Our Diocese

Diocesan Map

The Diocese of Thunder Bay is located in Northwestern Ontario. It stretches from Manitouwadge in the east to Kenora in the west, is bordered by Lake Superior and the U.S. border on the south and goes as far north as Red Lake and Balmertown.

If you would like to know more about the Parishes feel free to visit the Parish Directory.

Region and Statistics

Region and Statistics

The Diocese is 222,000 square kms in area. It consists of 71,700 Catholics, 26 active diocesan priests, 5 retired diocesan priests, 6 religious priests, 5 religious sisters, 36 permanent deacons, 42 parishes, 8 missions and 51 Catholic schools, including three high schools. In other words, it is a very large land area with a relatively small number of people. The city of Thunder Bay is the largest urban area in the Diocese, home to about 113,000 people. About one third of the Diocese's parishes are in the city.

Fred Joseph Colli became Bishop February 2nd, 1999 as named by Pope John Paul II.

The Bishops office oversees all day to day operations of the Diocese, the Pastoral Centre and local Catholic parishes. Feel free to read more about Bishop Colli.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Thunder Bay was created by the Vatican in 1952. Carved out of the eastern portion of the Archdiocese of St. Boniface and the western extremities of the Sault Ste. Marie Diocese it covers a vast geographic area of 220,000 square km in Northwestern Ontario and today serves approximately 78,000 Roman Catholics.

The Pastoral Centre provides resources to individuals and parishes. The Pastoral Centre is also where the Bishop and his staff oversee Diocesen operations. The Pastoral Centre page has more detailed information about the various departments.