Labrador City

Labrador City, NL, incorporated as a town in 1961, population 7367 (2011c), 7240 (2006c). The Town of Labrador City is located in western Labrador near the Québec border. Lying at the base of the Wapussakatoo Mountains, Labrador City is adjacent to one of the richest iron-ore formations in Canada. The ore was discovered in 1892, and the mineral rights were acquired in 1936 by the Iron Ore Co of Canada (IOC). In 1958 formal mining operations began at Carol and Smallwood Mines, and by 1959 construction of a planned townsite had begun by the shore of Carol Lk. In 1960 a railway linked Carol Lk to Québec. When incorporated in 1961, Carol Lk was renamed Labrador City.

By 1968 the town, with a population of nearly 8500, was the largest in Labrador. Constructed by IOC, by 1960 it had an airstrip, a hospital and numerous churches and schools. Because Labrador City's economic fortunes are tied to those of world markets for iron ore, employment has fluctuated accordingly.