The

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

has several historic counties, which are past

census division Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic uni ...

s that no longer exist today. Most historic counties either merged with other counties, or became regional municipalities or single-tier municipalities. Although counties had existed prior to 1849, after 1849 they replaced the district systems in administering local government and courts in

. The county system is used in southern, southwestern and eastern sections of the province of Ontario. There are no counties in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Pro ...

due to sparse population and a long-standing boundary dispute with the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

(that was not resolved until 1912).

Counties

* Addington County (1792–1864) merged with Lennox County to form

Lennox and Addington County Lennox and Addington County is a county and census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. The county seat is Greater Napanee. It is located in the subregion of Southern Ontario named Eastern Ontario. Around the middle of the 19th century, t ...

Brant County The County of Brant (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population 39,474) is a Census divisions of Ontario#Single-tier municipalities, single-tier municipality in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Although it retains t ...

(established 1852) split into the single-tier 'county' of Brant and the city of

Brantford Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County, but is politically separate with ...

Carleton County Carleton County (2016 population 26,220) is located in west-central New Brunswick, Canada. The western border is Aroostook County, Maine, the northern border is Victoria County, and the southeastern border is York County from which it was fo ...

(1800–1969) became the

Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

, now the

City of Ottawa The City of Ottawa is the corporate entity of municipal government in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The corporation is responsible for provision of services to the public as well as enforcement of municipal by-laws. It is overseen by the City Manag ...

, a single-tier municipality. *

Dufferin County Dufferin County is a county and census division located in Central Ontario, Canada. The county seat is Orangeville, and the current Warden is Wade Mills. The current chief administrative officer is Sonya Pritchard. Dufferin covers an area of , ...

(established 1881) created from parts of Simcoe, Grey and Waterloo counties. * Durham County (1792–1973) portions merged with Ontario County to form Durham Regional Municipality. Remaining portions joined

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

and Victoria Counties. * Grenville County (1792–1850) merged with Leeds County to form

Leeds and Grenville United Counties The United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, commonly known as Leeds and Grenville, is a county in Ontario, Canada, in the Eastern Ontario subregion of Southern Ontario. It fronts on the Saint Lawrence River and the international boundary between ...

* Kent County (1792–1998) became the single-tier Municipality of Chatham-Kent *

Haldimand County Haldimand County is a rural city-status single-tier municipality on the Niagara Peninsula in Southern Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Erie, and on the Grand River. Despite its name, it is no longer a county by definition, as all m ...

(1800–1974; 2001–present) was merged into the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk for many years, but this was divided again with some minor adjustments to the old lines in 2001; it is now a single-tier municipality, not an official county *

Halton County Halton County is a former county in the Canadian province of Ontario, with an area of . It is also one of the oldest counties in Canada. History Halton County is named after Major William Mathew Halton (1746-1823), a British Army officer, who ...

(1816–1973) became

Halton Regional Municipality 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 Hi ...

Leeds County Leeds County is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario. The county was first surveyed in 1792 as one of the nineteen counties created by Sir John Graves Simcoe in preparation for the United Empire Loyalists to settle here. The coun ...

(1792–1850) merged with Grenville County to form

* Lennox County (1792–1864) merged with Addington County to form

* Lincoln County (1792–1970) merged with Welland County to form Niagara Regional Municipality * Norfolk County (1792–1974) was merged into the Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk for many years, but this was divided again with some minor adjustments to the old lines in 2001; it is now a single-tier municipality, not an official county * Ontario County a short-lived first county with this name existed from 1792 to 1800, and was split with the eastern portion joining Frontenac County and the western portion joining Addington County. The second existed from 1852 to 1973, and merged with portions of Durham County to form Durham Regional Municipality. A small portion became part of Simcoe County. * Peel County (1851–1973) became

Peel Regional Municipality The Regional Municipality of Peel (informally Peel Region or Region of Peel, also formerly Peel County) is a regional municipality in the Greater Toronto Area, Southern Ontario, Canada. It consists of three municipalities to the west and northw ...

* Prescott County (1800–1820) merged with Russell County to form

Prescott and Russell United Counties The United Counties of Prescott and Russell (french: Comtés unis de Prescott et Russell) are consolidated counties located in the Canadian province of Ontario. Its county seat is L'Orignal. It was created as a result of a merger between Russ ...

* Prince Edward County (established 1792) has retained its name, but is now a single-tier municipality, not an official county * Russell County (1800–1820) merged with Prescott County to form

* Suffolk County (1792–1800) formed in 1792 with Ontario County, in 1800 it was split into the Counties of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, Elgin and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

. During its short existence it was made up of Delaware Township, Westminster Township, most of North Dorchester Township and the rest Indian land. *

Victoria County Victoria County is the name of several locations: In Australia: *Victoria County, Western Australia * County of Victoria, South Australia In Canada: * Victoria County, New Brunswick * Municipality of the County of Victoria and the eponymous histo ...

(1821–2001) became the

City of Kawartha Lakes The City of Kawartha Lakes (2021 population 79,247) is a unitary municipality in Central Ontario, Canada. It is a municipality legally structured as a single-tier city; however, Kawartha Lakes is the size of a typical Ontario county and is mostl ...

, a single-tier municipality. *

Welland County Welland County (area, excluding cities was 226,970 acres) is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario. The county was formed in 1845 from Lincoln County. The county was named from the Welland River. The river got its name from J ...

(1851–1970) merged with Lincoln County to form Niagara Regional Municipality *

Waterloo County Waterloo County was a county in the Canadian province of Ontario from 1853 until 1973. It was the direct predecessor of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Situated on a subset of land within the Haldimand Tract, the traditional territory of ...

(1853–1973) became

Waterloo Regional Municipality The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumfr ...

in 1973 * Wentworth County (1816–1970) became Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Municipality, now the City of Hamilton, a single-tier municipality. * York County (1792–1971) saw

Metropolitan Toronto The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

(now the

City of Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

) separate from it in 1953, and the remainder became

York Regional Municipality The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional ...

in 1971 Various counties throughout Ontario were joined administratively in the 19th century. While many of these still exist today and have become relatively permanent, some have since been dissolved. For example, the former United Counties of Huron and Perth existed for only a few years in the 19th century. The United Counties of Northumberland and Durham, on the other hand, merged eight years after each one was created, and continued for 174 years up until the dissolution of Durham County on January 1, 1974.

Special cases

Four of Ontario's

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

s were also erroneously listed as counties of residence in some of Canada's first post-

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

censuses. These did not exist as counties in the political sense, although they may be referred to as such in some historical and genealogical works because of their appearances in census data: * Bothwell was made up of townships from Kent and Lambton counties. * Cardwell was made up of townships from Simcoe and Peel counties. * Monck was made up of townships from Lincoln, Haldimand, and Welland Counties. * Niagara was made up of townships from Lincoln County. The

Regional Municipality of Sudbury The Regional Municipality of Sudbury was a Regional Municipality that existed in Ontario, Canada, from 1973 to 2000, and was primarily centred on the city of Sudbury. It served as an upper-tier level of municipal government, aggregating municipal ...

can also be considered 'historic', as it later became the

City of Greater Sudbury Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the fifth largest in Canada. It is ...

— however, its origins are not in county government, but as a part of the still-extant

Sudbury District The Sudbury District is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1894 from townships of eastern Algoma District and west Nipissing District. The overwhelming majority of the district (about 92%) is ...

. The unincorporated Patricia District, comprising the portion of

Northwestern Ontario Northwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the ...

which was transferred to Ontario from the

in 1912, existed until 1937 when it was merged into

Kenora District Kenora District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The district seat is the City of Kenora. It is geographically the largest division in Ontario: at , it covers 38 percent of the province's area, making it large ...

References

External links

Maps of historic counties
{{DEFAULTSORT:Historic Counties Of Ontario * Historical regions in Canada

Counties

Special cases

See also

References

External links