Ontario Northland Transportation Commission
Encyclopedia
Crown agency (Ontario)
A Crown agency is the title used to describe a Crown corporation in the Canadian province of Ontario.This name is applied to any board, commission, railway, public utility, university, manufactory, company or agency, which is owned, controlled, or operated by the Queen in Right of Ontario, or else...
of the Government of Ontario
Government of Ontario
The Government of Ontario refers to the provincial government of the province of Ontario, Canada. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
.
ONTC operates the following public services in Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
:
- Ontario Northland RailwayOntario Northland RailwayThe Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario....
, offering freight and passenger rail transport - Ontario Northland Motor Coach ServicesOntario Northland Motor Coach ServicesOntario Northland Motor Coach Services is a bus service operating in Ontario by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission.Ontario Northland Motor Coach Services operates inter-city bus and parcel service between Toronto and locations in Central and Northern Ontario.There are two scheduled...
, offering inter-city busBusA bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
and parcel transport - OnteraOnteraOntera is a telecommunications company in Ontario, Canada. It is a subsidiary of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, an "operational enterprise" of the Government of Ontario....
, a telecommunications company
History
ONTC traces its history to 1902 with the passage of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Act, which received Royal AssentRoyal Assent
The granting of royal assent refers to the method by which any constitutional monarch formally approves and promulgates an act of his or her nation's parliament, thus making it a law...
on March 17. The Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Commission (TNORC) would oversee the construction and operation of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway (T&NO). The sod was turned less than two months later by Ontario's Commissioner of Public Works, the Honourable Francis Robert Latchford
Francis Robert Latchford
Francis Robert Latchford was an Ontario lawyer, judge and political figure. He represented Renfrew South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1899 to 1904 as a Liberal member....
, at Trout Lake on the outskirts of North Bay
North Bay, Ontario
North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing.-History:...
; North Bay also being the site of the "first spike" driven in construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CPR) 20 years previous.
Building the 253 mile T&NO main line from North Bay to Cochrane
Cochrane, Ontario
Cochrane is a town in northern Ontario, Canada. It is located east of Kapuskasing, northeast of Timmins, south of Moosonee, and north of Iroquois Falls. It is about a one-hour drive from Timmins, the major city of the region. It is the seat of Cochrane District...
was instrumental in opening this region of the province for development and settlement, with its construction being cited as the reason for the discovery of a massive silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
deposit at Cobalt
Cobalt, Ontario
Cobalt is a town in the district of Timiskaming, province of Ontario, Canada, with a population of 1,223 In 2001 Cobalt was named "Ontario's Most Historic Town" by a panel of judges on the TV Ontario program Studio 2, and in 2002 the area was designated a National Historic Site.-History:Silver was...
, as well as gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
at Porcupine and Kirkland Lake.
Six years after construction started, the federal government's National Transcontinental Railway
National Transcontinental Railway
The National Transcontinental Railway was a historic Canadian railway between Winnipeg and Moncton. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway.-The Grand Trunk partnership:...
(NTR) main line from Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
to Moncton, New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
crossed the T&NO at Cochrane.
In subsequent years, the TONRC authorized extending the railway first into western Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
's gold and copper fields at Rouyn-Noranda
Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec
Rouyn-Noranda is a city on Osisko Lake in northwestern Quebec, Canada.The city of Rouyn-Noranda is coextensive with a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality and census division of Quebec of the same name...
and, following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, in 1921, the TONRC began extending the T&NO northward from Cochrane to the shores of James Bay
James Bay
James Bay is a large body of water on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean. James Bay borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario; islands within the bay are part of Nunavut...
at Moosonee
Moosonee, Ontario
Moosonee is a town in northern Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River approximately south of James Bay. It is considered as "the Gateway to the Arctic" and has Ontario's only saltwater port...
, where the T&NO "Last Spike" was driven by the Honourable Justice Francis Robert Latchford
Francis Robert Latchford
Francis Robert Latchford was an Ontario lawyer, judge and political figure. He represented Renfrew South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1899 to 1904 as a Liberal member....
in 1932. The Commission also worked closely with sister provincial Crown agency, the Ontario Hydro-Electric Commission
Ontario Hydro
Ontario Hydro was the official name from 1974 of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario which was established in 1906 by the provincial Power Commission Act to build transmission lines to supply municipal utilities with electricity generated by private companies already operating at Niagara...
, in developing hydroelectric generating stations on rivers in the region, such as at Island Falls and Fraserdale.
In 1937, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Act was amended, enabling the TNORC to operate bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es, truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s, and aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
in order to transport passengers and freight. By 1938 the Commission had acquired 11 buses. In 1945, the Commission acquired the Temagami and the Nipissing Navigation Companies.
The railway changed its name in 1946 to the present Ontario Northland Railway
Ontario Northland Railway
The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario....
and the associated commission changed its name to reflect this. The use of the word "transportation" instead of "railway" in the commission's new name reflected an expanded mandate for the organization.
Enabling legislation in 1946 allowed the ONTC to acquire, construct, and operate boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
s, as well as hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s, tourist resorts, and restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
s. In 1960 it purchased a trucking firm, Star Transfer.
The railway is still operated today by the commission, which also operates other transport modes, including bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
motor coach services along the Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-North Bay
North Bay, Ontario
North Bay is a city in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It is the seat of Nipissing District, and takes its name from its position on the shore of Lake Nipissing.-History:...
-Timmins
Timmins
Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada on the Mattagami River. At the time of the Canada 2006 Census, Timmins' population was 42,997...
-Hearst
Hearst, Ontario
Hearst is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located in Northern Ontario, approximately west of Kapuskasing, approximately north of Toronto and east of Thunder Bay on Highway 11...
and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
-Sudbury-Timmins
Timmins
Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada on the Mattagami River. At the time of the Canada 2006 Census, Timmins' population was 42,997...
highway corridors, and a telephone and telecommunications company (Ontera
Ontera
Ontera is a telecommunications company in Ontario, Canada. It is a subsidiary of the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, an "operational enterprise" of the Government of Ontario....
). It formerly operated a regional airline named NorOntair
NorOntair
NorOntair is a defunct airline from Canada that operated its first scheduled flight October 18, 1971 and its last flight March 29, 1996.-Dash 8 service:* Fort Frances* Kapuskasing* North Bay* Sault Ste...
.