Johnson, Ontario

Johnson
Township (single-tier)
Township of Johnson
Municipal building in Desbarats
Johnson
Coordinates: 46°20′N83°56′W / 46.333°N 83.933°W / 46.333; -83.933
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Algoma
Incorporated	1889
Government
• Type	Township
• Mayor	Reginald McKinnon
•  MP	Terry Sheehan (Liberal)
•  MPP	Bill Rosenberg (PC)
Area [1]
• Land	119.47 km2 (46.13 sq mi)
Population  (2021) [1]
• Total	749
• Density	6.3/km2 (16/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Postal code	P0R 1E0
Area codes	705, 249
Website	www.johnsontownship.ca

Johnson is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within the Algoma District. The township had a population of 749 in the 2021 Canadian census, down from 751 in the 2016 census.

Communities

Desbarats

Desbarats, the main community in the township, is located on Highway 17, 54 kilometres (34 mi) east of Sault Ste. Marie.

Located in Desbarats is Central Algoma Secondary School, a high school of 250+ students which serves a catchment area extending from Echo Bay to Thessalon. In 2013 a grade 7 and 8 program was put into place in CASS.

Puddingstone Road in Johnson Township was named for a type of puddingstone locally known as Jasper conglomerate and often found in the area as well as at nearby St. Joseph Island. Puddingstone is a mixture of different sized grains and pebbles held together by finer sand. The type found in this area is St. Joseph Island Puddingstone, which contains red and brown pieces of jasper.

Since the early 2000s, about 20 Mennonite families from Southern Ontario moved to the Desbarats area. Along with other local farmers, they sell their produce at the Desbarats Farmers' Market on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Johnson had a population of 749 living in 272 of its 422 total private dwellings, a change of -0.3% from its 2016 population of 751. With a land area of 119.47 km² (46.13 sq mi), it had a population density of 6.3/km² (16.2/sq mi) in 2021. ^[1]

Canada census – Johnson community profile

	2021	2016	2011
Population	749 (-0.3% from 2016)	751 (0.1% from 2011)	750 (7.0% from 2006)
Land area	119.47 km2 (46.13 sq mi)	120.27 km2 (46.44 sq mi)	120.38 km2 (46.48 sq mi)
Population density	6.3/km2 (16/sq mi)	6.2/km2 (16/sq mi)	6.2/km2 (16/sq mi)
Median age	40.4 (M: 40.0, F: 40.8)	44.6 (M: 46.0, F: 43.6)
Private dwellings	422 (total)  272 (occupied)	521 (total)	408 (total)
Median household income	$68,500

References: 2021 ^[2] 2016 ^[3] 2011 ^[4]

Historical census populations – Johnson, Ontario
Year Pop. ±% 1901 656 —     1911 706 +7.6% 1921 752 +6.5% 1931 713 −5.2% 1941 669 −6.2% 1951 597 −10.8% 1956 595 −0.3%	Year Pop. ±% 1961 629 +5.7% 1966 586 −6.8% 1971 599 +2.2% 1976 675 +12.7% 1981 754 +11.7% 1986 708 −6.1% 1991 685 −3.2%	Year Pop. ±% 1996 729 +6.4% 2001 658 −9.7% 2006 701 +6.5% 2011 750 +7.0% 2016 751 +0.1% 2021 749 −0.3%
Source: Statistics Canada [1] [5] [6] [7]

Heritage attractions

Ripple Rock

Heritage features of significant natural, architectural, and archaeological interest within the municipality include: ^[8]

• Suddaby grist mill site
• Nanabozho‟s Butt: an odd shaped rock outcrop associated with Ojibwe folklore, west of Kensington Point
• Devil Island Manitou: significant to native culture, located on Devils Island in the St. Marys River
• Ripple Rocks: west of Desbarats on Highway 17, a unique rock cut that was uncovered with the blasting of the rock cuts through northern Ontario for the creation of the Trans-Canada Highway. The ripples in the rock were created two billion years ago by waves in a shallow body of water. It was buried and through pressure it became sandstone.
• The Desbarats caves

Transportation

Ontario Northland provides intercity motor coach service to the main community of Desbarats as a stop along its Sault Ste. Marie–Sudbury–North Bay–Ottawa route, with one bus a day each headed eastbound and westbound from Sunday to Friday, with no service on Saturdays.

See also

• List of townships in Ontario

References

1. "Johnson, Ontario (Code 3557016) Census Profile". 2021 census . Government of Canada - Statistics Canada . Retrieved 2025-12-22.
2. "2021 Community Profiles". 2021 Canadian census . Statistics Canada. February 4, 2022. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
3. "2016 Community Profiles". 2016 Canadian census . Statistics Canada. August 12, 2021. Retrieved 2016-06-04.
4. "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian census . Statistics Canada. March 21, 2019. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
5. "Johnson census profile". 2016 Census of Population . Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
6. Eighth Census of Canada 1941 - Volume II - Population by Local Subdivisions (Report). Dominion Bureau of Statistics. 1944. CS98-1941-2.
7. "1971 Census of Canada - Population Census Subdivisions (Historical)". Catalogue 92-702 Vol I, part 1 (Bulletin 1.1-2). Statistics Canada. July 1973.
8. Tunnock Consulting (6 November 2009). Township of Johnson Official Plan (PDF) (Report). Township of Johnson. Retrieved 22 December 2025.

External links

• Official website