Sault Ste. Marie (nicknamed “the Sault” or “the Soo”) is a city on the St. Marys River in Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948.[1] The name, where Sault is pronounced like sue. Residents of the city are called Saultites.

Sault Ste. Marie is bordered to the east by the Rankin Location and Garden River First Nation reserves, and to the west by Prince Township. To the north, the city is bordered by an unincorporated portion of the Algoma District, with Heyden as the nearest community. To the south, across the river, is the United States and the city of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The city’s census agglomeration, consisting of the townships of Laird, Prince and Macdonald, Meredith and Aberdeen Additional and the First Nations reserves of Garden River and Rankin, had a total population of 80,098 in 2006.

The two cities are joined by the International Bridge, which connects Interstate 75 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Huron Street in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Shipping traffic in the Great Lakes system bypasses the Saint Mary’s Rapids via the American Soo Locks, the world’s busiest canal in terms of tonnage that passes through it, while smaller recreational and tour boats use the Canadian Sault Ste. Marie Canal.

The city’s crest contains the words “Ojibwa Kitche Gumeeng Odena” (from Ojibwe gichi-gamiing oodena) which means “Town by the large body of water of the Ojibwe” (or simply “Town by Lake Superior”) in the Ojibwe language.

The Ontario city is also served by the Sault Ste. Marie federal electoral district and the Sault Ste. Marie provincial electoral district, both having separate boundaries.

Sault Ste. Marie is the seat of the Algoma District.