History of the City of Elliot Lake

The City of Elliot Lake owes its existence to the uranium mining industry. When a huge ore body of uranium was discovered in the Canadian Shield near Elliot Lake in the early 1950s, the town was rapidly built and numerous mines were brought into production. For the next 40 years, Elliot Lake produced most of the world's uranium. Because of that reliance on mining, the local economy and population boomed and busted along with world demand and prices for uranium.

After the Cold War nuclear arms race abated, world demand dropped off, many mines closed and Elliot Lake's population shrank from over 16,000 to 6,000 by 1966. But the need for nuclear power in the 1970s created another boom; and Elliot Lake's population swelled to just under 20,000 in 1981.

However, by the late 1980s market demand died down again and higher grade uranium was found in other parts of Canada and the world. Ontario Hydro cancelled its contracts with the remaining two local mining companies and the last 5 mines that were operating in Elliot Lake closed in the early-to-mid 1990s. The mine closures resulted in over 4,500 lay-offs and today there are no more operating mines in the area.

Rather than close the City, vacant homes were marketed and sold or rented to retirees, who've been retiring in Elliot Lake since the early 1990s. Between retirement living, tourism and some logging, the City of Elliot Lake has rebounded and is managing to maintain the infrastructure that was designed for a booming mining community and the population has stabilized at approx. 12,000. (2001 Census)