Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario sides of the river. Sault Ste. Marie is one of the oldest French settlements in North America. It was at the crossroads of the 3,000-mile fur trade route, which stretched from Montreal to Sault Ste. Marie and to the North country above Lake Superior. A cosmopolitan, mixed population of Europeans, First Nations peoples, and Métis lived at the village spanning the river. The city name originates from "Saults de Sainte-Marie", archaic French for "Saint Mary's Falls", a reference to the rapids of Saint Marys River. Etymologically, the word "sault" comes from an archaic spelling of "saut" (from "sauter"), which translates
Sault Ste. Marie Airport not affiliated with a municipality, since the city of Sault Ste. Marie declined to assume control. In 2002, the SSMADC opened "Runway Park", an entertainment and recreation area, on unused airport property to help generate revenue to support the airport's operation. The Sault Ste. Marie airport has equipment to support instrument approaches for all-weather operation, and a Nav Canada control tower. Air Canada Express operated by Jazz Air flies to Toronto Pearson International Airport six times daily using Bombardier Dash 8-100 aircraft. Porter Airlines operates four daily roundtrip flights to Toronto Billy Bishop airport during weekdays and two daily flights