Many Canadian families struggle to find the right home for the right price — especially in larger cities such as Ottawa, Montreal or Toronto. Fortunately, that’s not the case in Cornwall ON,  where there are plenty of well built, spacious homes to be found at remarkably affordable prices. In fact, our housing prices in Cornwall are amongst the lowest for the city its size in Ontario and provide great investment value compared to other cities.

First-time home buyers, will find homes that they can afford, while other families will be able to upgrade to something more comfortable — perhaps even their dream home — and still save money.

You’ll be amazed at what you get when you choose Cornwall as your place to live in Ontario. Looking for an estate home or a downtown condo overlooking the river? We have some available, as well as a whole range of family-friendly homes near schools and parks. Not only will you find great homes, but also larger lots, quiet roads, and your choice of safe, fully serviced neighbourhoods.

You’ll also find so many of the services and amenities you have come to expect in a full-sized city. Cornwall has everything you need — and so much more! 

Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Ontario and Quebec and the state of New York converge. It is the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry and is Ontario’s easternmost city.

Cornwall is named after the English Duchy of Cornwall; the city’s coat of arms is based on that of the duchy with its colours reversed and the addition of a “royal tressure”, a Scottish symbol of royalty.

It is the urban centre for the surrounding communities of Long Sault and Ingleside to the west; the Mohawk Territory of Akwesasne to the south; St. Andrews West and Avonmore to the north; and Glen Walter, Martintown, Apple Hill, Williamstown, and Lancaster to the east.

The city straddles the St. Lawrence River and is home to the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, which oversees navigation and shipping activities for the St. Lawrence Seaway. Cornwall is centrally located between the capital city of Ottawa and Montreal, Canada’s second-most populous city. It lies within the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor along Ontario Highway 401, is a major port of entry from the United States into Canada, and is positioned to support some of Cornwall’s largest industries, which include logistics, distribution, and call centres.

History

Indigenous peoples have lived in and around the area of present-day Cornwall for millennia.

Though accounts suggest Europeans filtered into the area and had scattered settlements for some time, the first documented European settlement was established in 1784 by United Empire Loyalists, primarily from the former British colony of New York. In 1787 this settlement became the first in present-day Ontario to be visited by a member of the royal family, Prince William Henry (later William IV).

After the war for US independence, former colonial soldiers loyal to the Crown and other disbanded soldiers and their families began to settle at the site of Cornwall, which was then called New Johnstown.  Many of the new arrivals were of German origin, and the town being named for Johnstown, New York, the origin of many of them.

The main group was led by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir John Johnson and had soldiers from the First Battalion King’s Royal Regiment of New York and a contingent of the 84th Royal Highland Emigrants. Following the success of rebellious colonists in the American Revolution, many of those were afraid for their lives or uncomfortable in the newly independent United States became United Empire Loyalists as they were later called, and migrated to Canada. The British government helped them settle throughout the Canadas as a reward for their loyalty and to compensate them for their losses in the United States. One of the chief settlement regions was the St Lawrence River Valley, from Kingston to Cornwall, which would later be known as “Loyalist Country.”

They founded a permanent settlement north of one of a series of portage points (the point was not a settlement, nor was it even a trading post), sometimes referred to as Pointe Maligne by European explorers. The square mile town was temporarily named “Royal Town #2” then “Johnson” or “New Johnstown.” It was later renamed to Cornwall for the Duke of Cornwall by proclamation of Prince George, and in 1834, the town became one of the first incorporated municipalities in the British colony of Upper Canada. Much later, during one of a series of annexations, those former portage points were added to the expanded community. The construction of the Cornwall Canal between 1834 and 1842 accelerated the community’s development into a regional and industrial economic “capital” for a growing hinterland of towns and villages.

In 1846, the population was about 1,600, and there were many brick and stone houses as well, a stone courthouse and jail, and several government offices. There was little industry, except for a foundry and two tanneries, but there were many independent tradesmen of various types. Other amenities included two bank agencies, eight taverns, and a ladies’ school.

Canal and lock construction in the late 1800s and the early 1900s brought work and international business. The Grand Trunk Railway (CN Rail) built an east–west line through Cornwall in 1856. The New York and Ottawa Railway (NY&O) followed with a north–south line crossing the St. Lawrence, with a station in Cornwall dating to 1898.^[13] The Canadian Pacific Railway created a succession of subsidiaries and plans for a Cornwall line starting in the 1880s, which culminated in the Glengarry and Stormont Railway in 1915 to connect to CP’s Ontario and Quebec Railway mainline to the northeast for an alternative route to Montreal.

The railway connections provided connections between Cornwall and local communities that required access to public services in Cornwall itself, such as high schools and medical services, and helped cement Cornwall’s position as a regional centre for a large, rapidly-expanding, and increasingly-populated rural hinterland.^[14] The network of villages and towns surrounding Cornwall helped make the city a local entrepot for business, commerce, media and services

In 1944, the city was rocked by the magnitude 5.8 Cornwall–Massena earthquake. There were no deaths or injuries reported, but several chimneys were destroyed or damaged, along with heavy damage to historical masonry structures. For example, the Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School received heavy damage from masonry work falling through the roof of the gymnasium.

West of Cornwall, along the St. Lawrence River, there were several smaller communities, known as the Lost Villages. They were submerged in 1958 during the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, providing a reservoir for the Moses-Saunders Power Dam, which regulates water levels flowing from Lake Ontario and maintains the levels required to operate the two adjacent Canada-US hydroelectric power generating stations.

Contact Sophie Goudreaau