Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario cascades of the St. Mary's River descend more than from the level of Lake Superior to the level of the lower lakes. Hundreds of years ago, this slowed shipping traffic, requiring an overland portage of boats and cargo from one lake to the other. The entire name translates to "Saint Mary's Rapids" or "Saint Mary's Falls". The word "sault" is pronounced in French, and in the English pronunciation of the city name. Residents of the city are called "Saultites". Sault Ste. Marie is bordered to the east by the Rankin and Garden River First Nation reserves, and to the west
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