Moosonee () is a town in northern Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River approximately south of James Bay. It is considered to be "the Gateway to the Arctic" and has Ontario's only saltwater port. Nearby on Moose Factory Island is the community of Moose Factory to which it is connected by water taxi in the summer and ice road in the winter.
There is no road connection to the community but flights are provided by Air Creebec and by Thunder Airlines, via Moosonee Airport. Moosonee is also the railhead of the Ontario Northland Railway where goods are transferred to barges and aircraft for transport to more northerly communities. Moosonee is not particularly far north, being located at 51°N—which is roughly the same latitude as Saskatoon and Calgary —but is colder due to its proximity to Hudson Bay, and isolated due to its lack of road access to the rest of Ontario. The community was the site of a fur trading post set up in 1903 by Revillon Frères, competitors to the Hudson's Bay Company which later bought out Révillon.
Moosonee formerly held the status of a development area, the only community in the province with that designation, and was governed by a locally elected board subject to formal appointment by the Ontario provincial government. It became incorporated as a town effective January 1, 2001, with an elected mayor and four-person council.
History
In 1900, Annie Hardisty and her two daughters were the first settlers on the site. Significant development began on June 6, 1903, four canoes and a crew of 21 persons of the Revillon Frères company arrived on the banks of the Moose River near the much older Moose Factory to establish the Moose River Post. This Parisian furrier had ambitious plans to set up a chain of fur trading posts in direct competition with the Hudson's Bay Company, including five on James Bay. But it suffered a setback when their supply ship that carried all the provisions shipwrecked near Fort George (Chisasibi). The Revillon Frères Museum is located on First Street.
Moose River Post became the most important location for Revillon Frères and was quickly expanded with a staff house, carpenter's shop, warehouse, and sawmill. The buildings were spaced far apart as a preventive measure to minimize the spread of fire. By 1912, it was reported that "the whole line of good substantial buildings, built principally for their French Canadian employees, stretches along the river front for nearly a mile northward from the residence of the inspector."
Moose River Post (and Moose Factory) were prosperous but isolated. It was supplied only once per year by ship coming from Montreal around the Labrador Peninsula. Mail arrived only four times per year, twice by canoe and twice by toboggan. During World War I, Revillon Frères' chartered supply ship was requisitioned for war service. So from then on until 1932, the post was supplied by scows from Pagwa on the National Transcontinental Railway coming down the Pagwachuan, Kenogami, and Albany Rivers.
In 1932, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway was extended from Cochrane to Moose River Post, that was renamed at that time to Moosonee, derived from the Cree word meaning "at the Moose [River]". In 1936, Revillon Frères sold its Canadian operations to the Hudson's Bay Company and the Moosonee post closed. The HBC also exited the fur trade and opened a retail store in Moosonee (now Northern Store, part of The North West Company). With the end of the fur trade business, Moosonee's economy became centred on transportation.
In 1962, Moosonee became the site of RCAF Station Moosonee that was part of NORAD's Pinetree Line chain of radar stations. It closed in 1975 and some of its buildings were used by the Town after the closure, including the base swimming pool and recreation centre.
In 1968, the town was classified as a development area board. In November 2000, it was incorporated as the Town of Moosonee.
The town is governed by a mayor and four councillors. As of 2023 the mayor is Wayne Taipale and the councillors are Theresa Chavez, Sheldon Ross, Diane Ryder, and Carman Tozer
Demographics
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Moosonee had a population of 1,512 living in 487 of its 629 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
In 2021, mother tongue was 86.0 per cent English, 8.5 per cent Indigenous (mainly Cree), 1.0 per cent French, and 4.4 per cent other languages. The population are mainly First Nations (66.8 per cent), 32.5 per cent non-indigenous and 1 per cent Métis.