Peterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in Central Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres (78 mi) northeast of Toronto. It is considered the hub of the Kawarthas, as well as being the region's major business, education, cultural, and health care centre.
Peterborough's nickname is "The Electric City" as it was the first town in Canada to use electric streetlights. It also underscores the historical and present-day importance of technology and manufacturing as an economic base of the city, which has operations from large multi-national companies such as Siemens, Rolls Royce, and General Electric, and more local technology businesses such as Fisher Gauge and Bryston. Electricity was one of the reasons Quaker Oats moved to the city, and as part of PepsiCo, remains a major fixture in the downtown area to this day.