Armstrong, Thunder Bay District, Ontario

For the township in Timiskaming District, see Armstrong, Ontario.

Armstrong is a compact rural community, unincorporated place, and divisional point on the Canadian National Railway transcontinental railway main line in the unorganized portion of Thunder Bay District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada.^[1] The Whitesand First Nation's Armstrong Settlement is coterminous to this community. The Armstrong area is a popular tourist destination in the summer for fishing and hunting.

Aerial view of Armstrong, 2017

Armstrong
compact rural community unincorporated place
Armstrong Location in Ontario
Coordinates: 50°18′18″N 89°02′31″W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Thunder Bay
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern Time Zone)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (Eastern Time Zone)
Postal Code	P0T 1A0
Area code	807

The community is not part of an incorporated municipality, but is administered by a local services board.^[2]

Canadian Forces Station Armstrong, located 1.1 miles (1.8 km) east of Armstrong, was closed in 1974. Later that year the base was sold to private owners and turned into a popular gathering area for the town that included a restaurant and bar, hotel, multiple apartments, garages, and a curling rink. The area, known as D&L, was closed and abandoned in 1993 and remains that way today.

The town of Armstrong currently has a public school, two restaurants, a Canada Post post office, a clinic, a Mini Mart gas station and motel, and the Armstrong General store (formally J&J General store 1961–2015).

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Armstrong had a population of 146 living in 60 of its 208 total private dwellings, a change of -24.4% from its 2016 population of 193. With a land area of 323.85 km² (125.04 sq mi), it had a population density of 0.5/km² (1.2/sq mi) in 2021.^[3]

According to the Canada 2016 Census, the community had a population of 193, down from 220 in 2011, a decrease of 12.3%. There are 186 dwellings of which 84 are occupied by usual residents.^[4]

Transportation

Armstrong is accessible via Highway 527, which extends 235 kilometres (146 mi) north from Highway 11/17 near Thunder Bay. It takes about three hours to get to Armstrong by car from Thunder Bay.

Armstrong Airport is located 4.5 nautical miles (8.3 kilometres; 5.2 miles) east southeast of Armstrong.

The Via Rail Canadian train travels through and stops on request in Armstrong.^[5]

Preceding station	Via Rail			Following station
Collins toward Vancouver		The Canadian		Mud River toward Toronto
Former services
Preceding station	Canadian National Railway			Following station
Onaping toward Vancouver		Main Line		Wagaming toward Montreal

References

1. "Armstrong". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2014-03-24.
2. "Local Services Boards - Armstrong". Northern Services Boards Act / Loi sur les régies des services publics du nord - R.R.O. 1990, Regulation 737. Canadian Legal Information Institute. 2009-11-04. Archived from the original on 2014-03-10. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
3. "Population and dwelling counts: Canada and designated places". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved Jan 10, 2025.
4. "Census Profile, 2016 Census - Armstrong, Local service board [Designated place], Ontario and Ontario [Province]". 8 February 2017.
5. "The Canadian westbound schedule" (PDF). Via Rail. Retrieved 2014-03-24.