The City of Kitchener, in southwestern Ontario, has a population of 190,399 (2001 census). The metropolitan area, which includes the two neighbouring cities of Waterloo and Cambridge, has a population that is 11th largest in Canada with 414,284. [1] It is the seat of the Waterloo Regional Municipality and is adjacent to the smaller Cities of Cambridge to the South, and Waterloo to the North. Kitchener and Waterloo are often referred to jointly as the Twin Cities or K-W (Kitchener-Waterloo), although they have separate municipal governments.
The City of Kitchener covers an area of 136.86 sq. kilometres
In 2004, Kitchener celebrated its 150th anniversary.
The name Kitchener is pronounced as three syllables [ˈkɪ.tʃə.nɝ].
History
The City of Kitchener began in 1807. The Mennonite bishop Benjamin Eby led members from his community in Pennsylvania to settle in Ontario. The hamlet that was established at that time was known as Ebytown. In 1833 the Township of Waterloo was created. Ebytown was incorporated as a village and later renamed Berlin in honour of the majority German heritage immigrants. In 1853 Berlin would become the County Seat of the newly created County of Waterloo. On June 9, 1912, Berlin officially became a City and was considered to be Canada's German Capital. During World War I, the Berlin City Council, under nationalist pressure and in response to anti-German sentiment, held a referendum to choose a new name (see Berlin to Kitchener name change). As a result, in 1916 the City was renamed in honour of recently deceased British general Lord Kitchener, to demonstrate the loyalty to the British Empire of the city's ethnic German population. Today the city maintains elements of its German heritage. Although beer brewing is no longer a local industry of note, it does play host to the largest Oktoberfest celebration outside Germany. 7,310 residents (3.8%) listed German as their mother tongue in the 2001 census.
On September 17, 1981, the first ever "blue box" recycling program was launched in Kitchener. Today, more than 90% of Ontario households have access to recycling programs and annually they divert more than 650,000 tonnes of secondary resource materials. The blue box program has expanded in various forms throughout Canada and to countries around the world such as the United States, United Kingdom, France and Australia, serving more than 40 million households in countries around the world.
Demographics
According to the mid-2001 census, the population estimates there were 414,284 people residing in Kitchener, located in the province of Ontario, of whom 49.2 per cent were male and 50.8 per cent were female. Children under five accounted for approximately 6.3 per cent of the resident population of Kitchener. This compares with 5.8 per cent in Ontario, and almost 5.6 per cent for Canada overall.
In mid-2001, 11.2 per cent of the resident population in Kitchener were of retirement age (65 and over for males and females) compared with 13.2 per cent in Canada, therefore, the average age is 35.3 years of age comparing to 37.6 years of age for all of Canada.
In the five years between 1996 and 2001, the population of Kitchener grew by 8.2 per cent, compared with an increase of 6.1 per cent for Ontario as a whole. Population density of Kitchener averaged 501.0 people per square kilometre, compared with an average of 12.6, for Ontario altogether.
At the time of the census in May 2001, the resident population of the Kitchener city authority had 190,399 people, but had 414,284 when encompassing the Greater Kitchener Area (Kitchener-Waterloo) compared with a resident population in the province of Ontario of 11,410,050 people.
Racial Groups
According to StatCan, approximately 89.4% of the population is of European origin (includes a very small Aboriginal population), chiefly those who described their origins as British Isles, German, French, Dutch, and Italian. The remaining groups are Asian numbering 4.0%, Black: 1.8%, Chinese: 1.4%, Hispanic: 1.1%, and others including mixed race.
The five largest reported ancestries in the metropolitan area of Kitchener-Waterloo are: English (24.8%), German (22.8%), Scottish (17.1%), Irish (16.1%), and French (8.9%).
Religious Groups
- Protestant: 41.3%
- Roman Catholic: 32.4%
- other Christian: 5.0%
- Muslim: 2.2%
- none, other: 19.3%
Economy
Whereas Waterloo has benefitted from the presence of two universities and a number of high tech companies, Kitchener has been a more blue-collar town. The auto-parts manufacturer Budd Canada continues to employ over 1000 workers and makes a substantial profit. The Huron Business Park is also the site of a number of industries, from seat manufacturers to furniture components. A number of the old industrial companies of Kitchener have fallen on harder times -- the Kaufmann shoe manufacturer has closed its factory, J.M. Schneider (a meat producer) has been bought out and operations scaled back, and companies like Electrohome have ceased local production in favour of licensing or supply agreements with overseas makers. Still, occupations unique to manufacturing, processing and utilities cover as much as 15% of the local workforce [2].
Kitchener's downtown core, though somewhat improved in recent years, has experienced considerable urban decay, thanks largely to the decline of industrial jobs in the city and the growth of its suburbs. Things worsened when urban renewal plans in the 1960s cost the city its neo-classical city hall and did not achieve its goals of redevelopment. When an arsonist began destroying abandoned and underused buildings in Kitchener's downtown, the issue of downtown renewal and cleanup of the adjoining Victoria Park neighbourhood came to the fore in municipal elections and has been the focus of city council for the past ten years. Achievements during this period include selling off a dying mall and converting it to office space for a major insurance firm, relocating a theatre downtown, and converting vacant industrial space into residential units.
The city now boasts a new city hall, and a new farmer's market opened in 2004. Two university branch campuses in the downtown area are in the planning stages. Currently the Cedar Hill neighbourhood, which has been dubbed "the ghetto", is one of the city's main issues to tend to. Other projects include an assortment of lofts, utilizing old factories. There has also been a proposal for a new 15 floor or taller library, due to the ever increasing population of the city. Various plans for 20 floor condo units have been put in place. And although Waterloo is home to many insurance companies, two universities, and high-tech industries, Kitchener is hoping to increase demand for office space by building office towers and inviting companies from around the golden triangle to move in.
Government
Kitchener is governed by a council of six councillors, representing wards or districts, and a mayor. Kitchener residents also elect four councillors at large to sit with the mayor on the council of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The current mayor of Kitchener is Carl Zehr, who was re-elected handily to his third term in November 2003, after first being elected in 1997 and reelected in 2000. Before that, he sat as a municipal councillor from 1985-1994.
Institutions
The Doon neighbourhood, formerly a separate village but now part of Kitchener, is home to the primary campus of Conestoga College, one of the foremost non-university educational institutions in the province.
Negotiations are ongoing to bring the Faculty of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University to the site of the former St. Jerome's High School in downtown Kitchener. The University of Waterloo is also planning on opening a School of Pharmacy in the downtown area.[3]
City parks and trails
Kitchener's largest and most famous outdoor park is Victoria park, in the heart of downtown Kitchener. Numerous events and festivities are held in this park.
A statue of Queen Victoria is located in Victoria park. In an effort to display loyalty to the queen, the statue was placed in the park, after the city's name was changed to Kitchener.
Kitchener has an extensive community trail system. The trails, which are controlled and run by the city, are hundreds of km. in length, and are well maintained and safe.
Due to Kitchener's close proximity to the Grand River, several community trails and paths border the river's shores. The convenient access to the Grand River has drawn nature seeking tourists to the city.
Transport
Roads
There is an interchange with Highway 401 on Kitchener's southern border, and Highways 7 and 8 and the Conestoga Parkway run through the city and connect it to the 401 and to Waterloo.
Public transport
Since 2000, public transport throughout the Region of Waterloo has been provided by Grand River Transit, which was created by a merger of the former Cambridge Transit and Kitchener Transit. GRT operate a number of bus routes in Kitchener, with many running into Waterloo and two connecting to Cambridge. In September 2005, they plan to add an express bus route called iXpress from downtown Cambridge through Kitchener to north Waterloo.
Railways
VIA Rail trains between Sarnia and Toronto stop at the Kitchener railway station slightly to the north and east of the city's downtown at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Weber Street; one local bus route stops next to the station. Freight trains are also common in Kitchener.
The most easily-accessible GO Transit railway station is Milton station. City councillors and public petitions have called for the extension of GO trains to the Region of Waterloo, but at present GO do not plan to go beyond already-announced bus links.
Air
The closest airport to Kitchener is the Region of Waterloo International Airport in nearby Breslau, but while it is a thriving general-aviation field, it is not heavily-served by scheduled airlines. Most air travellers use either Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport or Hamilton's John C. Munro International Airport. There are no permanent public transport links from Kitchener to any of these airports.
Sports teams
- Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League who play at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
- Kitchener Panthers of the Intercounty Baseball League who play at Jack Couch Park
- Kitchener Dutchmen of the Ontario Hockey Association who play at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
- KW Braves Jr. A Lacrosse of the Ontario Lacrosse Association who play at the Waterloo Rec Centre.
Famous people
- Walter P. Zeller, the founder of Canada's largest discount department store chain, Zellers [4]
- William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada's tenth prime minister.