Grey Highlands is a municipality in the southeast corner of

Grey County Grey County is a county in the province of Ontario. The county is located in the Southwestern Ontario region, and is a part of the Georgian Triangle. At the time of the 2021 Canadian census the population of the county was 100,905. Owen Sound is ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

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. It was formed on January 1, 2001, by the amalgamation of the village of Markdale and the townships of Artemesia, Euphrasia and Osprey, which included the unincorporated hamlets of

Eugenia ''Eugenia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,100 species occur in the New World tropics, ...

, Ceylon, Maxwell, Singhampton, Priceville, Kimberley, Badjeros, and Feversham. The former village of Flesherton is also located within the municipality and was amalgamated with Artemesia Township in 1998. According to the 2016 census, the municipality covers a land area of 882 square kilometres and has a population of 9,804. The municipality has a healthy population growth, and its average age (43 years old) is close to that of the provincial average (41 years old). The average household size is 2.5, and the average total income of all households is $94,000. The average after-tax income of households in the municipality is $77,000.

Communities

* Feversham () * Flesherton * Kimberley * Markdale * Vandeleur

Geography

The dominant natural feature of the area is the

Niagara Escarpment The Niagara Escarpment is an approximately discontinuous, arc-shaped but generally northward-facing escarpment, or cuesta, in Canada and the United States. The escarpment begins south of Lake Ontario and circumscribes the top of the Great Lake ...

, which passes through the municipality and has several ancillary features: * the

Bruce Trail The Bruce Trail is a hiking trail in southern Ontario, Canada, from the Niagara River to the tip of Tobermory, Ontario. The main trail is more than long and there are over of associated side trails. The trail mostly follows the edge of the Nia ...

, a popular hiking and multi-use trail, follows the brow of the Niagara Escarpment. * Beaver Valley, a steep-sided and broad valley, was created during the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

. The eastern side of the valley, as part of the Niagara Escarpment, was designated a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Biosphere reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

in 1990. The west side of the valley is home to a number of downhill ski slopes, including Beaver Valley Ski Club. *

Falls, where the Beaver River crosses the Niagara Escarpment, is the location of Grey County's only gold rush."In 1852, when the country was very new and wild, somebody thought he had discovered gold in the rocks below the falls... One adventurous waggonmaker, from the County of York, happening to be in the region, made a rush with the rest to the diggings, and soon departed homeward, several days journey through woods and bushroads, with a backbreaking load in a bag... He got home, and before he slept kindled up his forge fire to melt down a little of the precious stuff.... The sulphurious fumes and horrible stench of the vile stuff choked him, and well nigh drove him out of the premises. He had carried home a backload of worthless iron pyrites!"

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Grey Highlands 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.

Education

Elementary students (kindergarten to grade 8) are divided into three catchment areas: * MacPhail Memorial Elementary School serves the Flesherton area. * Osprey Central School serves the Maxwell and the Feversham areas. * Beavercrest Community School serves the Markdale and the surrounding areas. All of those students go to Grey Highlands Secondary School, in Flesherton, for Grades 9 to 12.

References

External links

* {{Commons category, Grey Highlands, Ontario Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Municipalities in Grey County Niagara Escarpment