London

London exists because John Graves Simcoe wanted it to be the capital of Upper Canada. In 1793, the Lieutenant-Governor named the site and its river after the English originals, envisioning a future capital at the forks of the Thames. The capital went to York instead, but Colonel Thomas Talbot built the settlement anyway, enticing 50,000 settlers to the Thames River area by 1826. The London Township Treaty of 1796 with the Chippewa had ceded the land; the town was founded in 1826 and incorporated in 1855.

Three events shaped London's development: the courts and administration arrived in 1826, the military garrison in 1838, and the railway in 1853. The city became an insurance center—London Life was founded in 1874 when the town had just 20,000 people. For over a century, the London Life tower defined the skyline. In 2020, the company merged into Canada Life, erasing the local name from a company that had operated for 146 years.

Western University, founded in 1878, provides the city's other economic anchor. The university ranks in the top 1% globally for research funding, attracting nearly $300 million annually. Former faculty member Peter Howitt won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on 'creative destruction.' The Advanced Manufacturing Park—a partnership between Western, Fanshawe College, and the city—hosts 3M Canada, McCormick, Trojan Technologies, and Diamond Aircraft. The 401 corridor puts 150 million consumers within a day's drive; $1.5 billion in trade passes through daily.

By 2026, London faces the mid-sized city's classic dilemma: large enough to have real economic infrastructure, small enough that Toronto's gravity constantly pulls talent away. The city that Simcoe imagined as a capital became something else—a regional center anchored by insurance, manufacturing, and a research university.