Yes it was local, there was/is no ch 16 in Toronto. I think this forum map still shows all old analog local transmitters in Barrie. In London , people movilized when they heard they were going to loose both CBC English and French (probably at the SMPTE meeting in Toronto at the beggining of the year) therefore there were concullor meetings and even the major got involved , as a result the CBC was granted an extension for 1 year to continue its analog service until they build a digital facility for London. Unfortunaelly in yopur case the TX is already shut down and probably they started to disassemble , who knows, but this is not Cuba , so make noise.

Both TV still can be used but you will need a converter box for each (around 50 cad at local electronic/satellite stores, even Future shop and The Source carries one model)

Ch 5 Tx was located at CN Tower as it is our local CBC, called CBLT, but being low VHF analog it travels way farther than UHF signals so its easier to get in Barrie than the new digital UHF ch 20 (remapped as 5.1 on digital tuners). Being in the north end of Barrie does not help either , and being is a low area with trees makes it worst. www.tvfool.org gives you good info on type of antenna needed and which channels to expect,you can even use a canadian postal code.

But in any case it is unacceptable that big cities like Barrie are almost left in the dark , almost because still it might work in some areas with the proper outdoor antenna.