Frontenac Islands

Welcome to Frontenac Islands

Frontenac Islands was formed in 1998 by the amalgamation of two of Ontario's oldest rural municipalities: Howe Island and Wolfe Island. Both islands can trace their European roots back to New France, but it was only in the years after the War of 1812 that settlement took place in any numbers.

The islands are named after two of Britain's generals from the time period of the Seven Year's War: James Wolfe (d. Sept 13, 1759) and William Howe (d. 1814), a subordinate of Wolfe's at the Plains Of Abraham and later Commander-in-Chief of British troops in North America during the American Revolution. The islands' current names first appeared on a map in 1818 when Captain William Fitzwilliam Owen of the Royal Navy conducted a naval survey of the 1,000 Islands.

Today, the islands have a mixture of agricultural and rural lifestyles with a growing proportion of residents working off the islands in Kingston or elsewhere in Frontenac County.

The islands, situated as they are at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River, provide a unique location to live and work. Access to the mainland is by boat: both islands are serviced by ferries year-round with the addition of a seasonal ferry to the USA from Wolfe Island from May to November.