Barrie, Ontario

Barrie, Ontario (2003 population 121,248, metropolitan population 168,492) is located on Kempenfelt Bay, an arm of Lake Simcoe in south-central Ontario, Canada. (Latitude: 44.3905, longitude: -79.6857) It is the county seat of Simcoe County.

The city was named in 1832 after Sir Robert Barrie , who was in charge of the naval forces in Canada and frequently had to portage from Lake Simcoe to Georgian Bay through the city.

Barrie's waterfront is at the heart of its tourism industry, with events like Kempenfest arts and crafts festival attracting more than 300,000 people. Sports and recreational activities, like skiing, baseball, hockey and boating attract people to Barrie in all four seasons of the year.

Barrie is home to the main campus of Georgian College,with 3,500 full-time and 10,000 part-time students. As a result, many of the bars and clubs in downtown Barrie are filled with students during the school year.

Several manufacturers are currently located in Barrie and Canadian Forces Base Borden is nearby. In recent years Barrie has become an outer suburb of Toronto.

During World War II the Royal Canadian Navy named a Flower class corvette HMCS Barrie .