Regional Municipality of Halton

Regional Municipality of Halton
—  Regional Municipality  —
Coat of arms Logo
Motto: Absque labore nihil (Latin for: Nothing without effort)
Halton Region's location within Ontario.
Coordinates: 43°28′N 79°52′W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Established (County)	1854
Established (Regional Municipality)	1974
Government
• Regional Chair	Gary Carr
Area
• Land	964.01 km2 (372.21 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	501,669
• Density	520.4/km2 (1,348/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Website	www.halton.ca

Rattlesnake Point, near Milton, Ontario.

The Regional Municipality of Halton, or Halton Region, is a regional municipality of Ontario, Canada, located in Southern Ontario in the southwest part of the Greater Toronto Area ("GTA"). It comprises the city of Burlington and the towns of Oakville, Milton, and Halton Hills and is policed by the Halton Regional Police Service. The regional council's headquarters are located in Oakville.

The Town of Oakville and the City of Burlington are largely urban, while the Towns of Milton and Halton Hills to the north are significantly more rural. Together with urbanization in the neighbouring Regional Municipality of Peel, the urban area of the GTA is contiguous all the way from the City of Hamilton to the City of Toronto, as is visible on satellite images of the GTA and the Golden Horseshoe.

Halton has been ranked by Maclean's national crime ranking report as being the "safest place to live" in the Greater Toronto Area, and one of the top 5 in Canada.

Halton Region experienced a growth rate of 17.1% between 2001 and 2006, and 14.2% between 2006 and 2011, giving it one of the highest growth rates in the country. Despite the unprecedented growth in residential development, agriculture and protected lands along the Niagara Escarpment are still the predominant land uses in the Region.

History

The Regional Municipality of Halton was established on 1 January 1974 as the successor to the former Halton County by the Regional Municipality of Halton Act, 1973. From 1 January 2003, it has been governed by the Municipal Act, 2001.

Until the 2000 municipal elections, the Chairman of the Regional Council had been appointed by the Ontario government. From that date, it has been an elective position. Joyce Savoline was the last appointed Chairman, and was elected and reelected as Chairman until her retirement from the position in 2006. The current Regional Chairman is Gary Carr.

Regional Council

The Council consists of the elected Chairman, the mayors of the local municipalities, and regional councillors elected by wards from the local municipalities (who also sit on their respective municipal councils).

The current membership of the council is as follows:

Chairman	Municipality	Mayor	Regional Councillors
Gary Carr	Burlington	Rick Goldring	Rick Craven Jack Dennison Blair Lancaster Paul Sharman John Taylor Marianne Meed Ward
	Oakville	Rob Burton	Tom Adams Keith Bird Cathy Duddeck Allan Elgar Alan Johnston Jeff Knoll
	Milton	Gordon Krantz	Colin Best Tony Lambert
	Halton Hills	Rick Bonnette	Jane Fogal Clark Somerville

Demographics

Visible Minorities and Aboriginals

Group	2011 Census		2006 Census		2001 Census		1996 Census
	Population	% of total	Population	% of Total	Population	% of Total	Population	% of Total
Aboriginal			2,640	0.6	1,800	0.5	1,325	0.4
Visible Minority			57,360	13.2	32,550	8.7	22,660	6.7
All other			375,395	86.2	338,060	90.8	313,455	92.9
Total	501,669	100.0	435,395	100.0	372,410	100.0	337,440	100.0

Population by mother tongue

Group	2011 Census		2006 Census		2001 Census		1996 Census
	Population	% of total	Population	% of Total	Population	% of Total	Population	% of Total
English			341,675	78.5	306,980	82.4	281,090	83.3
French			8,105	1.8	6,900	1.9	6,250	1.9
English and French			720	0.2	820	0.2	720	0.2
All other			84,900	19.5	57,705	15.5	49,380	14.6
Total			435,395	100.0	372,410	100.0	337,440	100.0

Mobility over previous five years

Group	2011 Census		2006 Census		2001 Census		1996 Census
	Population	% of total	Population	% of Total	Population	% of Total	Population	% of Total
At the same address			228,860	56.2	198,690	56.8	184,295	58.7
In the same municipality			71,335	17.5	130,000	37.2	58,560	18.7
In the same province			85,130	20.9			55,380	17.7
From another province			6,720	1.6	1,920	4.3	8,270	2.6
From another country			15,360	3.8			7,235	2.3
Total aged 5 or over			407,405	100.0	349,670	100.0	313,745	100.0

Economy

Labour force

Employment activity

	2011	2006	2001	1996
Participation rate		71.9%	72.1%	76.8%
Employment rate		68.5%	69.3%	72.8%
Unemployment rate		4.7%	4.0%	5.1%

Employment by industry

	2011	2006	2001	1996
Agriculture and resources		4,180	3,935	2,870
Construction		12,060	41,540	8,085
Manufacturing		31,635		33,235
Wholesale trade		18,915	38,440	14,760
Retail trade		27,245		22,175
Financial and real estate		23,030	19,550	16,150
Health care and social services		19,535	29,935	15,870
Educational services		17,060		13,250
Business services		53,975	45,120	31,045
Other services		39,565	32,935	31,490
Total		247,200	211,455	188,930

Agriculture

Trend per Census of Agriculture

Type	2011						2006						2001
	Halton Hills	Milton	Burlington	Oakville	Total	% change	Halton Hills	Milton	Burlington	Oakville	Total	% change	Total
Number of farms							206	260	79	21	566	8.5%	619
Total area of farms (in hectares)							16,747	12,592	4,306	2,331	35,976	10.0%	39,966
Area of land in crops							13,353	8,741	3,084	2,133	27,311	10.4%	30,469
Gross farm receipts ($ millions)							57.75	40.52	30.61	3.16	132.04	6.7%	141.47
Total cattle and calves							3,571	2,725	3,919	0	10,215	11.8%	11,581
Total pigs							x	x	x	x	3,508	43.9%	6,254

x = suppressed for reasons of confidentiality

Geography

Identification of urban and rural features of the Region.

While the urban areas of Burlington, Oakville and Milton are experiencing rapid growth, there is still a significant proportion of the Region the Region that is still rural, most of which is protected as part of the provincial Greenbelt or as part of the Niagara Escarpment Plan.

Halton is somewhat unique, in that it has three distinct climate zones within its relatively small area, which are as follows:

• Zone 5a - Halton Hills lying to the north of the Niagara Escarpment, together with the Town of Milton within the Grand River watershed
• Zone 5b - the remainder of Halton Hills, Milton north of Derry Road, and that part of Burlington lying north of the Niagara Escarpment
• Zone 6a - the southern remainder of the Region

Climate charts

GEORGETOWN WWTP
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     67   −2 −11     59   −1 −10     66   5 −7     75   12 0     75   19 5     80   24 10     75   27 13     85   26 12     84   21 8     67   14 2     79   7 −2     73   1 −8 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source:
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.6   28 12     2.3   31 13     2.6   40 20     3   53 32     2.9   67 42     3.2   75 50     2.9   80 55     3.3   78 54     3.3   70 46     2.6   57 36     3.1   44 28     2.9   33 19 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

BURLINGTON TS
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     67   −1 −9     57   0 −8     70   5 −3     73   12 2     80   19 8     71   25 14     72   28 17     77   27 16     89   22 12     74   15 6     78   8 1     72   2 −5 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source:
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.6   30 17     2.2   32 18     2.7   41 26     2.9   54 36     3.2   67 47     2.8   77 56     2.8   82 62     3   80 61     3.5   71 53     2.9   59 42     3.1   46 33     2.8   36 24 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

OAKVILLE SE WPCP
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     59   −1 −9     44   0 −9     62   5 −4     68   11 1     70   18 7     71   23 12     73   26 15     78   25 15     79   21 10     69   14 5     72   8 0     65   2 −6 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm Source:
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     2.3   31 15     1.7   32 16     2.4   40 24     2.7   52 34     2.8   64 44     2.8   73 54     2.9   79 60     3.1   77 59     3.1   69 50     2.7   57 40     2.8   46 32     2.5   36 21 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

See also

• Halton Region Conservation Authority
• Halton District School Board
• Halton Catholic District School Board
• List of numbered roads in Halton Region

External links

• The Regional Municipality of Halton