Peterborough City Guide

Peterborough, the proud home of more than 81,032 residents, is located on the bank of Otonabee River in the central area of southern Ontario, in Canada. The city’s population is expected to increase over the next few years due to the planned extension of Ontario Highway 407.

The city began as a small sawmill and gristmill river village, until the immigration that took place in the 1800s. A wealthy New York businessman with the name Peter Robinson, for whom the city is named, actually took over the emigration. He interviewed the Irish people that wanted to move here and decided which ones could inhabit the city. Some of the criteria included that the new residents were Catholic, younger than 45, healthy, knew how farm and weren’t related to any of the other new residents.

The city continued developing as an agricultural center, with mostly farming families, until the early 20th century. It was incorporated as a city in 1905 with a population of 14,300 residents, but it didn’t adopt its coat of arms and flag until 1951. In a strange twist of fate, Peterborough eventually became known as the “The Electric City” because it was the first city to use electric streetlights in Canada.  

One of the more important bodies of water in the region, for economical reasons, was the river that ran through Peterborough. This river enabled specific technology and manufacturing corporations, such as Siemens, Rolls-Royce Limited, General Electric and PepsiCo Foods to grow and flourish. Eventually, a series of factories shut down and there was a shift away from manufacturing, which meant city officials had to find other economic drivers. This prompted the rise of tourism and the service industry in Peterborough. Today, tourism and the service industry are the main economic drivers for the city and the leading industries in the area. Another economic driver is the public sector.  Much of the city’s employment comes from health care and educational facilities, followed by the service industries and finally, manufacturing.  

The climate in Peterborough is quite pleasant and the city boasts a chance to experience all four seasons throughout the year.  

Peterborough is considered a choice place to move and raise a family due to its extremely low crime rate, and, according to some studies, its incredible support for the retirement lifestyle. In a study done in 2017 by Comfort Life magazine, Peterborough was named as one of the best places to invest in Canada.