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Location

The City of Barrie is nestled on the western shore of Lake Simcoe, just southeast of Georgian Bay and the Great Lakes. The city sits on Highway 400 connecting Toronto and Southern Ontario to Ontario's cottage country, and the Trans-Canada Highway to Western Canada. The city is at 44 deg. 24 min. North latitude; and 79 deg. 40 min. West longitude, and lies 228 metres above sea level. We are in Eastern standard time, The same as Toronto and New York, and 6 hours earlier than western Europe.

Name

Barrie derived its name after Commodore (and later, Sir) Robert Barrie, Head of the British Fleet and commissioner of the dockyards at Kingston in from 1819 - 1932. His wife wished to settle in the area, but he had other plans and returned to England in 1834.

Population

The population of Barrie is 125,000. The Simcoe Region is expected to grow to 250,000 by 2030.

Ontario is the most populous of Canada's provinces, and was one of the original provinces in Canada's Confederation in 1867. Ontario has 11 million residents in its 1,100,000 square kilometres (413,000 sq miles). Barrie is about 100km (60miles) north of the province's capital city, Toronto.

Industries

The major industry in Barrie reflects its location, light manufacturing in support of the huge Toronto marketplace and tourism close behind.

Weather

The area sits around 45 degrees, midway between the North Pole and the Equator. The region's proximity to Lake Huron and Georgian Bay has a moderating effect on the climate in the area. The area is the convergence of two weather patterns, one from the southwest brining warm humid air (all the way from the Gulf of Mexico, actually) and from the northwest brings drier Artic air. In the summer the area is drier and sunnier, and in the winter colder, cloudier and snowier. The stabilizing effect of the Great Lakes means that Falls stay frost-free longer and the Spring comes later

Average daily temperatures are:

Tipping

Some hotels include tips or gratuities with group programs to simplify bookkeeping. This will usually include gratuities for housekeeping, bell service and food service. In a hotel, bell service should be tipped about $1 per bag, and housekeeping $1 to $5 dollars a day (in proportion to your room rate). Visitors should know that the standard tip in restaurants is 10%-15% (on restaurant bills, an average tip will be 50% higher the GST & tax), with 20% (about double the GST & tax) for very outstanding service. This is especially important for visitors from countries where tipping on meals is not done: here the waitering staff depend on tips for a significant portion of their incomes. Tip taxis about 10%, and a dollar a bag they carry for you (not just unload), or at the very least round fares up to the nearest dollar.

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