West Nipissing#Communities

The primary administrative and commercial centre of West Nipissing is the community of Sturgeon Falls, which is situated on the Sturgeon River, {{convert|5|km}} north of Lake Nipissing and {{convert|35|km}} west of North Bay on Highway 17, part of the Trans-Canada Highway. Roughly half the population of West Nipissing lives in Sturgeon Falls.

Field is located on Highway 64, approximately {{convert|20|km}} north of Sturgeon Falls. In 1979, the Sturgeon River overflowed its banks, flooding the town's centre. Many houses were demolished and rebuilt on higher ground nearby. The Thistle Fire Tower is to be dismantled and re-erected here as a tourist attraction. Logging, farming and outdoor recreational activities are main village industries.

Verner is located on the Veuve River (Rivière Veuve), at the western junction of highways 17 and 64, approximately {{convert|16|km}} west of Sturgeon Falls. The largely francophone community serves as an agricultural hub for the surrounding area and offers a consumers' cooperative and farm equipment dealers. The town was named for the wife of Canadian Pacific Railway superintendent Archer Baker, who oversaw the laying of track through the West Nipissing area in the 1880s.

Many of the francophone settlers immigrated to the area from Michigan in the late 19th century in order to preserve their language; they were concerned they would lose their language in the predominantly anglophone United States. Many of the families that settled in Lavigne and Verner came from the Lanaudière region of Quebec from villages such as St-Félix-de-Valois, St-Gabriel-de-Brandon and Ste-Élisabeth.

Smaller communities in the municipality include Cache Bay, Caderette, Crystal Falls, Desaulniers, Evansville, Harfred, Kirk, Lavigne, Notre-Dame-du-Lac, Domrémy and River Valley. It also includes part of the North Monetville area, which straddles the boundary between West Nipissing and French River. The Nipissing First Nation is also located nearby and is closely associated with West Nipissing.

Cache Bay, named after the nearby water feature on a "hidden bay" of Lake Nipissing, had a post office that was established in 1889.{{Cite book|last=Hamilton|first=William|title=The Macmillan Book of Canadian Place Names|publisher=Macmillan|year=1978|isbn=0-7715-9754-1|location=Toronto|pages=139}}

File:Field ON.JPG|Field

File:Verner ON.JPG|Verner

File:River Valley ON.JPG|River Valley

File:Desaulniers ON.JPG|Desaulniers

The original inhabitants of the area are the N'Biissing, an Anishinabek people, and many N'Biissing still inhabit the area today. A trading post was founded in the last quarter of the 18th century on an island on Lake Nipissing at the mouth of the La Vase River, called Fort La Ronde and was operated by Louis Denis de la Ronde (1675–1741). Fort La Ronde was moved numerous times to different islands on Lake Nipissing. It was later sold to North West Company. It was later bought by the Hudson's Bay Company around 1820 and was later relocated on the right bank of the river several hundred metres below the falls, at the mouth of Sturgeon River, trading with the N'Biissing for furs and other goods.{{cite web |title=Sturgeon River House |url=http://www.sturgeonriverhouse.com/pa-past.html |accessdate=December 23, 2018 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109234346/http://www.sturgeonriverhouse.com/pa-past.html |archivedate=January 9, 2007}} James R. Holditch of Utterson, Ontario is generally credited as being the first permanent non-aboriginal settler in the area.{{cite journal |date=May 2002|title=James Holditch (1851- 1913) |url=http://www.holdiches.com/2013/06/james-holditch-1851-1913|journal=HFHS Journal|issue=20}}{{cite news|url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/43406830|title=Sturgeon Falls Settler Dies|newspaper=Ottawa Journal|date=July 15, 1913|access-date=May 21, 2021}} He arrived in 1878 and built a cabin on the left bank, near the waterfalls. Nowadays, the Sturgeon River House Museum sits where the HBC trading post was. It was founded as a centennial project in 1967 by the Historical Restoration Committee of the Sturgeon Falls Secondary High School, the Township of Springer and the Town of Cache Bay, in cooperation and funded by the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. It was renovated and re-opened in 1999 and upgraded to include a permanent building capable of being open year-round and vastly improved its exhibits. It is now an agency of the Municipality of West Nipissing and supports the West Nipissing tax base.{{cite web |title=Sturgeon River House Museum |url=http://www.westnipissing.ca/en/visiting/arts-culture/sturgeon-falls-river-house-museum |publisher=Municipality of West Nipissing |accessdate=June 24, 2019}}

The region began to grow in the 1880s, with the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the efforts of Fr. Charles Alfred Marie Paradis, an Oblate missionary, to develop an agricultural settlement for Franco-Ontarians in the Verner area.

The development of Sturgeon Falls began in 1881 with the arrival of Canadian Pacific Railway construction crews. The area's first post office was opened in Sturgeon Falls in 1881. Lumbering and the establishment of pulp and paper industries accelerated the village's growth and attracted many French-Canadian settlers to the area.{{cite web |url=https://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/en/plaques/founding-of-sturgeon-falls |publisher=Ontario Heritage Trust |title=Founding of Sturgeon Falls|accessdate=June 24, 2019}}

The addition of sawmills and the rapid growth of the lumbering and pulp and paper industries stimulated the development of the village and attracted many French-Canadian settlers to the area. The town of Sturgeon Falls was incorporated on April 16, 1895. At the time, J. A. Lévis was elected the first mayor and the population was 850.

The Canadian Pacific Railway was joined by the Canadian Northern Railway in 1915, with its line between Capreol and North Bay. This line later became the Canadian National Railway Alderdale Subdivision, with station stops (from east to west) in Harfred, Crystal Falls, Ashburton, Field, Desaulniers, and River Valley, along with several industrial spurs to serve local industries.{{cite web |url=http://www.cnr-in-ontario.com/Subdivisions/Alderdale.html |title=Alderdale Subdivision |website=CNR in Ontario |access-date=20 July 2020 |date=9 July 2019}} CN rail service declined in the mid-20th century and was eliminated altogether in 1996.{{citation |url=https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/ruling/1996-r-152 |title=Order No. 1996-R-152 |author=Canadian Transportation Agency |author-link=Canadian Transportation Agency |date=18 April 1996 |access-date=25 July 2020}}

The community of Field suffered two significant natural disasters in the 1970s. On August 20, 1970, it was hit by a small tornado associated with the Sudbury tornado event. In the spring of 1979 the Sturgeon River overflowed its banks at Field, causing massive flooding in the town's centre."Water level still rising in stricken Ontario town". The Globe and Mail, May 1, 1979. Half the town that was located in the flood plain was relocated to higher ground two kilometres south of the original town centre on Highway 64. This new location is known as New Field (Val-des-Arbres).

On January 1, 1999, the Town of Cache Bay, Town of Sturgeon Falls, Township of Caldwell, Township of Field, and the unorganized township of Springer were amalgamated to form the new Municipality of West Nipissing.{{cite web |title=Municipal restructuring activity summary table - Dataset - Ontario Data Catalogue |url=https://data.ontario.ca/dataset/municipal-restructuring-activity-summary-table |website=data.ontario.ca |publisher=Government of Ontario |access-date=1 May 2025}}

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, West Nipissing had a population of {{val|14583|fmt=commas}} living in {{val|6413|fmt=commas}} of its {{val|7252|fmt=commas}} total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:14583-14364}}|14364|1}} from its 2016 population of {{val|14364|fmt=commas}}. With a land area of {{convert|1956.27|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|14583|1956.27|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.

{{Canada census

|location=West Nipissing / Nipissing Ouest

|2021_population=14,583 | 2021_pop_delta=1.5 | 2021_land_area=1956.27 | 2021_pop_density=7.5

|2021_median_age=51.2 | 2021_median_age_m=50.4 | 2021_median_age_f=51.6

|2021_total_pvt_dwell=7,252 |2021_occ_pvt_dwell=6,413 | 2021_mean_hh_income=69,500 |2021_geocode=2021A00053548055 |2021_access_date=2025-06-18

|2016_population=14,364 | 2016_pop_delta=1.5 | 2016_land_area=1993.68 | 2016_pop_density=7.2

|2016_median_age=45.5 | 2016_median_age_m=45.0 | 2016_median_age_f=46.0

|2016_total_pvt_dwell=7,013 | 2016_mean_hh_income=55,390 | 2016_access_date=2017-03-16

|2011_population=14,149 | 2011_pop_delta=5.5 | 2011_land_area=1992.08 | 2011_pop_density=7.1

|2011_median_age=47.1 | 2011_median_age_m=46.7 | 2011_median_age_f=47.5

|2011_total_pvt_dwell=7,156 | 2011_mean_hh_income= | 2011_access_date=2013-10-13

|2006_population=13,410 | 2006_pop_delta=2.3 | 2006_land_area=1989.57 | 2006_pop_density=6.7

|2006_median_age=44.7 | 2006_median_age_m=44.0 | 2006_median_age_f=45.3

|2006_total_pvt_dwell=6,554 | 2006_mean_hh_income=42,548 | 2006_access_date=2013-10-13

|2001_population=13,114 | 2001_pop_delta=-2.7 | 2001_land_area=1909.67 | 2001_pop_density=6.9

|2001_median_age=41.5 | 2001_median_age_m=40.7 | 2001_median_age_f=42.3

|2001_total_pvt_dwell=6,586 | 2001_mean_hh_income=30,857 | 2001_access_date=2013-10-13

|notes=

}}

{{Historical populations

|title = {{Nowrap|Historical census populations –}} West Nipissing / Nipissing Ouest

|align = none

|cols =

|width = 20em

|footnote =

|source = Statistics Canada

| 2001 |13,114

| 2006 |13,410

| 2011 |14,149

| 2016 |14,364

| 2021 |14,583

}}

Mother tongue (2021):

• English as first language: 38.0 %
• French as first language: 56.2 %
• English and French as first language: 3.8 %
• Other as first language: 1.7 %

Ontario Northland motor coach service makes scheduled stops in Sturgeon Falls and Verner.{{Cite web | url=https://www.ontarionorthland.ca/communications/schedules/new/2023-09-15-SCHED-501-502-EN.PDF | title=Unknown}}{{Dead link | date=September 2024 | fix-attempted=yes}}

The region is served primarily by broadcast stations from North Bay and Sudbury. Two commercial radio stations, CFSF-FM and CHYQ-FM,{{Cite web|url=https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-2.htm|title=ARCHIVED - French-language FM radio station in Nipissing|first=Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)|last=Government of Canada|date=January 6, 2011|website=crtc.gc.ca}} broadcast from Sturgeon Falls.

The area has a bilingual weekly newspaper, Tribune: West Nipissing This Week / La Voix du Nipissing Ouest, which was previously called The Sturgeon Falls Tribune. It is also served by the daily North Bay Nugget.

Students attend either Northern Secondary School (École secondaire publique Northern) or École secondaire catholique Franco-Cité.

• Richard Deschatelets, Wrestler in the 1976 summer olympics
• Harry Bain, former paediatrician-in-chief of the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto's department chairman of paediatrics
• {{Ill|Jean Éthier-Blais|fr}}, writer and literary critic at Le Devoir{{Cite web|url=http://reporter-archive.mcgill.ca/Rep/r2808/jeb.htm|title=McGill Reporter - Volume 28 Number 8|website=reporter-archive.mcgill.ca}}
• Jean-Jacques Blais, former cabinet member in the Canadian government
• Louise Charron, first Franco-Ontarian justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
• Mitch Gagnon, UFC fighter
• France Gareau, 1984 Olympics athlete who won a silver medal in the 4x100 metres sprints
• Osias Godin, former MP
• Ed Harrington, ex-CFL player
• Carl Legault, former federal politician
• Zotique Mageau, former mayor and MPP and campaigner against Regulation 17
• Moe Mantha, Sr., former NHL player and politician
• Moe Mantha, Jr., former NHL player, raised in Sturgeon Falls
• André Paiement, singer and songwriter
• Rachel Paiement, singer and songwriter
• Jack Roxburgh, politician and president of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association{{cite news|title=Roxy dies from injuries (continued from page 1)|date=February 28, 1975|newspaper=Simcoe Reformere |location=Simcoe, Ontario|page=12}}
• Benoît Serré, former federal politician
• Gaetan Serré, former federal politician
• Marc Serré, current federal politician

• List of francophone communities in Ontario

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=3548055&Geo2=CD&Code2=3548&Data=Count&SearchText=nipissing&SearchType=Contains&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1 |title=West Nipissing / Nipissing Ouest, Ontario (Code 3548055) census profile |publisher=Statistics Canada |work=2011 Census of Population |date=8 February 2012 |accessdate=2013-10-13}}

{{SCref |year=2021 |unit=csd |code={{#property:P3012}} |access-date=2025-06-18}}

}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{official|https://www.westnipissing.ca}}

{{Geographic location

| Centre = West Nipissing

| North = Unorganized North Nipissing

| Northeast =

| East = Unorganized North Nipissing, Nipissing 10

| Southeast = Lake Nipissing

| South = Dokis 9, Unorganized Centre Parry Sound

| Southwest = French River

| West = Markstay-Warren
St. Charles

| Northwest = Unorganized North Sudbury

| image =

}}

{{Nipissing District}}

Category:1999 establishments in Ontario

Category:Hudson's Bay Company trading posts

Category:Single-tier municipalities in Ontario

Category:Lake Nipissing