Regional Municipality of Halton


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. The region provides policing by the Halton Regional Police Service. The regional council's headquarters are located in Oakville. Burlington and Oakville are largely urban and suburban, while the towns of Milton and Halton Hills are more rural.
Halton is part of the Greater Toronto Area, 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 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, 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.
By 2018, the region reported a population of over 580,000 residents and its population estimate for 2041 exceeded one million. The unemployment rate was 5.3% during the year. The average household income was very high, at $139,000.

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.
The current membership of the council is as follows:
ChairmanMunicipalityMayorRegional Councillors
Gary CarrCity of BurlingtonMarianne Meed WardKelvin Galbraith
Lisa Kearns
Rory Nisan
Shawna Stolte
Paul Sharman
Angelo Bentivegna
Gary CarrTown of OakvilleRob BurtonSean O'Meara
Cathy Duddeck
Dave Gittings
Allan Elgar
Jeff Knoll
Tom Adams
Pavan Parmar
Gary CarrTown of MiltonGordon KrantzColin Best
Rick Malboeuf
Mike Cluett
Zeeshan Hamid
Gary CarrTown of Halton HillsRick BonnetteJane 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 collection systems and treatment plants
  • Water purification plants and distribution systems
  • Housing supports and services
  • Children and parenting
  • Employment and financial assistance
  • Ontario Works
  • Services for seniors
  • Paramedic services
  • Public health
  • Immunizations and preventable diseases
  • Food safety
  • Police services
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.

Demographics

Group2011 Census2011 Census2006 Census2006 Census2001 Census2001 Census1996 Census1996 Census
GroupPopulation% of totalPopulation% of TotalPopulation% of TotalPopulation% of Total
Aboriginal2,6400.61,8000.51,3250.4
Visible Minority57,36013.232,5508.722,6606.7
All other375,39586.2338,06090.8313,45592.9
Total501,669100.0435,395100.0372,410100.0337,440100.0

Group2011 Census2011 Census2006 Census2006 Census2001 Census2001 Census1996 Census1996 Census
GroupPopulation% of totalPopulation% of TotalPopulation% of TotalPopulation% of Total
English341,67578.5306,98082.4281,09083.3
French8,1051.86,9001.96,2501.9
English and French7200.28200.27200.2
All other84,90019.557,70515.549,38014.6
Total435,395100.0372,410100.0337,440100.0

Group2011 Census2011 Census2006 Census2006 Census2001 Census2001 Census1996 Census1996 Census
GroupPopulation% of totalPopulation% of TotalPopulation% of TotalPopulation% of Total
At the same address228,86056.2198,69056.8184,29558.7
In the same municipality71,33517.5130,00037.258,56018.7
In the same province85,13020.9130,00037.255,38017.7
From another province6,7201.61,9204.38,2702.6
From another country15,3603.81,9204.37,2352.3
Total aged 5 or over407,405100.0349,670100.0313,745100.0

Economy

Labour force

2011200620011996
Participation rate71.9%72.1%76.8%
Employment rate68.5%69.3%72.8%
Unemployment rate4.7%4.0%5.1%

2011200620011996
Agriculture and resources4,1803,9352,870
Construction12,06041,5408,085
Manufacturing31,63541,54033,235
Wholesale trade18,91538,44014,760
Retail trade27,24538,44022,175
Financial and real estate23,03019,55016,150
Health care and social services19,53529,93515,870
Educational services17,06029,93513,250
Business services53,97545,12031,045
Other services39,56532,93531,490
Total247,200211,455188,930

Agriculture

Type2011201120112011201120112006200620062006200620062001
TypeHalton HillsMiltonBurlingtonOakvilleTotal% changeHalton HillsMiltonBurlingtonOakvilleTotal% changeTotal
Number of farms169209702146915.6%20626079215668.5%619
Total area of farms 15,43611,2893,2592,21632,20010.5%16,74712,5924,3062,33135,97610.0%39,966
Area of land in crops12,5078,2882,1062,05724,9588.6%13,3538,7413,0842,13327,31110.4%30,469
Gross farm receipts 39.9957.3623.243.35123.946.1%57.7540.5230.613.16132.046.7%141.47
Total cattle and calves2,6721,854xx4,90752.0%3,5712,7253,919010,21511.8%11,581
Total pigsxxxxxN/Axxxx3,50843.9%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.

Geography

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: