Regional Municipality of Halton

File:Niagara-Escarpment-Rattlesnake.jpg

Rattlesnake Point, near Milton, Ontario.

The Regional Municipality of Halton, or Halton Region, is a regional municipality in Ontario, Canada, located in the Golden Horseshoe of Southern Ontario. It comprises the city of Burlington and the towns of Oakville, Milton, and Halton Hills. Policing in the Region is provided by the Halton Regional Police Service. The regional council's headquarters are located in Oakville. Burlington, Oakville, and Milton are largely urban and suburban, while Halton Hills is more rural.

Halton is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), although it is the only regional municipality in the GTA that is not situated directly adjacent to Toronto’s city proper. However, the region is split between the census metropolitan areas (CMAs) of Toronto and Hamilton. Burlington is part of the Hamilton CMA, while the rest of the region is part of the Toronto CMA.

Halton 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. Halton has been ranked by Maclean's national crime ranking report as being the "safest place to live" in the GTA and one of the top five in Canada.

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.

Until the 2000 municipal elections, the chairperson 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 chairperson, and was elected and reelected until her retirement from the position in 2006. The current regional chairperson is Gary Carr.

Regional council

The council consists of the elected chairperson, 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:

Municipality	Chairperson	Mayor	Regional councillors
City of Burlington	Gary Carr	Marianne Meed Ward	Kelvin Galbraith Lisa Kearns Rory Nisan Shawna Stolte Paul Sharman Angelo Bentivegna
Town of Oakville		Rob Burton	Sean O'Meara Cathy Duddeck Dave Gittings Allan Elgar Jeff Knoll Tom Adams Pavan Parmar
Town of Milton		Gordon Krantz	Colin Best Rick Malboeuf Mike Cluett Zeeshan Hamid
Town of Halton Hills		Ann Lawlor	Jane Fogal Clark Somerville

Regional services

Halton Region provides the following services to its communities:

• Economic development
• Emergency planning
• Regional planning and growth management
• Recycling and waste
• Regional roads
• Sewage (wastewater) collection systems and treatment plants
• Water purification plants and distribution systems
• Housing supports and services
• Children and parenting
• Employment and financial assistance
• Ontario Works (social services)
• Services for seniors
• Paramedic services
• Public health
• Immunizations and preventable diseases
• Food safety
• Halton Regional Police Service

In 2018, the Region had 27 emergency vehicles and 254 paramedics; the latter answered 53,094 paramedic calls. The Police service had 721 police officers; its 911 call centre received 121,971 reports of emergency.

Geography

File:Halton RegionalStructure.jpg

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 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 unusual, 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

GEORGETOWN WWTP
Climate chart (explanation)
Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header     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)
Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header     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)
Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header Template:Climate chart/month header     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

Demographics

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Regional Municipality of Halton had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of Template:Pop density in 2021. The unemployment rate was 5.3% during the year. The average household income was very high, at $121,000. Template:Canada census

Panethnic groups in the Regional Municipality of Halton (2001−2021)

Panethnic group	2021		2016		2011		2006		2001
	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%	Pop.	%
EuropeanTemplate:Efn	374,375		396,525		401,580		375,400		338,060
South Asian	81,245		50,075		31,860		18,570		10,115
East AsianTemplate:Efn	39,330		26,545		16,295		12,400		7,430
Middle EasternTemplate:Efn	27,785		16,695		8,390		5,010		2,640
Black	20,430		15,230		10,970		8,100		5,660
Southeast AsianTemplate:Efn	17,295		14,040		10,855		6,300		3,145
Latin American	11,495		8,945		6,315		3,760		1,550
Indigenous	5,890		5,455		4,010		2,640		1,800
OtherTemplate:Efn	11,940		7,470		5,175		3,210		2,010
Total responses	589,770		540,975		495,440		435,400		372,410
Total population	596,637		548,435		501,674		439,256		375,229
Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses

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	169	209	70	21	469	Decrease15.6%	206	260	79	21	566	Decrease8.5%	619
Total area of farms (in hectares)	15,436	11,289	3,259	2,216	32,200	Decrease10.5%	16,747	12,592	4,306	2,331	35,976	Decrease10.0%	39,966
Area of land in crops	12,507	8,288	2,106	2,057	24,958	Decrease8.6%	13,353	8,741	3,084	2,133	27,311	Decrease10.4%	30,469
Gross farm receipts ($ millions)	39.99	57.36	23.24	3.35	123.94	Decrease6.1%	57.75	40.52	30.61	3.16	132.04	Decrease6.7%	141.47
Total cattle and calves	2,672	1,854	x	x	4,907	Decrease52.0%	3,571	2,725	3,919	0	10,215	Decrease11.8%	11,581
Total pigs	x	x	x	x	x	N/A	x	x	x	x	3,508	Decrease43.9%	6,254

x = suppressed for reasons of confidentiality

Halton's agricultural sector is supported by regional infrastructure such as the Port of Hamilton which is a growing agri-food hub for the import of agricultural inputs and the export of local crops.

2018 economic report

The 2018 budget document contains additional specifics and updates as to the Region's finances. In that year, gross revenues were $1.2 billion while operating expenses totaled $821.5 million for a net revenue of $350.2 million, an increase of 1.2% over the previous year. The increase was mostly due to increases in grants and taxes. The Region included over 13,200 companies and employed over 229,000 persons. The credit rating of AAA was confirmed by S&P Global Ratings and Moody's Investors Service.

See also

• List of municipalities in Ontario
• Halton Region Conservation Authority
• Halton District School Board
• Halton Catholic District School Board
• List of numbered roads in Halton Region
• Template:Section link
• Proposal for the Province of Toronto