Moosonee

Moosonee
Town of Moosonee
Moosonee
Moosonee
Coordinates: 51°20′03″N 80°43′16″W / 51.33417°N 80.72111°W / 51.33417; -80.72111
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
RegionNortheastern Ontario
DistrictCochrane
Settled1903
Incorporated2001
Government
  MayorWayne Taipale
  MPGaétan Malette (Conservative)
  MPPGuy Bourgouin (ONDP)
Area
 (2021)
  Land547.83 km2 (211.52 sq mi)
  Population Centre1.64 km2 (0.63 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)
  Total
1,512
  Density2.8/km2 (7/sq mi)
  Population Centre
1,471
  Population Centre density898.8/km2 (2,328/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−05:00 (EST)
  Summer (DST)UTC−04:00 (EDT)
Postal code
Area code(s)705
Websitewww.moosonee.ca

Moosonee (/ˌmsəˈn/) is a town in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River approximately 19 km (12 mi) south of James Bay. It is considered to be "the Gateway to the Arctic" and has Ontario's only saltwater port. Nearby, on Moose Factory Island, is the community of Moose Factory to which it is connected by water taxi in the summer and ice road in the winter.

There is no road connection to the community but flights are provided by Air Creebec and by Thunder Airlines, via Moosonee Airport. Moosonee is also the railhead of the Ontario Northland Railway where goods are transferred to barges and aircraft for transport to more northerly communities. Moosonee is not particularly far north, being located at 51°N, roughly the same latitude as Saskatoon and Calgary, but is colder because of its proximity to Hudson Bay and isolated by its lack of road access to the rest of Ontario. The community was the site of a fur trading post set up in 1903 by Revillon Frères, competitors to the Hudson's Bay Company, which later bought out Révillon.

Moosonee formerly held the status of a development area, the only community in the province with that designation, and was governed by a locally-elected board subject to formal appointment by the Ontario provincial government. It became incorporated as a town effective January 1, 2001, with an elected mayor and four-person council.