Renfrew is a town on the Bonnechere River in Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. Located one hour west of Ottawa in Eastern Ontario, Renfrew is the fourth largest town in the county after Petawawa, Pembroke and Arnprior. The town is a small transportation hub connecting Highway 60 and Highway 132 with the Trans-Canada Highway which included the town's main street before the Hwy 17 bypass was built. Renfrew is also known historically for its role in the formation of the National Hockey League. It lies about 5 kilometres from the Quebec border, about 10 kilometres by road. Today a plant in Renfrew makes most of Canada’s hockey tape.
History Named after Renfrew, Scotland, in approximately 1848, Renfrew was settled largely in part due to logging in the area in the early 19th century, where the river was used in order to drive the lumber to locations such as Ottawa. This heritage was until recently celebrated every July with the Lumber Baron Festival.
Geography Renfrew and the surrounding Township of Horton are at the intersection of the Bonnechere River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley. Renfrew is at the intersection of provincial Highway 17, Highway 60, and Highway 132.
The town of Renfrew is the second of five chutes along the Bonnechere River. The others being First Chute Castleford, Third Chute Douglas, Fourth Chute and Fifth Chute Eganville. These chutes were built and used for moving timber past rapids and waterfalls along the Bonnechere.
Climate Renfrew has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) with four distinct seasons, warm summers, cold snowy winters and no dry season.
Demographics In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Renfrew had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Mother tongue (2021): English: 93.4% French: 2.8% English and French: 0.7% Other: 2.6%
Economy Much of Renfrew's current prosperity can be attributed to its status as an economic centre for a surrounding rural region with a population of over 30,000. Renfrew is also an important stop for Ottawa-based cottagers and outdoor enthusiasts passing by on their way to nearby whitewater rafting, boating, camping, hunting, golfing, fishing, snowmobiling, down-hill skiing, and cross-country skiing. However, the area's largest single employers are the Renfrew Victoria Hospital and the Bonnechere Manor.Renfrew County Fact Sheet – Renfrew In addition to numerous small employers, there are also several manufacturing facilities employing several hundred people; Scapa Tapes Renfrew (formerly Renfrew Tape) makes products such as hockey tape that is used across North America and the duct tape brand featured on the discontinued Red Green Show and promoted by Doug Gilmour in the early 1990s after becoming a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Times Fibre Canada and Madawaska Hardwood Flooring also have manufacturing facilities in town. Haley Industries located outside Renfrew near Haley Station is also a major employer in the area. Renfrew is also home to many successful small businesses. Between 2000 and 2005, a major portion of Renfrew's retail business, and the associated customer services jobs, shifted from the west-end Renfrew mall (now demolished) to its east-end industrial park near Highway 17 due to the opening of several major big-box such as No Frills and Walmart and smaller retail stores.
Residents of the area await the twinning of Highway 17 to improve traffic flow and the safety of the highway due to numerous accidents along the corridor to North Bay, Ontario.
Despite the apparent prosperity, Statistics Canada reported the average earnings of Renfrew residents in 2000 as $35,811, or roughly 31% lower than the provincial average and 5% lower than the county average.Statistics Canada Community Profile - Renfrew - 2001 Further, the town reports, relative to the population size and compared to the province as a whole, fewer positions in management, business, finance, administration and natural or applied sciences, while there was greater than the provincial rates of occupation in sales and service, trades, transport and equipment operators, processing, manufacturing and utilities.
Festivals Renfrew was the annual host and sponsor of the Ottawa Valley Lumber Baron Festival, a celebration of the town's roots in the logging industry. The Lumber Baron Festival is now known as Valleyfest, dropping its historical roots. The Renfrew Fair has been drawing mixed crowds for decades with its mid-way rides, exhibits, demolition derby, musical acts and livestock showcase. The fair takes place on the second weekend of every September and lasts from Wednesday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. The rides are supplied by the company Bungsey Shows. There is a nearby Blue Grass music festival that takes place every year in the middle of July. In 2008, Renfrew celebrated its sesquicentennial throughout the calendar year.
Landmarks
Low Square Low Square is located at the corner of Raglan Street and Railway Avenue in downtown Renfrew. The square is a park setting containing the cenotaph, and the Town Hall. In 1918, with approval of Council, and at his own expense, the Honourable Thomas Low donated and landscaped the property as a gift to the town for the purpose of constructing a cenotaph to honour local soldiers who died in The Great War, but he died before it was unveiled. The Renfrew Police station (later the OPP detachment) was built as a small brown brick building on the back of the square officially opening October 15, 1970, replacing the station directly to the south of it (formerly the Albion Hotel). A new town hall was constructed as an addition to the police station, in 1985, with municipal offices moving from the old Temperance Hall building directly across the street. In February 2017, the full building became town hall offices and Ontario Court of Justice offices when the police moved to a new location at 450 O'Brien Road. The name of Tom Low lives on in the Park he landscaped, which A.A. Wright declared "from this time on and for all time to be known as Low Square”.
McDougall Mill Museum
John Lorn McDougall, politician and fur trader, built the mill in 1855 by the Bonnechere River near the town landmark Swinging Bridge and overlooking natural rapids below the Renfrew Power Generation generating station. It has been converted into a museum, sometimes referred to as 'Renfrew Museum', not to be confused with museums of that name in Pennsylvania and Scotland. The McDougall Mill Museum houses pioneer tools and machinery, a military section, a doll exhibit, as well as toys, Victorian clothing and household items.Ottawa Valley Guide: McDougall Mill. Retrieved 21 August 2007.
Swinging Bridge
In 1885, the W.H. Kearney family built a wire bridge across the Bonnechere River. The “swinging bridge”, now a town landmark made of wood and cable, is far safer and more secure than the original plank and wire structure. Reconstructed in 1983 by the Town of Renfrew and updated in 2015, it is one of three swinging bridges in Canada and provides an excellent view of the Bonnechere River and the power generation plant.
Entertainment The O'Brien Theatre opened on June 25, 1930, and was owned and operated by Ottawa Valley Amusements, Renfrew entrepreneur M. J. O'Brien. The opening movie, Sally, was a comedy starring Marilyn Miller. Admission for adults was 45 cents and for children it was 20 cents. The elegantly decorated town landmark was converted from a live theatre to a movie theatre and 1990s upgrades modified the balcony to accommodate a second screen. The building still maintaining much of the original appeal, reopened after extensive renovations, on January 7, 1994 with Mrs. Doubtfire, starring Robin Williams.
Services
Churches
Calvary Pentecostal Church Christian Reformed Church Our Lady of Fatima Parish Parkview Free Methodist Church Renfrew Baptist Church Renfrew & District Ministerial Association Renfrew Presbyterian Church Salvation Army St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church St. James Lutheran Church St. Paul's Anglican Church Trinity St. Andrew's United Church
Health Care Facilities Bonnechere Manor Chartwell Quail Creek Retirement Residence Hospice Renfrew Inc. Miramichi Lodge Renfrew Victoria Hospital opened in 1897, having 12 beds for contagious disease. By 1912, bed capacity rose to 30 and the Renfrew Victoria Hospital became a Public General Hospital. In January 1926, a tragic fire destroyed the original building, which was replaced by a new 50 bed hospital later that year. The Hospital was under Municipal ownership until 1961 when a special act of parliament transferred it from civic authority to an independent corporation known as the Board of Governors, composed of representatives from the Town of Renfrew and surrounding Townships. In October 1963, the hospital grew to 101 treatment beds after a major building and renovation program. In November 1978 another renovation project took place which was completed in April 1980. A new Dialysis Unit serving Renfrew County was completed in 1994, able to accommodate the needs of 48 patients. This Unit was again expanded in 1999 with an addition to the Hospital. In November 2001, a new Emergency/Ambulatory Care wing was opened, adding 13,000 square feet to the existing hospital, then in March 2015 a 23,000 square foot Nephrology Centre was completed. This consolidated every aspect of patient's care for kidneys - education, clinics and treatment - in the same area of the hospital.
The Victoria Hospital School of Nursing opened in 1902 with a capacity of 30 students, graduating 10 students per year. Nursing education moved under the jurisdiction of community colleges and the school was subsequently closed in 1965.
Policing The Town of Renfrew is policed by the Ontario Provincial Police force.
Chief Bernard "Barney" McDermott had the job as Chief of Police in Renfrew from 1890 until his retirement in 1909 - he was a one man police force and was known to always "get his man". His living quarters were situated above the fire hall in Renfrew.
The Renfrew Police station (later the OPP detachment) was built on the back of Low Square in 1972.
The OPP operated out of their Stewart Street location from 1967 until moving into the Low Square detachment when the Town of Renfrew police service amalgamated with the OPP in 2000. The Renfrew and Arnprior detachments, who both faced the same fate of losing their own town operated forces, had their OPP detachments amalgamated in January 2013, and in February 2017, a new regional detachment was opened at 450 O'Brien Road in Renfrew. This new Renfrew detachment serves the towns of Arnprior, Renfrew, and the townships of Greater Madawaska, McNab-Braeside, Admaston-Bromley, Horton and about half of Whitewater Region Township.
Post Office