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Home > Ontario's Trans-Canada Highway > Cities & Towns > Sudbury >
TransCanadaHighway.com Sudbury, Ontario
Sudbury is the largest centre in northeastern Ontario, with 93,000 in the city
itself, and 162,000 in the Regional Municipality. Sudbury is known as the Nickel
City because of its nickel and copper mines. Inco Limited is the largest producer
of nickel in the western world and Falconbridge Ltd. produces both copper and nickel
from the Sudbury Basin. Together, the local operations of the two companies provide
the Sudbury Region with the largest integrated mining complex in the world.
Until about 15 years ago, the city looked like a "Moonscape" back when the mining industry wasn't as kind to the environment as it is today. Now, air pollution levels are much lower in Sudbury than in Toronto or Hamilton The Region of Sudbury was recently cited by the United Nations for its land reclamation program. Including the planting of over 2 million trees!
Sudbury is one of the sunniest areas in Ontario. The Sudbury Region has more than 90 lakes within it boundaries (the City has 30) and five provincial parks within 60 miles of the Sudbury Region. Camping is a very popular activity among Sudburians. The area's crystal-clear lakes and wide open spaces provide a year-round playground for swimming, boating and canoeing, hiking, fishing, golfing, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling and much more. Because of its diverse cultural roots, Sudbury loves to party. All year round, there are fairs and festivals to celebrate everything including the arts, garlic and blueberries.
Whether it's a visit to a park, an art gallery or the area's history, Sudbury offers its visitors and residents lots to do every day of the
week. (see attractions maps for the city and area)
Sudbury History
French explorers came to the area in the early 1600s, following the lead of Etienne Brule who came up the Ottawa, and over the French River into Lake Huron. In 1615, Samuel de Champlain, the French commander of New France, himself visited the area for the purpose of trading for furs.
In 1849, the Hudson’s Bay Company set up a post at Lake Nipissing, but the post was not a competitive and commercial success, and closed in 1879. By 1850, however, the region became very busy with lumbering and mining activity, and the British government signed a treaty with the Huron Indians.
From 1881 until 1885, the Canadian Pacific Railway worked to build the railway across the North, and the first train arrived in Sudbury in late 1883, and the town became the railway’s regional headquarters. Two years later, the railway moved its headquarters and proceeded to subdivide the land around its station and sell house lots.
In 1886, the mine at Copper Cliff became operational. In 1900 new methods for refining nickel were invented, and new used in making steel armour more effective for military ships, leading to the expansion of nickel mining in the area. The town boomed during the First World War as demand soared. After the Armistice of 1918, demand for nickel fell off and did not recover until 1924. In 1933 the Inco mine at Creighton and the Coniston smelter opened. The Second World War caused nickel production in the six years to exceed the total of the preceding fifty.
After the Second World War, the US government began to stockpile nickel, to diversify its supply of non-communist nickel. Falconbridge was the chief beneficiary of this policy and grew significantly.
In the 1950s and 60s, global competition as well as labour unrest had a significant impact on the Sudbury mines. As well, environmental concerns were raised about the sulfur dioxide emissions from the smelting process, which so damaged the local landscape that NASA astronauts rehearsed their lunar landings in the area. These concerns led to the construction of the Superstack in 1972, which dispersed the smelter’s emissions into the jet stream.
Highway Notes
The main east-west highway through Sudbury used go through downtown, along what is now Highway 55. Major east-west auto traffic caused the construction of the Sudbury Bypass to be built, which is a divided freeway with limited exits from Coniston in the east to Lively in the west. Cyclists are recommended to take Highway 55 through town, which has plenty of shops, restaurants and accommodation.
More about Sudbury, from  .
Community Map
Blue= main Trans-Canada Hihgway | Green = bicyle-friendly route | Red = Best route for downtown access from TCH
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