Kitchener, city in Waterloo Regional Municipality, southern Ontario, Canada, in the Grand River valley. Kitchener and nearby Waterloo are twin cities, but each city has its own government. Kitchener is a commercial, manufacturing, financial, and distribution center. Major products include automobile parts, packaged meats, textiles, furniture, electrical equipment, and metal, leather, and rubber goods. Insurance companies play an important role in the city's economy. Kitchener is also part of Canada's so-called technology triangle, an economic region made up of the cities of Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener, and Waterloo. A community college is located in Kitchener. Tourist attractions include Doon Heritage Crossroads, a 1914 museum village; Centre in the Square, home to the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery; and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. The area also has Woodside National Historic Park, which contains the boyhood home of former Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King; and Victoria Park, which features a restored clock tower. Kitchener's new City Hall opened in 1993 and includes an art gallery, a reflecting pool, and a studio for the city's summer artist-in-residence. Kitchener is also home to the Kitchener Rangers hockey team that plays in the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. Annual events include Oktoberfest.
The area was settled in the early 19th century by people of German background, many of whom were Mennonite farmers from Pennsylvania. The community was known as Berlin. It incorporated as a city in 1912. In 1916 the city was renamed for British field marshal Lord Kitchener. Kitchener's population grew after World War II (1939-1945).
