Barrie
city in Ontario, Canada
Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about 90 kilometres (56 mi) north of Toronto. The city is located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay and geographically within Simcoe County, although it is a single-tier municipality that is politically independent from the surrounding county.
The city is part of the extended urban area in Southern Ontario known as the Greater Golden Horseshoe. As of the 2021 census, the city's population was 147,829, while the census metropolitan area had a population of 212,856 residents. The area was first settled during the War of 1812 as a supply depot for British forces, and Barrie was named after Sir Robert Barrie. The city has grown significantly in recent decades due to the emergence of the technology industry.
It is connected to the Greater Golden Horseshoe by Highway 400 and GO Transit's Barrie line. Significant sectors of the city's diversified economy include education, healthcare, information technology, and manufacturing. Communities to its south, particularly Innisfil, New Tecumseth, and Newmarket have developed rapidly since the turn of the 21st century. The city is notable for being one of the centres of the 1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Barrie” as city in Ontario, Canada. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in Ontario, Canada. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
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 Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q34183. VIAF identifies the subject as 153663613. The Library of Congress control number is n85019138. Authority coordinates are 44.390, -79.686. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 1812 and 1985.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. 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.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Barrie”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Barrie primary sources, Barrie archive and Barrie research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Barrie”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Barrie” 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.