{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Ethnic origin (2021)
!Population
!Percentage
|-
|French n.o.s
|11,810
|25.5%
|-
|Canadian
|11,195
|24.2%
|-
|Irish
|7,490
|16.2%
|-
|Scottish
|7,210
|15.6%
|-
|English
|6,995
|15.1%
|-
|French Canadian
|2,780
|6.0%
|-
|German
|2,690
|5.8%
|-
|Caucasian (White), n.o.s.
|2,625
|2.7%
|-
|First Nations n.o.s. +
North American Indigenous, n.o.s.
|1,935
|4.2%
|-
|Italian
|1,140
|2.5%
|-
|Dutch
|1,105
|2.4%
|-
|British Isles n.o.s
|1,050
|2.3%
|-
|Mohawk
|755
|1.6%
|-
| colspan="3" |Source: StatCan (includes multiple responses) Domtar, a Quebec-based company, operated a paper mill in the city for nearly 100 years, ceasing operations on March 31, 2006. At its peak, Domtar employed nearly 1,500 employees. In addition, Canadian Industries Limited (C.I.L.) has operated a plant in Cornwall since 1935. The facility has been converted into a major derivatives plant. The site has a long history of mercury contamination, given that for decades the chloralkali process was carried out here. This entailed using used mercury cells to convert brine into caustic soda and chlorine.
Cornwall's industrial base has shifted to a more diversified mix of manufacturing, automotive, high-tech, food processing, distribution centres and call centres. The city hosts the largest supply chain management distribution centre in Canada, Walmart, its massive facility employing nearly 1,000 people. Target Canada built a new distribution centre in Cornwall's Business Park on a parcel of land. The Target Canada distribution centre was operated by Eleven Points Logistics. When Target left Canada, its distribution centre was assumed by Walmart. StarTek (closed), and Teleperformance (closed January 2013) both operated call centres in Cornwall. Teleperformance provided in excess of 300 jobs. In late 2008, Shopper's Drug Mart built a . distribution facility in Cornwall's Business Park. Over 130 new jobs resulted. Service Canada established a new contact centre which opened in 2010. Over 170 new jobs were created. Cornwall's unemployment rate was about 4% at the time.
Cornwall Square, also known as "The Square," is a two-level shopping mall in Cornwall on Water Street East, opposite to Lamoureux Park.
In 2016, Cornwall had the 11th-lowest household median income in Canada and the second-lowest in Ontario, at $51,712.
Government
right|thumb|Historic Cornwall Jail, now County Courthouse
Municipal
The Cornwall City Council the elected eleven-member municipal government composed of a mayor and ten councillors who serve four-year terms and represent the city as a whole. The mayor of Cornwall is Justin Towndale, having been elected in 2022, defeating interim mayor Glen Grant who was appointed by council shortly after mayor Bernadette Clement was appointed to the Senate of Canada in June 2021.
At the 2010 municipal election, 56.5% of eligible voters did not vote as out of 30,655 registered voters, only 13,338 cast ballots (43.5%).
Provincial
Cornwall is located within the Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry riding, which is represented by MPP Nolan Quinn (Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario).
{|class="wikitable" style="width:400; font-size:90%; margin-left:1em;"
|+Cornwall provincial election results
! colspan="2" scope="col" | Year
! colspan="2" scope="col" | PC
! colspan="2" scope="col" | New Democratic
! colspan="2" scope="col" | Liberal
! colspan="2" scope="col" | Green
|-
| style="width: 0.25em; background-color: |
! 2022
| | 52%
| style="text-align:right; background:#9999FF;"| 6,536
| | 18%
| style="text-align:right; background:#F4A460;"| 2,249
| | 20%
| style="text-align:right; background:#EA6D6A;"|2,523
| | 4%
| style="text-align:right; background:#99C955;"| 499
|-
| style="width: 0.25em; background-color: |
! 2018
| |51%
| style="text-align:right; background:#9999FF;"| 8,052
| | 28%
| style="text-align:right; background:#F4A460;"| 4,411
| | 17%
| style="text-align:right; background:#EA6D6A;"|2,631
| | 4%
| style="text-align:right; background:#99C955;"| 632
|-
|}
Federal
Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry is represented federally by Member of Parliament (MP) Eric Duncan (Conservative). John Sandfield Macdonald, the first Premier of Ontario, was from Cornwall and is buried in St. Andrews West at the Catholic Church cemetery. A heritage plaque facing York Street at 211 Water Street West commemorates the 1897 launch of Cornwall's first permanent hospital in the former John Sandfield Macdonald house at that location.
{| class="wikitable" style=" width:400; font-size:90%; margin-left:1em;"
|+Cornwall federal election results
! colspan="2" scope="col" | Year
! colspan="2" scope="col" | Liberal
! colspan="2" scope="col" | Conservative
! colspan="2" scope="col" | New Democratic
! colspan="2" scope="col" | Green
|-
| style="width: 0.25em; background-color: |
! 2021
| | 30%
| style="text-align:right; background:#EA6D6A;"| 6,094
| | 46%
| style="text-align:right; background:#6495ED;"| 9,212
| | 13%
| style="text-align:right; background:#F4A460;"| 2,699
| | 2%
| style="text-align:right; background:#99C955;"| 406
|-
| style="width: 0.25em; background-color: |
! 2019
| | 33%
| style="text-align:right; background:#EA6D6A;"| 6,849
| | 43%
| style="text-align:right; background:#6495ED;"| 9,036
| | 18%
| style="text-align:right; background:#F4A460;"| 3,696
| | 4%
| style="text-align:right; background:#99C955;"| 822
|}
Culture
alt=Port Theatre on Montreal Road|thumb|Port Theatre on Montreal Road
The City of Cornwall hosts festivals and special community events, including Canada Day festivities. In 2018, it purchased a building in the downtown core to house its arts and culture centre. The Focus Arts Association organizes multiple exhibitions and coordinates events where artists can connect with and support other artists. Your Arts Council, created to provide artists and the community with the tools and resources they need, offers programs aimed at promoting the work of local artists.
Theatre
The Aultsville Theatre, named after one of the Lost Villages, is a 680-seat performing arts centre on the St. Lawrence College campus and funded in part by the City of Cornwall. The Port Theatre, built in 1941, hosts movies and live music on its stage. Founded in 2006, the Seaway Valley Theatre Company offers plays, musicals, and comedy shows with cabaret-style seating.
Museum
Cornwall is home to the Cornwall Community Museum, which is operated by the SD&G Historical Society. In 2022, the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada relocated its Dominion Office, library, and archives from Toronto to the museum.
Gallery
The Cline House Gallery offers Cornwall and the surrounding area rotating exhibitions of visual art featuring the work of both local and visiting artists. The Cailuan Gallery offers local artwork and an ongoing Special Selections exhibition.
Library
alt=Cornwall Public Library|thumb|Cornwall Public Library
The Cornwall Public Library, located in the downtown core, is housed in the former 1953 Cornwall Post Office building, which was renovated and designated a heritage site by the Cornwall Municipal Heritage Committee in 1997.
Kinsmen Cornwall Lift-Off
Lift Off was an annual music and hot air balloon festival that took place in July in Lamoureux Park. It was run by a board of volunteers and was a non-profit organization. The event was the only hot air balloon festival in Ontario. Paying individuals could take a 20- or 90-minute ride in one of 25 sponsored balloons.
Kinsmen Cornwall Lift-Off promoted a variety of local and national talent. Acts included Glass Tiger, Theory of a Deadman, Marianas Trench, Our Lady Peace, Finger Eleven, Kim Mitchell, Sass Jordan, Tom Cochrane, Trooper, Burton Cummings, and David Wilcox. The 2014 lineup featured Great Big Sea's Alan Doyle, Glass Tiger and 54-40 as headliners. This edition was the first to offer a full day of free entertainment, with Glass Tiger headlining. It was attended by over 9,000 people.
2014 was the final year for the Lift-Off festival, as debt from a weather-plagued 2013 event and failure to obtain sponsors forced the cancellation of Lift-Off 2015 and resulted in a decision to discontinue the festival.
Ribfest
Cornwall Ribfest is an annual festival held by the Stormont Community Optimist Club. It was originally sponsored by the Cornwall Seaway Lions Club. Taking place over four days in late July, Ribfest attracts many for barbecue, beer tent, free live music and midway rides. The 2014 edition of the festival attracted 57,000–60,000 attendees, a number greater than the population of the city. In 2024 the Crash Test Dummies headlined the festival attracting visitors from across the province and upwards of 80,000 people over the weekend.
Cadet program
Cornwall is home to all three elements of the Canadian Cadet Organization: 325 Cornwall Kiwanis Royal Canadian Air Cadets, 110 Stormont Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, and 2403 SD&G Royal Canadian Army Cadets Corps. The cadet program is designed for youth aged 12 to 18 and aims to develop leadership, citizenship, and self-confidence through various activities. The Canadian Cadet Organization operates as a youth group through a partnership between the Canadian Department of National Defence and the respective Elemental Leagues. The program focuses on enhancing youth development in areas such as leadership, citizenship, and physical fitness. The 325 Cornwall Kiwanis Squadron is one of the most active cadet units in the Eastern Ontario Region, offering a diverse range of activities including band, canoeing, marksmanship, flying, camping, and various day trips. which folded during the 2017–18 season.
Soccer
Cornwall has three soccer areas, the Kinsmen Junior Soccer Field at Second Street West and Haulage Road; The Benson Centre (for indoor soccer); and Optimist Park on Sunnyside Street and St. Michel Drive.
Rugby
Cornwall has competitive men's and women's rugby clubs. After many years without rugby in the community, it saw a resurrection in 2006. Both teams compete in the Eastern Ontario Rugby Union, which is located in Ottawa. The home of the Cornwall Crusaders Rugby Football Club is Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School. The men's and women's teams practice Tuesdays and Thursdays from April until the end of August. The men's team won the Eastern Ontario Men's Division 1 Championship in 2009 and 2010 against the Napanee Outlaws and the Gatineau Mirage, respectively.
The sport of rugby continues to grow in the community. Many high schools throughout Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry have junior and senior boys' teams as well as varsity girls' teams. These high school teams serve as feeders to the Cornwall Crusaders. Many of the players who play for the Crusaders come from high schools in the S.D.& G. area.
Roller derby
The Seaway Roller Derby Girls Association is the first roller derby flat track roller derby league in Cornwall and SD&G Counties, established in 2011. The Power Dames is the first official team.
Girls' basketball
The United Counties girls' basketball team won provincial and international basketball tournaments in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In addition, the city offered girls' and women's basketball from age eight to college graduates. The San Lawrence College women's team also won a college tournament. The teams were coached by Adelore Bergeon and Alan Haskvitz.
Transportation
thumb|left|200px|The north span of the [[Three Nations Crossing seen from Cornwall's west end. This bridge was torn down as it has been replaced by a much shorter low-level bridge to Cornwall Island.]]
Rail
The Grand Trunk Railway (CN Rail) built an east-west line through Cornwall in 1856, and its original station dated to that year. 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. During its time, the street railway was significant in the city's social and industrial development. Ultimately, its passenger tram service, after conversion to trolleybus, became the present-day Cornwall Transit, which provides municipal diesel bus service to this day.
Public transit
With a fleet of 24 buses, Cornwall Transit operates six days a week (excluding Sundays and holidays) on fixed routes and supplementary rush-hour routes. In addition, there is an on-demand "Handi-Transit" service for the disabled. Cornwall Transit also contracts taxi service at a flat rate for Handi-Transit registrants who are ambulatory. The City-operated transit system transports approximately 860,000 passengers every year.
Air
Cornwall is served by the Cornwall Regional Airport, which is located east of the city near Summerstown. It is open year-round and licensed for day and night VFR IFR operations. The facilities include a runway, a terminal, hangar, and the Canada Border Services Agency (on request). Domestic and international charter flying service from the airport is offered by Cornwall Aviation.
Massena International Airport in New York is 20 minutes by car from Cornwall.
Sea
The City of Cornwall is on the St. Lawrence Seaway just east of the Eisenhower and Snell Locks. The Cornwall Harbour and Government Wharf are located on the north bank of the St. Lawrence River in the city's east end.
Education
Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School became a grade 7–12 school after amalgamating with General Vanier Intermediate School for the 2011–12 school year. The school celebrated its bicentennial in 2006 and is one of the oldest schools in Canada. CCVS offers a complete French immersion program in grades 7–12.
St. Joseph's Secondary School is a part of the Catholic District Board and offers French immersion education. The newest high school in Cornwall is Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School for grades 7 to 12, opened in response to overpopulation at St. Joseph's. Both schools offer French immersion education.
Cornwall also has two French high schools: l'École secondaire publique l'Héritage, and l'École secondaire catholique La Citadelle. La Citadelle is part of the Roman Catholic separate, French language school board for the Southeastern region of Ontario (CSDCEO). It is home to students from grade 7 to 12. École secondaire publique l'Héritage is part of the public school board responsible for education in the French language in Eastern Ontario (CEPEO) and is home to grade 7 through 12 students.
St. Lawrence Secondary School hosts students in grades 7–12. It was originally St. Lawrence High School, located where La Citadelle is now. Around 2003, it was turned into a school for grades 7–10. It has transitioned back into a high school for grades 7–12. 2012 was to be the first year since 2003 that grade 12s would graduate from the school.
The Statistics Canada 2016 census education profile indicates that 40% of Cornwall's population has a post-secondary certificate, diploma, or degree.
A campus of St. Lawrence College is situated in Cornwall. The St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences is located on the college campus and, among other academic and vocational offerings, provides an Environmental Technician program. The St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences is a research centre that carries out ecotoxicological studies on large river systems and, in particular, on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River ecosystem.
Al-Rashid Islamic Institute is the first Islamic school of any kind in North America, providing higher education in Islamic studies with a boarding facility.
The Seaway Valley Meat Cutting Institute is located in Cornwall and offers apprenticeship programs.
Cornwall is home to the Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Control Operations (CFSACO). CFSACO offers a range of basic and specialty courses and conversion training to Canadian Forces personnel. Military members are trained to become either Air Traffic Controller/Operators or Air Weapons Controller/Operators.
Nav Canada, Canada's air navigation service provider, formerly conducted training for domestic Air Traffic Controllers in Cornwall at the Nav Canada Training Institute and Conference Centre. The facility was purchased in March 2022 by the Devcore Group and rebranded as the DEV Hotel and Conference Centre. Nav Canada leases a portion of the property and continues operations on the site, hosting training for technical operations and leadership.
Media
Radio
{|class="wikitable sortable" width="100%"
!Frequency
!Call sign
!Branding
!Format
!Owner
!Notes
|-
|FM 88.1
|CHRI-FM-1
|
|Christian
|Christian Hit Radio Inc.
|Rebroadcaster of CHRI-FM Ottawa
|-
|FM 92.1
|CHOD-FM
|92.1 GO FM
|Franco-Ontarian community
|La Radio communautaire Cornwall-Alexandria
|
|-
|FM 95.5
|CBOC-FM
|CBC Radio One
|Talk radio, public radio
|Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
|Rebroadcaster of CBO-FM Ottawa
|-
|FM 97.3
|CKON-FM
|
|First Nations community (from Akwesasne)
|
|-
|FM 98.1
|CBOF-FM-6
|Ici Radio-Canada Première
||news/talk
|Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
|French Rebroadcaster of CBOF-FM Ottawa
|-
|FM 101.9
|CJSS-FM
|Boom 101.9
|Classic hits
|Corus Entertainment
|
|-
|FM 104.5
|CFLG-FM
|Fresh Radio
|Hot adult contemporary
|Corus Entertainment
|
|}
Some radio stations from other nearby areas, including Ottawa, Montreal and New York's North Country, are also available.
Defunct
- AM 1220 CJUL - Left the air in 2010
- FM 107.7 CIRG-FM tourist information
Television
- Channel 8: CTV CJOH-TV-8 (repeater of CJOH-DT Ottawa; formerly CJSS-TV)
- YourTV
- Cornwall Standard-Freeholder is the city's main daily newspaper and is published by Sun Media, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
- Seaway News is a weekly newspaper owned by TC Media and includes pages from the French-language L'Express.
- The Cornwall Seeker is a locally owned monthly newsmagazine distributed for free in stores and in print. Founded in 2010, it focuses on arts, culture, and events.
- The French-language newspaper "On a le choix" is a digital media outlet offering both print and audiovisual content. Since 2024, it has been the only local French-language news source in the region and publishes weekly news.
Internet
- Cornwall Free News
Notable people
Some of the more famous people to hail from the Cornwall area include:
- Barstool Prophets, three of the four members (Glenn Forrester, Graham Greer, and Bobby Tamas) of the Canadian rock band hailed from Cornwall, where the band had its start
- Darby Bergin, 1st Canadian Surgeon General
- Malcolm Burn, musician and record producer
- Roger Caron, bank robber, author, and recipient of the 1978 Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction for the book Go-Boy!
- Doug Carpenter, former NHL coach
- Solomon Yeomans Chesley, War of 1812 veteran; official with the Indian Department; Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada; Mayor of Cornwall (1860–1861)
- Alain Chevrier, former NHL goaltender
- Lionel Chevrier, former Member of Parliament, son of former mayor Joseph Chevrier
- Donald Alexander Cochrane, composer
- Corbett Denneny, former NHL player
- Cy Denneny, brother of Corbett, former NHL player, in the Hockey Hall of Fame
- Lori Dupuis, Olympic gold and silver medalist in women's ice hockey
- Jacob Gallinger, United States politician
- Peter Gatien, New York nightlife impresario
- Lennie Goodings, Publisher, editor, author
- Ryan Gosling, actor
- Derek Grant, ice hockey player
- Christina Julien, current member of the Canadian national women's soccer team
- Chad Kilger, former NHL player
- Bob Kilger, former NHL referee, former mayor, former Member of Parliament, father of Chad Kilger
- Ed "Newsy" Lalonde, captained the Montreal Canadiens in the 1910s and helped the team win its first Stanley Cup in 1916
- Ed Lumley, former mayor, former Member of Parliament, Member of the Order of Canada
- Donald Alexander Macdonald, soldier
- John Sandfield Macdonald, prominent lawyer and the first Premier of Ontario
- Maggie MacDonald, playwright and musician
- Don McKay, Governor General's Award-winning poet and essayist
- Duncan McNaughton, gold medalist in the 1932 Olympics in the high jump
- Ray Miron, hockey player, coach, and executive, inducted into Cornwall Sports Hall of Fame
- Andre Payette, former AHL player
- Scott Pearson, former NHL player, drafted 6th overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1988
- George Beverly Shea, noted gospel singer associated with Billy Graham crusades
- John Strachan, 19th-century Anglican priest and influential Bishop of Toronto
- Orval Tessier, former NHL player, coach of the Chicago Blackhawks and scout
- Colonel The Hon. Philip VanKoughnet, M.P., former landowner of Cornwall
- John Wensink, former NHL player
- Jesse Winchester, former NHL player
Twin towns – sister cities
Cornwall is twinned with:
- Coventry, United Kingdom
See also
- List of francophone communities in Ontario
- Royal eponyms in Canada