Red Lake, Ontario

Red Lake
Municipality of Red Lake
Red Lake is located in Ontario
Red Lake
Red Lake
Coordinates: 51°01′07″N 93°48′34″W / 51.01861°N 93.80944°W / 51.01861; -93.80944[1]
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
DistrictKenora
Settled1926
Formed1 July 1998
Government
 • TypeTown
 • MayorFred Mota
 • MPEric Melillo (CPC)
 • MPPSol Mamakwa (ONDP)
Area
 • Land610.06 km2 (235.55 sq mi)
Elevation385.90 m (1,266.08 ft)
Population
 (2021)[4]
 • Total4,094
 • Density6.7/km2 (17/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−06:00 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−05:00 (CDT)
Postal code FSA
P0V
Area code807
Websitewww.redlake.ca

Red Lake is a municipality with town status in the Canadian province of Ontario, located 535 km (332 mi) northwest of Thunder Bay and less than 100 km (62 mi) from the Manitoba border. The municipality consists of six small communities—Balmertown, Cochenour, Madsen, McKenzie Island, Red Lake and Starratt-Olsen—and had a population of 4,107 people in the Canada 2016 Census.

Red Lake is an enclave within Unorganized Kenora District. The municipality was formed on 1 July 1998, when the former incorporated townships of Golden and Red Lake were merged along with a small portion of Unorganized Kenora District.

The name of the town comes from a local legend telling of two men from the Chippewa tribe who stumbled across a large moose. The men proceeded to kill the moose, the blood of which drained into a nearby lake. The blood turned the lake's waters red in colour, ultimately giving the area its name.[5] The name appears on the Bouchette map of 1875, and was officially approved on 7 December 1909.[6]

  1. ^ "Red Lake". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  2. ^ "Census Profile". 2016 Census. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference climate was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference 2021census was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Hamilton, William (1978). The Macmillan Book of Canadian Place Names. Toronto: Macmillan. p. 168. ISBN 0-7715-9754-1.