does not have any major rivers within its limits, but does have numerous creeks and streams, most of which empty into Kempenfelt Bay.

Residential condominiums and houses in Barrie after a heavy snowfall.

Climate

Barrie has warm, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. The proximity to the Great Lakes does moderate temperatures somewhat. Barrie is located in Ontario's snow belt region, where lake-effect snow falls throughout the winter. An average of 238 centimetres (95 inches) of snow falls annually. As a result, there are numerous winter recreation activities and facilities in the surrounding area, including skiing, snow tubing and snowboarding resorts, snowmobile trails and ice fishing. The Barrie area is well known for heavy thunderstorm activity in late spring and summer and less frequently, the occasional funnel cloud or tornado.

Economy

Barrie in relation to other North American cities

There are several manufacturers located in Barrie and Canadian Forces Base Borden is nearby. The perception of Barrie is that it is a bedroom community for people who commute to Toronto, which is approximately 90km south of Barrie. However, only 32% of the resident-employed labour force (17,040 persons/53,400 persons) actually commute out of Barrie for employment purposes. In addition to this, 28% of the resident-employed labour force (14,880 persons/53,400 persons) actually commute into Barrie for employment for a net out-commuting figure of only 4.26%(17,040 persons –14,880 persons]/(50,665 persons employed in Barrie)). Source: 2001 Census and City of Barrie Economic Development.

Tourism plays an important role in the local economy. Barrie's waterfront is at the heart of its tourism industry, with events like the Kempenfest arts and crafts festival attracting more than 300,000 people. Recreational activities include skiing at nearby Horseshoe Valley, Snow Valley, Mount St.Louis Moonstone, and Blue Mountain as well as boating in Kempenfelt Bay. The city also boasts several beaches including Minet's Point Beach, Johnsons Beach, The Gables, Tyndale Beach, and Centennial Beach. Barrie's waterfront is currently under heavy construction, with the relocation of several roadways to provide more greenspace and parkland along the lakeshore. Being strategically situated between Toronto and Muskoka on Highway 400, Barrie is also considered the gateway to northern Ontario resort destinations (referred to as cottage country).

Demographics

N/A = Data Not Available

The 2006 census metropolitan area found that Barrie and surrounding area has 177,061 residents, which included the City of Barrie (128,430 residents) and its surrounding communities. With the surrounding communities' urban area, the city has 157,501 residents. The City is attracting people from all over Ontario, Canada and internationally. It is the fastest growing Census Metropolitan Area and one of Canada's fastest growing cities.

From 1996 to 2001, Barrie saw phenomenal growth. According to StatCan, the city grew by 31.0 per cent, the second fastest growing city in the province of Ontario. This is due to both the young population profile, and a growing number of Canadians moving into the city for economic and technological opportunities. The city grew by an average 4.8% per year from 2001 to 2006 (Census).

In 2001, some 46 per cent of the population is under 14, while 10.9 per cent of the population is of retirement age.

According to 2006 census data from Statistics Canada released, only one out of every 17 people in the Barrie region are visible minorities

Racial Groups	Population	Percentage
Total visible minority population	10,130	5.8%
Black	2,310	1.3%
South Asian	1,900	1.1%
Chinese	1,180	0.7%
Latin American	1,165	0.7%
Filipino	1,075	0.6%
Southeast Asian	535	0.4%
Korean	410	0.3%
Japanese	350	0.2%
West Asian	310	0.2%
Arab	300	0.2%
Visible minority n.i.e	310	0.2%
Multiple visible minority	495	0.3%
Not a visible minority	165,205

Ethnic origin	Population	Percentage
English	65,160	37.2%
Canadian	58,510	33.4%
Scottish	45,300	25.8%
Irish	41,390	23.6%
French	23,050	13.1%

Religious Affiliations

Religious Affiliation	Total
Catholic	28,385
Protestant	46,840
Christian Orthodox	865
Christian, n.i.e.	2,815
Muslim	445
Jewish	340
Buddhist	205
Hindu	250
Sikh	95
Eastern religions	105
Other religions	75
No religious affiliation	21,930

Barrie's Houses Of Worship

• Barrie Free Methodist Church [1]
• Barrie's Am-Shalom Congregation (Synagogue)[2]
• St. George's Anglican Church [3]
• St. Giles Anglican Church
• St. Margaret's Anglican Church
• Trinity Anglican Church
• St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church
• Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses
• St. John Vianney Catholic Church
• Bethel Community Church
• Hi-Way Pentecostal Church [4]
• Mapleview Community Church
• Barrie First Baptist Church
• Holy Spirit Parish
• St. Andrews Presbyterian Church
• Harvest Bible Chapel of Barrie [5]
• Connexus Community Church [6]
• Church of Christ

Education

Barrie has two major school boards that operate inside the city at a public level. The Simcoe County District School Board administers a Public education in Barrie and Simcoe County, while the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board administers to the Catholic population and serves the Simcoe and Muskoka areas.

Georgian College

Georgian College's main campus, with 9,000 full-time students and over 28,000 part-time students, is located in Barrie. As a result, many of the bars and clubs in downtown Barrie are filled with students during the school year. Georgian College also offers various university degree programs in conjunction with Laurentian University, York University, Nipissing University, University of Windsor and Central Michigan University.

Politics

Municipal

Main article: List of mayors of Barrie, Ontario

The city hall of Barrie, Ontario.

The current mayor of Barrie is Dave Aspden, who was elected in November, 2006, succeeding Rob Hamilton.

Federal representation

Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Conservative/row

Party		Member of Parliament	From	To	District
Conservative	Patrick Brown	January 23 2006	present	Barrie

Provincial representation

Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Liberal/row

Party		Member of Provincial Parliament	From	To	District
Liberal	Aileen Carroll	October 10 2007	present	Barrie

Culture

Fireworks over Kempenfelt Bay during Barrie's Canada Day celebrations.

In 2008 Barrie city council started electing an exemplary citizen as an honorary Mayor. This occurs on the first day of summer as a symbolic start to the lucrative tourist season in the City. Michael Barnes has been recognized as the first recipient for this award.

Barrie is home to a number of live performance companies. The Georgian College is the home of the Gryphon Theatre, which is a professional company and the Huronia Symphony. The Maclaren Art Centre is the home of Theatre by the Bay which specializes in Shakespeare productions. Grove Park Home is the practice hall for On Stage Performance Group which performs in Cookstown. Talk is Free Theatre, the Strolling Youth Players, and the Kempenfelt Community Players also all perform in Barrie. In addition, an annual live concert series is hosted by Georgian College. Barrie is home to many galleries and studios. A Studio tour in the Barrie, Orillia area takes place on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend every year. It is called the Images Studio Tour and has over 25 artists on average. The self guided tour allows people to visit artists in their working studio and see how the art is created while enjoying the beautiful fall colours driving through the two cities and the countryside. Potters, jewellers, painters, textile artists and fashion designers make up a few of the disciplines of the talents on display. The MacLaren Art Centre is a large and beautiful building on Mulcaster Street in downtown Barrie. International and Canadian artists display in the three main galleries. A permanent collection of art is slowly growing, the Radio Cafe, a gift shop, film nights, speakers, theatre and many children's programs and community art projects are just a small part of the gallery's mandate. This gallery contributes overall to a vibrant arts community in the Barrie area with it leading edge arts. An August Rodin sculpture in bronze called "The Thinker" is housed permanently on the front gardens of the gallery. On Lakeshore Mews two galleries have opened recently. Gary Owen Gallery and Awkward Gallery. Gary Own specializes in Local original art and Awkward Gallery opens its doors to all types of contemporary Canadian art. Lakeshore mews is quickly becoming a hub of galleries and studios in the downtown area.

Plans are currently in the works to build another, smaller theatre in downtown Barrie to facilitate small theatre groups.

Media

Print

There are two newspapers that are published in Barrie. The Barrie Advance is a free newspaper delivered twice a week (Wednesday & Fridays) to every resident in the city, plus every home in Springwater Township, and parts of Oro-Medonte. The newspaper contains local news, classifieds, advertisements and flyers. The Barrie Examiner is a subscription-based paper delivered 6 days a week. It is also delivered free to residents of Barrie on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Television

• Channel 3/5: CKVR - A
• Channel 10: Rogers TV, community channel

Radio

• FM 93.1 - CHAY (93.1 CHAY-FM), adult contemporary
• FM 95.7 - CFJB ("Rock 95"), active rock
• FM 100.3 - CJLF ("Life 100.3"), Christian
• FM 101.1 - CIQB ("B101"), contemporary hit radio
• FM 107.5 - CKMB ("1075 Kool FM"), hot adult contemporary

Sports

Club	League	Venue	Established	Championships
Barrie Colts	OHL Hockey	Barrie Molson Centre	1995	1
Barrie Baycats	IBL Baseball	Barrie Metals Stadium	2001	1
Barrie Lakeshores	MSL Lacrosse	Barrie Molson Centre	2004	N/A

N/A: Information not available at this time

Barrie is also home to the Mariposa School of Skating which has trained many world-class figure skaters, including Brian Orser, Elvis Stojko and Jeff Buttle.

Recreational facilities

Barrie has many community centers throughout the city. There are a total of nine facilities in Barrie open to the public. Barrie had ten community facilities until March, 2008 when City Council announced it would tear down Barrie's Oldest arena and replace it with a new fire hall.

• Allandale Recreation Centre
• Barrie Sports Complex
• Dorian Parker Centre
• East Bayfield Community Centre
• Eastview Arena
• Holly Community Centre
• Lampman Lane Community Centre
• Parkview Community Centre
• Southshore Community Centre
• Victoria Village

Architecture

• CKVR Television Tower
• Highpoint Apartments
• Barrie City Hall

Notable people and residents

• Kevin Frankish, City-TV News Anchor
• Shayne Corson, retired NHL hockey player
• Joe DiPenta, NHL hockey player
• Ric Jackman, NHL hockey player
• Brent Burns, NHL hockey player
• John Madden, NHL hockey player
• Darryl Shannon, retired NHL hockey player
• Darren Rumble, retired NHL hockey player
• Gary Goodridge, UFC fighter
• Kate Todd, Canadian Actress
• Barry Harris, Alias - Kon Kan, OuttaControl, Thunderpuss - Musician

See also

• Barrie City Council
• Royal Victoria Hospital
• Barrie Transit

External links

• Official City of Barrie Website
• Barrie Tourism
• Environment Canada - Barrie forecast
• Ontario Plaques: Barrie