Lakeshore, Ontario

Lakeshore
Municipality of Lakeshore
Lakeshore Municipal Office
Lakeshore
Lakeshore
Coordinates: 42°15′N 82°41′W / 42.250°N 82.683°W / 42.250; -82.683
Country Canada
Province Ontario
CountyEssex
Formed1999
Government
  MayorTracey Bailey
  MPsKathy Borrelli (CPC)
Chris Lewis (CPC)
  MPPsAnthony Leardi (PC)
Trevor Jones (PC)
Area
  Land530.33 km2 (204.76 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)
  Total
40,410
  Density69.0/km2 (179/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
  Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Websitewww.lakeshore.ca

Lakeshore is a municipality on Lake St. Clair, in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. It was incorporated in 1999 by amalgamating the Town of Belle River with the townships of Maidstone, Rochester, Tilbury North, and Tilbury West. It is the largest and the most populous municipality within Essex County. However, it is part of the Windsor census metropolitan area.

Lakeshore has a significant concentration of French Canadians and is one of only four communities in Southern Ontario (excluding Eastern Ontario) in which more than 5% (the provincial average) of the population is francophone. The others are Welland, Pain Court, and Penetanguishene. In the 2011 census, 7.7% of the population reported French as their mother tongue, and 17.2% reported knowledge of both official languages. Lakeshore also has a historic black community, along the Puce River, made up of descendants of refugee slaves from the South in the United States who immigrated to Canada for freedom, using the Underground Railroad network.