| Kingsville | |
| Official Name: | Town of Kingsville |
| Settlement Type: | Town (lower-tier) |
| Nickname: | Canada's Southernmost Town |
| Pushpin Map: | CAN ON Essex#Canada Southern Ontario |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Essex |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Title1: | MP |
| Leader Title2: | MPP |
| Leader Name: | Dennis Rogers |
| Leader Name1: | Chris Lewis (CPC) |
| Leader Name2: | Anthony Leardi (PC) |
| Established Title: | Incorporated |
| Established Date: | 1901 |
| Area Land Km2: | 246.83 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Total: | 21552 |
| Population Density Km2: | 87.3 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Postal Code Type: | Forward sortation area |
| Postal Code: | N9Y |
| Area Code: | 519 and 226 |
| Coordinates: | 42.1°N -125°W |
| Elevation M: | 200.00 |
| Website: | www.kingsville.ca |
Kingsville is a town in Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost municipality with town status. The town had a population of 22,119 in the Canada 2021 Census a 2.6% increase from the previous census figure of 21,552 in the Canada 2016 Census.
Kingsville was incorporated as a town in 1901. On 1 January 1999, the Town was amalgamated with the adjoining Township of Gosfield North and Township of Gosfield South to form an expanded municipality.[1]
Kingsville is west of the Municipality of Leamington, south of the Town of Lakeshore and southeast of the Town of Essex and north of Lake Erie.
The geography of Kingsville is typical of most of Essex County. The terrain is generally flat, and consists of glacial drift which is a mixture of various rocks, sand and clay. The town is approximately 570 feet above sea level.
In addition to the primary settlement at Kingsville, the municipality also includes the smaller communities of Cedar Beach, Cedar Island, Cedarhurst Park, Cottam, Klondyke, Linden Beach, North Ridge, Olinda, Ruthven and Union. The community of Albuna is located on the boundary between Kingsville and Leamington, and the communities of Arner and Elford are located on the boundary between Kingsville and Essex.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Kingsville had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 246.08km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[2]
| Canada 2006 Census | Population | % of Total Population | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visible minority group Source:[3] | South Asian | 0 | ||
| 30 | ||||
| 190 | ||||
| 20 | ||||
| 395 | ||||
| 80 | ||||
| Southeast Asian | 15 | |||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| Other visible minority | 0 | |||
| Mixed visible minority | 10 | |||
| Total visible minority population | 740 | |||
| Aboriginal group Source:[4] | 105 | |||
| 75 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| Total Aboriginal population | 180 | |||
| 19,580 | ||||
| Total population | 20,500 | 100% | ||
Kingsville is home to the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary. Jack Miner was awarded The Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his achievements in conservation in the British Empire. It was awarded June 23, 1943, by King George VI, as King of Canada. Jack Miner is considered "the father of the conservation movement on the continent".[5]
Kingsville is home to Colasanti's Tropical Gardens which attracts people from all over Ontario. The gardens have many varieties of tropical plants and animals. Kingsville is also home to the Kingsville Music Festival which is organized by the Kingsville Music Society.[6] It began in early August 2014 and has continued each year with headliners such as Bruce Cockburn, Ashley MacIsaac, Steven Page, and Kathleen Edwards.
Kingsville was, for over a decade, home to the Williams family's Christmas light show which had over the years grown to a display with more than 60,000 lights. Over the years, this show was used by the family to raise money to help with the fight against cancer, and thus far have raised over $40,000. In 2024 the city enacted a bylaw that would have required the family to apply for a permit for their display that would also limit their hours of operation. Rather than comply with these new regulations, they have decided instead to discontinue this display in the town and have been looking for other municipalities to host this display instead.[7]
Kingsville was, for 26 years, the home town of the Great Lakes Jr. C team Kingsville Comets. The team was sold and moved to Amherstburg in 2013, becoming the Amherstburg Admirals. The town was among the top 5 places in Canada chosen for CBC's Kraft Hockeyville 2008, and finished in 2nd place in the competition with over 1.5 million votes.
In 2015, the Kingsville Kings were formed and added to the South Conference of the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League.[8] They play out of the Kingsville Arena Complex.
After playing a neutral site game in Kingsville during the 2016–17 season, the St. Clair Shores Fighting Saints of the Federal Hockey League relocated to Kingsville for the 2017–18 season as the North Shore Knights.[9] The team played most of its home games out of the Kingsville Arena Complex with a few other neutral site home games in various cities in Ontario and Quebec. After cancelling several games during the season, the Knights were not listed as an FHL member the following season.
Kingsville has two schools, St. John de Brebeuf Catholic Elementary School and Erie Migration District School. Erie Migration District School opened in September 2024 and amalgamated the student body of three previous schools Kingsville Public School, Jack Miner Public School and Kingsville District High School; all of which were closed as of June 2024. Several community members were critical of the name chosen for the new school.[10]
A fourth school, Ruthven Public School, was closed in the summer of 2013 due to overall declining enrollment. Students from Ruthven were assigned to Jack Miner Public School.