Peterborough

Peterborough is a city located in Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometers northeast of Toronto. According to the census conducted in 2011, the population of the city of Peterborough was 78 698 people. 

It is known as the "Electric City" since it was the first in Canada to use electricity on street light poles. It has been the headquarters of important international companies such as Siemens, Rolls Royce and General Electric.

Service industries are now the primary employers but manufacturing is still an important sector along with food processing, automotive supplies, electronics, aerospace and life sciences / biotechnology. General Electric (since 1892) is closing its operations in the city in 2018 but Quaker Oats still employs 700 employee's. The city is also a 'bedroom' community for workers commuting to Oshawa and East Toronto. In spite of rapidly increasing prices in spring 2017, homes are more affordable than in many other areas, including Durham.

The Peterborough Regional Health Center is the largest employer, with about 2,000 employees in 2017. School boards, local government, Trent University and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources are other large employers.

Peterborough is a major shopping destination for the region and is home to three shopping centers; Peterborough Square, located at George and Simcoe Streets, Portage Place at 1154 Chemong Road, and Lansdowne Place at 645 Lansdowne Street West. Walmart, Costco, Sobey's and Real Canadian Superstore have large operations in Peterborough, drawing customers from the surrounding area. As in other cities in Canada, Sears (in Landsdowne Place) closed its store in early 2018 because of bankruptcy

Peterborough has a humid continental climate with four distinct seasons. It lies in a transitional zone between areas to the south, which have a milder winter climate, and areas to the north (within the Canadian Shield), where the winters are snowier and sharply colder. Peterborough's climate can be unpredictable and vary greatly from one part of the City to another due to the effects of the Oak Ridges Moraine and changes in elevation. In the South End and areas south of the City, the Moraine acts as a barrier to weather patterns moving off Lake Ontario reducing the precipitation. In the North and West Ends of Peterborough, the effects of the Moraine are not prominent, at times creating slightly cooler temperatures and more precipitation than the more southern parts of the City and County.