Hometown Canada

[Marilyn. 340]

I was born in Steinbach, Manitoba where I lived for the first 15 years of my life and then we moved to Chilliwack, British Columbia where I spent the next 15 years of my life..

can't think of any interesting facts about those towns right now...

ok some interesting facts about Steinbach or not ...

*Steinbach is the fastest-growing city in Manitoba, with a population growth of 19.9% between the 2001 and the 2006 census periods, which places it as the fifth largest community in Manitoba.

*Steinbach is known as "The Automobile City"; in 1914 the first Ford automobile dealer in Western Canada was established here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steinbach,_Manitoba

and some interesting facts about Chilliwack..

*In 1857, gold was discovered in the Fraser Canyon. By 1858, over 30,000 gold miners had trekked to the goldfields, most travelling through the Chilliwack area. By the mid 1860's several farms had grown up around the steamboat landings on the Fraser River called Miller's Landing, Sumas Landing and Chilliwack Landing.

*The Township of Chilliwack was incorporated in 1873, the third municipality in British Columbia. Initial settlement was along the Fraser River at Chilliwack Landing. Steamboats were the main mode of transportation, carrying goods and passengers between Chilliwack and New Westminster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilliwack,_British_Columbia

[Bern. 3]

I was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta but when I was quite young I moved to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and trust me, it is simply beautiful there, minus the lack of jobs and what not. I loved waking up every morning and seeing the ocean from my kitchen window. :3

[TheATeam 0]

I grew up in Bonnyville, Alberta. It's a pretty small town, around 5300 people. There was only 1 stoplight when I grew up there. Let's see, there are a few interesting facts about this little town. When I was a teenager it had the highest teen pregnancy rate per capita in all of Canada. How's that for prestigious?! Also, in the middle of the town lies Jessie Lake which is now a wildlife habitat, but in the 60's was a dumping ground for the town's sewer system. Ewww.....it can sure smell in the heat of the summer!

I lived in Grande Prairie, Alberta for 7 years after that and Edmonton for 2 years right before I moved down here to Boise, Idaho! I have to say, this is my favorite place so far!

[J&K 0]

Born in Toronto, but lived in Oshawa, ON until I moved down here.

Oshawa's town motto at one time was "The City that 'Moto'vates Canada" since we are a huge GM town. Home of the Oshawa Generals.

Kingston, Ontario - also known as the Limestone City because so many of the old buildings are built out of beautiful limestone blocks. The City is one of the oldest in Canada - it celebrated its Tercentenary (300 years) in 1973 and sits at the mouth of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. It was the site of the 1976 Sailing Olympics.

Here's a tie to Kingston and her Limestone. The museum where I worked, one of the oldest homes in Oshawa was built with Kingston Limestone. Shippers would use the limestone as ballast and dump it on the beach in Oshawa's harbour...the owner of the home (the name is escaping me at the moment...I even tried remembering my interpreter speech ) used it to build his home.

[BH45 0]

Cochrane, Ontario - population of 5,000......home of the Polar Bear Express, Maple Leaf Tim Horton, and a polar bear habitat....it's 4 miles north of the 49th latitude and 1 mile east of the -81 longitude. If you are in Toronto and get on Yonge Street and travel north you will arrive in Cochrane.

[Sprailenes 47]

I used to go to Cochrane before going to Moosonee. Cochrane was like the last stop... and you could get stuff for a decent price there compared to the prices you'd pay on Moosonee.

[JillA 2]

Lived in Kirkland, Quebec (right outside of Montreal) until age 15 and then moved to Oakville, ON and lived there until age 28 when I moved to Philly! So I consider Montreal sort of my hometown since I grew up there but grew up also in Oakville in a different stage of life.... I love both places!

[raymaga 25]

Born in Vancouver, lived there for the first 20 years of my life, moved to Edmonton, Alberta, then back to Lower Mainland (Burnaby, Delta, Surrey).

Good old Vancouver... need I say more?

[wowswift 3]

Hubby is from St. John's Newfoundland, which is the first english founded settlement in all of North America. and apparently, its the cloudiest city in all of canada, and wiki says it only gets a total of 1,497 hours of sunshine a year. I think its pretty accurate lol.

[bluegreen 0]

I was born in Toronto but moved to Victoria at age 12, so I consider it to be my hometown. I lived in Whistler for the last eight years before coming to the US last year (we live in North County San Diego near the beach, although I moved first to Boulder, CO where we lived until this August). I still have my place and a business in Whistler and the long term plan is to be there 4-6 months a year. I feel pretty lucky to live and have lived in such beautiful places:)

An interesting fact about Whistler is that is actually a pretty large community with quite a diverse population of permanent residents. There are three elementary schools and one large highschool.

[Tankgurl38 0]

I was born in Vancouver, grew up in Pemberton, BC. Small town half an hour north of Whistler, BC and it was currently the site of a big music festival last summer....Pembertonfest!

I moved up there when I was 4 and the road to Whistler/Pemberton was gravel all the way from Vancouver. Blackcomb didn't exist, the main Whistler Village was just a garbage dump and all Whislter was..was a small village at the base of Whistler mountain with not many people living there. At that time Whistler had one elementary school. All highschool students were bused up to Pemberton, as that was the closest highschool. (to follow up with bluegreen)

I graduated in 1988, big class of 26 of us, and by that time Pemberton had started to grow larger with the over flow from Whistler's popularity. Blackcomb was now an established ski hill, the Whistler Village was no longer a garbage dump and was now growing and established World Class Resort.

I haven't been back there since I graduated high school and I bet I would no longer recognize the small town where I once grew up. Since leaving there I lived in Vancouver, Creston and now Calgary, which is well known for the Calgary Stampede, something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. Calgary is the only place during Stampede where the whole town gets into the spirit of the week and everyone dresses up in their cowboy gear for two weeks straight. Odd to not see a suit downtown at all during that time.

Edited March 2, 2009 by Tankgurl38

[bluegreen 0]

I was born in Vancouver, grew up in Pemberton, BC. Small town half an hour north of Whistler, BC and it was currently the site of a big music festival last summer....Pembertonfest!

I moved up there when I was 4 and the road to Whistler/Pemberton was gravel all the way from Vancouver. Blackcomb didn't exist, the main Whistler Village was just a garbage dump and all Whislter was..was a small village at the base of Whistler mountain with not many people living there. At that time Whistler had one elementary school. All highschool students were bused up to Pemberton, as that was the closest highschool. (to follow up with bluegreen)

I graduated in 1988, big class of 26 of us, and by that time Pemberton had started to grow larger with the over flow from Whistler's popularity. Blackcomb was now an established ski hill, the Whistler Village was no longer a garbage dump and was now growing and established World Class Resort.

I haven't been back there since I graduated high school and I bet I would no longer recognize the small town where I once grew up. Since leaving there I lived in Vancouver, Creston and now Calgary, which is well known for the Calgary Stampede, something everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. Calgary is the only place during Stampede where the whole town gets into the spirit of the week and everyone dresses up in their cowboy gear for two weeks straight. Odd to not see a suit downtown at all during that time.

Wow, Pembie has changed a lot since '88! But you would still recognize it:)

I love the Stampede! I really want my husband to experience it sometime!

[Flames9_RN 358]

Born in Prince Albert Saskatchewan. Resided for 6 months in Uranium City (about as far North in Sk as u can go), resided in LA Ronge Sk for 3 years, but majority of my first 19 yrs in PA. After that my permanent residence for 10 yrs was primarily Victoria BC, but thanks to Navy courses, spent considerable time in Halifax. Transferred to the Air Force, so resided for a bit in Winnipeg, then posted to Greenwood NS. Parents now reside in Saskatoon, so no going back to PA, which is fine, the city has really gone downhill and is rather "dirty" looking.

Prince Albert has the distinction of having being represented in Parliament by three Canadian Prime Ministers: Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1896 when it was the Saskatchewan Provisional District; William Lyon Mackenzie King from 1926 to 1945; and John Diefenbaker from 1953 to 1979.

[Carlawarla 1]

I'm from Saskatoon Saskatchewan. Saskatoon is the largest city in the province with approximately 202,000 people. It is known as the City of Bridges, because of the seven bridges that span the river on both sides of the city. Saskatchewan is a young province, coming into being in 1905.

Saskatoon is the home of Canada's first urban reserve, or Indian reserve created within existing city limits. Saskatchewan is also home to the highest First Nations population in the country.

Saskatchewan has the most sun days of any province in Canada.

Notable people that are from Saskatoon:

Gordie Howe

Yann Martell

Farley Mowett

Joni Mitchell

There are others of course, but I was trying to think of notable people who might be known in the US as well as other provinces of Canada.

[Reba 2]

Born in Scarborough, ON, grew up at Mussleman's Lake, a small community in Whitchurch Stouffville, about 30 min. north of the Scarberia line.

It's a small lake, I could swim across it from one beach to the other, and I'm not a very strong swimmer!

Mussleman's Lake is "famous" for bunch of gangsters who hid out there in the 30s or 40s (timeline escapes me at the mo).

The population of the community more than doubled in the summer because of the part-time residentianl trailer parks up at Cedar Beach. When I was 13 & 14, I worked at Glendale Beach, where my friend and manager of the beach was later murdered.

The village of Stouffville, 5 miles from the Lake, is where I went to school and hang out. Home town of Keith Acton, (NHLer) and The Big Flea Market. Which when I was a kid, we called it The Sales Barns, because they had livestock auctions every weekend. A developer wants to demolish the Market and put up more McMansions. :mad:

I always hated the Lake and Stouffville when I was growing up (mostly during teen years) because it was rather boring. However, I moved back for a couple of years before I moved down to NC, and felt quite at home in town. I had 3 pubs within walking distance, plus 2 grocery stores, a Canadian Tire, several burger joints/fast food places, and a park, Rec Centre with pool, library, and the GO Train to get me into the city whenever I wanted etc etc etc...Every Canada Day weekend they have a Strawberry Festival, and shut down Main Street for market and have a big 3 day party. I quite miss it now.