Caledon, Ontario

Caledon (; 2021 population 76,581) is a town in the Regional Municipality of Peel in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. From a shortened form of Caledonia, the Roman name for North Britain; Caledon is a developing urban area, although it remains primarily rural. It consists of an amalgamation of a number of urban areas, villages, and hamlets; its major urban centre is Bolton on its eastern side adjacent to York Region.

Caledon is one of three municipalities of Peel Region. The town is at the northwest border of the city of Brampton. At over , Caledon is the largest municipality, by area, in the Greater Toronto Area.

History

By 1869, Belfountain was a Village with a population of 100 in the Township of Caledon County Peel. It was established on the Credit River. There were stagecoaches to Erin and Georgetown. The average price of land was $20.

In 1973, Caledon acquired more territory when Chinguacousy dissolved, with most sections north of Mayfield Road (excluding Snelgrove) transferred to the township.

Caledon inherited the name from Caledon Township of then Peel County, Ontario, in 1974, which was likely named by settlers, like Edward Ellis (who came from the area around Caledon, County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland) or by public voting.

Demographics

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

In 2021, the median age was 40.8 years old, slightly lower than the provincial median at 41.6 years old. There are 24,795 private dwellings. According to the 2011 National Household Survey, the median value of a dwelling in Caledon is $474,087 which is significantly higher than the national average at $280,552. The median household income (after-taxes) in Caledon is $83,454, much higher than the national average at $54,089. The average individual's income is $53,870.

According to the 2021 Census, the largest five ethnic origins of the residents of Caledon are: Italian (17,630; 23.2%), English (10,320; 13.6%), Indian (9,120; 12.0%), Scottish (8,270; 10.9%), Canadian (8,095; 10.6%). English is the mother tongue of 65.4% of the residents of Caledon. Native speakers of Punjabi make up 11.1% of the town's population, Italian 5.4%, Portuguese 1.4%, Spanish 1.3% and Polish 1.0%.

As of 2021, most reported religion among the population was Christianity (58.5%), with Catholicism (38.2%) making up the largest denomination. This was followed by Sikhism (14.3%), Hinduism (4.7%), Islam (2.1%), Buddhism (0.5%) and Judaism (0.4%). 19.3% of the population did not identify with a particular religion.

Government

* Mayor Annette Groves
* Councillor Ward 1 Lynn Kiernan
* Councillor Ward 2 Dave Sheen
* Councillor Ward 3 Doug Maskell
* Councillor Ward 4 Nick deBoer
* Councillor Ward 5 Tony Rosa
* Councillor Ward 6 Cosimo Napoli
and on Peel regional council by:
* Mayor Annette Groves
* Regional Councillor Ward 1, 2, 3 Christina Early
* Regional Councillor Ward 4, 5, 6 Mario Russo

Per capita, Caledon has by far the largest representation on Peel Regional Council among the three municipalities.

Climate

Education

The Peel District School Board operates secular Anglophone schools. The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board operates Catholic Anglophone separate schools. The '' Conseil scolaire Viamonde'' operates secular Francophone schools serving the area. The '' Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud'' operates Catholic Francophone schools serving the area.

''School (Location)''

* Allan Drive Middle School (Bolton)
* Alloa Public School (Caledon)
* Alton Public School (Alton)
* Belfountain Public School (Belfountain)
* Brampton Christian School (Private)
* Caledon Central Public School (Caledon Village)
* Caledon East Public School (Caledon East)
* Countryside Montessori and Private School
* Creative Children's Montessori School (Bolton)
* Ellwood Memorial Public School (Bolton)

* Herb Campbell Public School (Campbell's Cross)
* Headwater Hills Montessori School (Private)
* The Hill Academy
* Holy Family Elementary School (Bolton)
* Humberview Secondary School (Bolton)
* Huttonville Public School (Huttonville)
* King's College School (Private)
* James Bolton Public School (Bolton)
* Macville Public School (Bolton)
* Mayfield Secondary School (Caledon)

* Mind Valley Montessori and Private School (Bolton)
* Palgrave Public School (Palgrave)
* St. John Paul II Elementary School (Bolton)
* Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School (Caledon East)
* SouthFields Village Public School (Southfields Village)
* St. Cornelius Elementary School (Caledon East)
* St. John the Baptist Elementary School (Bolton)
* St. Nicholas Elementary School (Bolton)
* St Michael Catholic Secondary School (Bolton)
* Tony Pontes Public School (Caledon)

Culture

The Alton Mill Arts Centre is located in located in Caledon. Art galleries include Headwaters Arts, and Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives.

Media

Established in 1888 as the ''Cardwell Observer'', '' The Caledon Enterprise'' is published weekly from Bolton by Metroland Media. Also based out of Bolton is '' The Caledon Citizen'', established in 1982. A MELINIUM paper, it is published by Caledon Publishing Ltd. A third newspaper was launched by Rick and Shelly Sargent in 2010: ''The Regional'', published monthly in Bolton. In November 2012, this paper was acquired by Caledon Publishing and ceased publication. The Sargents began working with the Caledon Citizen.

In January 2015 an online publication, specific to Caledon, called JustSayinCaledon.com, was started by former Bolton Ward 5 Regional Councillor Patti Foley. JustSayinCaledon.com publishes stories about local residents and businesses as well as Caledon event listings, Town Council highlights, opinion pieces, and a food section about local markets and restaurants.

A short-lived student-run newspaper, ''The Caledon Underground'', was published in 2010.

The creepypasta ''1999'' depicts a fictional television station based in Caledon called Caledon Local 21 which was on the air from 1997 until 1999 in the broadcast area of stations in Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton.

Key Porter Books and parent H.B. Fenn are headquartered in Bolton. Broadcast radio stations CJFB-FM and CFGM-FM.

History and trails

*Old Township Hall (built c.1875, now used as a theatre)
*Millcroft Inn (woolen mill, built in 1881, now a hotel)
*Alton Mill (woolen mill, c.1881, now an arts centre)
*Brick Work Ruins (Caledon)
*Bruce Trail (Caledon)
*Caledon Trailway (Caledon)
*Canadian Heritage Humber River (Caledon)
*Elora-Cataract Trail (Caledon)
*Grand Valley Trail (Caledon)
*Great War Flying Museum (Caledon)
*Humber Valley Trail (Caledon)
*Andrew's Treasure Trail (Caledon)
*Oak Ridges Trail (Caledon)
*Hair Pin Turn (Beside the Credit River)
*Caledon Central Public School

Organizations

* Freemasonry
* Caledon Ski Club
* Kinsmen Club Christmas Parade
* Columbian Squires
* Knights of Columbus

Protected areas

* Albion Hills Conservation Area
* Alton Grange Property
* Belfountain Conservation Area
* Caledon Lake Forest Conservation Area
* Forks of the Credit Provincial Park
* Glen Haffy Conservation Area
* Ken Whillans Conservation Area
* Palgrave Forest and Wildlife Area
* Robert Baker Forest Conservation Area
* Terra Cotta Conservation Area
* Warwick Conservation Area

Sports and recreation

Junior hockey teams include the Caledon Bombers Caledon Golden Hawks and Caledon Canadians, the latter defunct.

Minor hockey teams include the Caledon Hawks and Caledon Coyotes

Lacrosse in the Town of Caledon is represented by the Caledon Vaughan Minor Lacrosse Association which operates Minor Field and both Minor and Junior C. Box Teams

Mike Fox, the winner of the 2007 Queen's Plate, was foaled in Caledon, while Peaks and Valleys currently stands there.

Caledon Equestrian Park in Palgrave hosted the equestrian events of the 2015 Pan American Games.

Communities

The primary administrative and commercial centre of Caledon is the community of Bolton, which the municipal government estimated as having a population of 26,478 in 2006.

Smaller communities in the town include Albion, Alloa, Alton, Belfountain, Boston Mills, Brimstone (Brimstone Point), Caledon, Caledon East, Caledon Village, Campbell's Cross, Castlederg, Cataract, Cedar Meadows, Cedar Mills, Cheltenham, Claude, Coulterville, Ferndale, Forks of the Credit, The Grange, Humber, Humber Grove, Inglewood, Kilmanagh, Lockton, Mayfield West, Macville, Melville, McLeodville, Mono Mills, Mono Road, New Glasgow, Palgrave, Queensgate, Rockside, Rosehill, Sandhill, Silver Creek, Sleswick, Sligo, Star, Stonehart, Taylorwoods, Terra Cotta, Tormore, Valleywood and Victoria. The region is otherwise very sparsely populated, with farms being the only residential centres.

A number of villages or hamlets have disappeared from the current town:

* Kennedy's Corners (Old School Road and Airport Road)
* Fox's Corners (Willoughby Road and Charleston Side Road)
* Greenlaw (The Grange Sideroad and Winston Churchill Boulevard)
* Caldwell (The Grange Sideroad and Kennedy Road)
* Caldwell Junction (Olde Baseline Road and Moutainview Road)
* Glencoe's Corners (Olde Baseline Road and Creditview Road)
* McBride's Corners (Olde Baseline Road and Hurontario Street)

Infrastructure

Emergency services

The town runs its own fire services through the composite Career and volunteer firefighters of the Town of Caledon Fire & Emergency Services, which has nine stations.

Ambulance services are run by the regional government's Peel Regional Paramedic Services, with three stations (#10, 11 and 12).

Despite being part of Peel Region, policing in Caledon is conducted from Ontario Provincial Police Caledon Detachment rather than Peel Regional Police. OPP also patrols on provincial highways within Caledon (Ontario Highway 9 and Ontario Highway 10).

Transportation

GO Transit operates two bus routes in Caledon:
*serving Bolton, Ontario along Peel Regional Road 50 and through east Mississauga connecting with Malton GO Station on the Kitchener line.
*serving Orangeville and Brampton connecting with Brampton GO Station on the Georgetown line via Main Street/ Highway 10.
It additionally has storage and service facilities in the town.

Selected trips by Brampton Transit's Route 30 Airport Road buses extends into the Tullamore Industrial Area of the Town of Caledon, with a total of six trips per day.

The town has no government-supported local public transit system. However, a growing population prompted former local resident Darren Parberry to start a trial bus service with two routes, called Métis Transit, which ran briefly in 2006. Caledon also ran a commercial bus operation in 1999 under the name Caledon Transit Incorporated, but it ceased operations due to low ridership.

Transit services for the elderly, disabled, and infirm are provided by Caledon Community Services Transportation and Transhelp (run by Peel Region).

Taxi service is also available in the Bolton, Ontario area.

The highways in the municipality are:

* Airport Road or Peel Regional Road 7
* Hurontario Street or Highway 10
* Charleston Sideroad or Peel Regional Road 24 (formerly Highway 24)
* Queen Street or Peel Regional Road 50 (formerly Highway 50)
* Main Street and Porterfield Road, or Peel Regional Road 136 (formerly Highway 136)
* Highway 410 (to Highway 10)

Notable people

See also

* Media in Peel
*List of townships in Ontario

References

*

Notes

External links

*

{{Authority control

Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario
Towns in Ontario