Dr. Joanna Walsh
Program Director
Cheryl Campbell
London is a pleasant city of approximately 400,000 people, situated in Southwestern Ontario, midway between Toronto and Windsor/Detroit. It is dubbed “The Forest City” due to its abundance of trees and parks, with numerous walking, running and biking trails. It offers many of the amenities of a larger city but remains more affordable and more easily “commutable”, with lower traffic density. A significant proportion of London’s population works at Western University or in one of the several health care or research facilities. London is also home to several large corporations, and there are excellent restaurants, theatres and many community-oriented events, all of which enhance family life.
London is home to many festivals throughout the year, and the main sports-entertainment venue “Canada Life Place” hosts numerous concerts and other events. For big-city sports or entertainment, Toronto and Detroit are 2 hours away by car or train. The town of Stratford (home to the Stratford festival) is a 30-40 minute drive from London. For sports lovers, London has much to offer with sailing either on Fanshawe Lake (in the city) or on Lake Huron, cross country skiing on groomed trails in Fanshawe Park, downhill skiing at the London Ski Club, mountain biking, hiking, beach volleyball (in the city), cycling and rollerblading along the Thames River (20km of connected paved paths) and golfing, not to mention the usual complement of tennis and squash clubs, etc.