Milton, Ontario

Milton ( 2016 census population 110,128) is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Between 2001 and 2011, Milton was the fastest growing municipality in Canada, with a 71.4% increase in population from 2001 to 2006 and another 56.5% increase from 2006 to 2011. In 2016, Milton's census population was 110,128 with an estimated growth to 228,000 by 2031. It remained the fastest growing community in Ontario but was deemed to be the sixth fastest growing in Canada at that time.

Consisting of of land area, Milton is located west of Downtown Toronto on Highway 401, and is the western terminus for the Milton line commuter train and bus corridor operated by GO Transit. Milton is situated on the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO world biosphere reserve and the Bruce Trail.

History

The Mississaugas of the Credit held 648,000 acres of land north of the Head of the Lake Purchase lands and extending to the unceded territory of the Chippewa of Lakes Huron and Simcoe. In mid-October, 1818, the Chippewa ceded their land to the Crown in the Lake Simcoe-Nottawasaga Treaty and, by the end of October, the Crown sought to purchase the adjacent lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit.
The Deputy Superintendent of the Indian Department, William Claus, met with the Mississaugas from October 27–29, 1818, and proposed that the Mississaugas sell their 648,000 acres of land in exchange for an annual amount of goods. The continuous inflow of settlers into their lands and fisheries had weakened the Mississaugas’ traditional economy and had left them in a state of impoverishment and a rapidly declining population. In their enfeebled state, Chief Ajetance (d. 1829), on behalf of the assembled people, readily agreed to the sale of their lands for £522.10 of goods paid annually.
Significant municipalities found within the lands of the Ajetance Purchase of 1818 include Brampton and Milton.

The town took root out of a settlement by Jasper Martin along the Sixteen Mile Creek; Martin immigrated from Newcastle upon Tyne, England with his wife Sarah Coates and two sons on May 17, 1818. Martin was granted of land, from the Crown in 1820, designated Lot 14, Concession 2, Township of Trafalgar, Halton County, in the District of Gore. Martin built a grist mill along the creek and created a pond, known as Mill Pond, to power his mill. The mill became the centre of settlement for others as they settled in the region. In 1837 the area had a population of approximately 100 people and was named after the English poet John Milton. The town, as it is today, soon after became known as Milton. The two principal property owners of the young town were the Martins and the Fosters, whose names are still reflected in numerous buildings and streets in Milton

By 1855, the United Counties of Halton and Wentworth split, and Halton became a separate county. Its council consisted of members representing the townships of Esquesing, Nassagaweya, Trafalgar and Nelson, along with Acton, Georgetown, Milton, Burlington and Oakville. Milton was then named as the county town (seat), a decision that certainly created a lot of local controversy. The people in Oakville were very upset because Oakville was an established place with a railway. Milton did not even have a railway, according to historian John McDonald. For 25 years there was this great rivalry. Every time county council tried to pass something to improve the Milton area, the Oakville councillors would often balk at it. Hugh Foster, of the aforementioned Foster family, donated of land to the county to construct its administration building in Milton, which is still in place on Mary Street today and now used as the Milton Town Hall. Milton was incorporated into a town in 1857, after being chosen as county seat for Halton.

By 1869, Milton had a population of 1,000. Records from 1874 indicate that Milton had county buildings, a telegraph office, a foundry, a tannery, a woolen factory, a grist mill and a saw mill, a weekly newspaper and a number of stores.

In 1891, Milton used electricity to light its streets for the first time and in 1905 the Town purchased the Milton Electric Light Company and built its own power station.

In the early 1900s, Milton was well known because of the P.L. Robertson Manufacturing Company, the first to make socket-head screws. Although formed in Hamilton in 1907, the business relocated to Milton in 1908. P.L. Robertson was the inventor of the square-socket drive for screws.

In 1974, the present municipal structure was created when the Regional Municipality of Halton replaced Halton County. The new town of Milton added parts of the former township of Esquesing (most of this township comprises Halton Hills), all of Nassagaweya Township including the village of Campbellville, and the northern sections of Trafalgar and Nelson from (a 1962 annexation of the former townships) Oakville and Burlington respectively.

With the addition of the Niagara Escarpment lands, tourism, recreation, and heritage conservation have increased in importance. The Halton Region Museum, which has a large number of historic agricultural buildings, and the Halton County Radial Railway museum are located in Milton, as is Country Heritage Park (formerly the Ontario Agricultural Museum). Five large parks operated by Conservation Halton reside in the town, and Mohawk Raceway is located near Campbellville. It is also home to Maplehurst Correctional Complex, the Vanier Centre for Women and one of two criminal courthouses serving Halton Region.

On 1 January 2010, land was bought by the City of Mississauga and scaled down its border by to Hwy. 407, affecting 25 residents.

Climate

Milton is classified as a humid continental climate (Dfb) in the Koppen climate classification system. The town has 4 distinct seasons and year round precipitation with warm, rainy summers with cool nights and long, cold, and snowy winters.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Milton 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 in 2021.

An October 2019 report stated that the average household income was $111,875, that the unemployment rate was 5.7%, and that the crime rate per 100,000 residents was low, at 2,133.

The 2021 census found that English was the mother tongue of 55.6% of the population. The next most common mother tongues were Urdu