Abitibi Canyon Generating Station
dam in Unorganized North Cochrane District, Ontario
Abitibi Canyon Generating Station is a hydroelectric power plant owned by Ontario Power Generation on the Abitibi River. The station is located 80 km north of Smooth Rock Falls, within Pitt Township in Northern Unorganized Cochrane District, in Ontario, Canada.
This facility is the fifth downstream hydroelectric plant of six on the Abitibi River. Designed by George F. Hardy Company, the construction of this 349 MW facility began in 1930 and became fully operational in 1936. Hydro One has a 500 kV transmission line along with a 230 kV line that runs south to Sudbury and continues all the way to Toronto to interconnect with the rest of the 500 kV network in Ontario.
Abitibi Canyon community
In 1930, a colony was established to house the employees of the plant and their families. About 130 people lived in the community which contained 30 homes, a community hall, skating rink, shooting range, school, hospital, general store, post office and church. By 1982, the community had expanded to about 300 residents.
In popular culture
Musician Wade Hemsworth wrote a song about his negative experiences while working as part of a survey crew during the dam's construction, later featured in an animation by Christopher Hinton and the National Film Board, which was nominated for two awards.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Abitibi Canyon Generating Station” is dam in Unorganized North Cochrane District, Ontario. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Abitibi, Canyon and Generating, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “dam in Unorganized North Cochrane District, Ontario” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4667986. Authority coordinates are 49.878, -81.571. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1930, 1936 and 1982.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Abitibi Canyon Generating Station” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.