Kapuskasing

Kapuskasing, Ont, incorporated as a town in 1921, population 8196 (2011c), 8509 (2006c). The Town of Kapuskasing is located on the Kapuskasing River, 493 km northwest of North Bay. The name derives from a CREE term meaning "branch" (the Kapuskasing R being a branch of the Mattagami) or "place where the river bends."

History

Although the area had been explored since the 18th century by HBC and NWC fur traders, the site itself only came into existence in 1910 as a station along the National Transcontinental Ry, a line linking Québec City and Winnipeg, incorporated into the CNR system 1922. During WWI an internment camp was established near the town, its prisoner of war and "enemy alien" occupants developing what is now a federal experimental farm. After the war the community's agricultural base was further expanded by a government soldier-resettlement program.

Economy

Kapuskasing's future lies in its rich surrounding forests. Since the 1920s the pulp and paper industry, represented by the Spruce Falls Power and Paper Co, and tourism have become its chief economic mainstays.

In 1991 the town's economy was threatened when Spruce Falls Pulp & Paper announced it was going to reduce its workforce by 80%. This would have been a major blow to the community, so in late 1991 a consortium of employees, Tembec Inc (a Québec Crown corporation) and local residents purchased the company. The company, now called Spruce Falls Inc, is an integrated newsprint operation exporting most of its output to the US.