Community Profiles / Halton Region
Burlington
City Offices
426 Brant Street
Burlington 905-335-7600
https://www.burlington.ca
Burlington is home to more than 180,000 residents. It is at the center of the Golden Horseshoe Region of the Toronto metro area. The economy of the city is based around the automotive and manufacturing sectors. The leading industrial sectors, in terms of employment, are food processing, packaging, electronics, motor vehicle/transportation, business services, chemical/pharmaceutical and environmental.
Burlington offer its residents an amazing blend of amenities, with parks, the arts, dining and shopping There are 115 parks and 1400 acres of parklands in the city. Along the shore of Lake Ontario, Spencer Smith Park features a shoreline walking path. The park has an observatory, outdoor pond, water jet play area and restaurant. Many annual free festivals take place in Spencer Smith Park, including Canada’s Largest Ribfest and the Sound of Music Festival, Canada Day, Children’s Festival and Lakeside Festival of Lights. The Brant Street Pier is located in Spencer Smith Park The pier extends 137 meters into Lake Ontario and provides views of the lake and Burlington’s shoreline. The Art Gallery of Burlington is adjacent to Spencer Smith Park. The city is also home to Ontario’s botanical garden and National Historic Site of Canada which features over 2,700 acres of gardens and nature sanctuaries, including four outdoor display gardens, the Mediterranean Garden under glass and on-site restaurants.
The city owns and operates four indoor and two outdoor pools, four splash pads, nine ice pads, four community centers and nine golf courses. The Appleby Ice Centre is a 4-pad arena, used year-round for skating and ice hockey. Several conservation areas are minutes away and feature year-round activities. Bronte Creek Provincial Park, along the city’s eastern boundary, features a campground and recreational activities and events year-round. Residents can enjoy the great outdoors with a lot of local trails. The sections of the Bruce Trail and the Niagara Escarpment, which is a UNESCO designated World Biosphere Reserve, provide excellent hiking opportunities. Kerncliff Park, in an abandoned quarry on the boundary with Waterdown, is a naturalized area on the lip of the Niagara Escarpment. The Bruce Trail runs through the park, at many points running along the edge of the cliffs, providing a clear overlook of Burlington, the Burlington Skyway Bridge, Hamilton, and Oakville.
The arts are well represented in Burlington with the Joseph Brant Museum and Ireland House are also popular attractions. Joseph Brant Museum has ongoing exhibits on the history of Burlington, the Eileen Collard Costume Collection, Captain Joseph Brant and the visible storage gallery. Ireland House at Oakridge Farm is a history museum depicting family life from the 1850s to the 1920s. The Burlington Performing Arts Centre offers musical and theater performances.
Shopping, dining and entertainment are plentiful in the city. Residents can choose from large national chain stores to local boutiques and unique shops. The Burlington Centre mall has more than 130 stores and is one of the two enclosed malls in the city. The Mapleview Centre is home to a large selection of retailers from all over the world. No matter the need, residents will find what they want in Burlington.
Schools in the city are part of the Halton District School Board. Burlington’s Catholic elementary and secondary schools are controlled by Halton Catholic District School Board. French public schools are part of the Conseil scolaire Viamonde and French catholic schools are part of the Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud.
Oakville
Town Offices
1225 Trafalgar Road
Oakville 905-845-6601
https://www.oakville.ca/
Oakville is a suburban town in southern Ontario, located in Halton Region on Lake Ontario halfway between Toronto and Hamilton, the community has a population of over 193,000. Oakville is home to a lot of parklands, trails, creeks, golf courses, a scenic waterfront and gardens, Residents enjoy year-round activities, like the TD Songs of Summer and Oakville Children’s Festival during the summer, Bronte Provincial Park’s Maple Syrup Festival in March and a range of activities organized each season by Oakville.
Arts are well represented in the town, featuring theatre, dance and music along with other performances at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts. The Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts houses several performances by local and international artists. It is also the performing venue for the Oakville Symphony Orchestra, the Oakville Children’s Choir and the Oakville Ballet Company. Residents and visitors alike can enjoy walking from gallery to gallery along historic downtown streets or visiting the Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre. The town is home to several quaint historic districts, offering a unique view of the community’s past.
Oakville is known for its unique shopping and dining districts, which include the historic and sophisticated Downtown Oakville — one of the most popular shopping and dining areas in Ontario. The area features historic buildings with architecturally preserved store fronts. The old-world charm of the waterfront Village of Bronte and the eclectic Kerr Village have something for everyone. Each district offers an assortment of spas, galleries, and cafes and restaurants offering a variety of choices.
The economy of the city is a mix of technology and manufacturing. A large segment of the workforce work in the life sciences and advanced manufacturing fields. In addition, its not unusual for residents to commute to Toronto or vice versa.
The educational needs of families are met by a mix of private and public schools, with one of the highest ratios of private schools to student population in the country. Oakville is covered by the Halton District School Board, Halton Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire Viamonde, and Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir. The town is also home to Appleby College, a private school for grades seven to twelve, as well as St. Mildred’s-Lightbourn School, an independent all-girls school.
