Burlington, Ontario, a city nestled in the Regional Municipality of Halton at the west end of Lake Ontario, is a gem waiting to be discovered. Situated halfway between Toronto and Niagara Falls, it forms part of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and Hamilton metropolitan census area.
Before the 19th century, the area between the provincial capital of York and the township of West Flamborough was home to the Mississauga nation. In 1792, John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, named the western end of Lake Ontario "Burlington Bay" after the town of Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
The British purchased the land on which Burlington now stands from the Mississaugas in Upper Canada Treaties 3 (1792), 8 (1797), 14 (1806), and 19 (1818). Treaty 8 concerned the purchase of the Brant Tract, 14.0 km2 (3,450 acres) on Burlington Bay which the British granted to Mohawk chief Joseph Brant for his service in the American Revolutionary War. Joseph Brant and his household settled on this tract of land around 1802. Brant is accordingly often referred to as the founder of Burlington, and the city of Burlington still celebrates an annual Joseph Brant Day in early August.
By the turn of the 19th century, the name "Burlington" was already in common use. With the completion of the local survey after the War of 1812, the land was opened for settlement. Early farmers prospered in the Burlington area because the area had fertile soil and moderate temperatures. Produce from the farms was shipped out via the bustling docks of the lakeside villages of Port Nelson and Wellington Square, as well as Brown's Wharf in the nearby village of Port Flamborough (which was to become Aldershot). Lumber taken from the surrounding forests also competed for space on the busy docks.
In 1873, the villages of Wellington Square and Port Nelson merged to become the Village of Burlington which then became the Town of Burlington in 1914. The arrival of large steamships on the Great Lakes made the small docks of the local ports obsolete, and the increased use of railway to ship goods marked the end of the commercial wharves.
Burlington is at the southwestern end of Lake Ontario, just to the north east of Hamilton and the Niagara Peninsula, roughly in the geographic centre of the urban corridor known as the Golden Horseshoe. Burlington has a land area of 187 km2 (72 sq mi). The main urban area is south of the Parkway Belt and Hwy. 407. The land north of this, and north Aldershot is used primarily for agriculture, rural residential and conservation purposes. The Niagara Escarpment, Lake Ontario and the sloping plain between the escarpment and the lake make up the land area of Burlington. The city is no longer a port; sailing vessels in the area are used for recreational purposes and moor at a 215 slip marina in LaSalle Park.
Burlington's climate is humid continental (Köppen climate classification Dfa) with hot, humid summers and cold and snowy winters. The climate is moderated somewhat by its proximity to Lake Ontario. Monthly mean temperatures range from 22.5 °C (72.5 °F) in July to −4.4 °C (24.1 °F) in January. The average annual precipitation is 763 mm (30.0 in) of rain and 99 cm (39 in) of snow.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Burlington had a population of 186,948 living in 73,180 of its 74,891 total private dwellings, a change of 2% from its 2016 population of 183,314. With a land area of 186.12 km2 (71.86 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,004.4/km2 (2,601.5/sq mi) in 2021.
According to the 2016 census, the most common mother tongue in Burlington is English (78.7%), followed by French (1.6%), Spanish (1.5%), Polish (1.3%), and Arabic (1.2). The three most commonly known languages are English (99.1%), French (9%), and Spanish (2.5%).
The 2016 census records a visible minority of 16%.The top 11 ethnic origins from the 2016 census are listed in the accompanying table. Percentages add up to more than 100% because respondents can report more than one ethnicity.
Burlington, Ontario is home to a variety of attractions, including 115 parks and 580 hectares (1,400 acres) of parkland. On the shore of Lake Ontario, Spencer Smith Park features a shoreline walking path, an observatory, water jet play area and restaurant. The park includes the Burlington Rotary Centennial Pond, used for model sail boating and ice-skating. Festivals in Spencer Smith Park include Ribfest, the Sound of Music Festival, Canada Day, Children's Festival and Lakeside Festival of Lights.
The Art Gallery of Burlington contains permanent and temporary exhibits. The Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington is the largest botanical garden in Canada. Ontario's botanical garden and National Historic Site of Canada features over 11 km2 (2,700 acres) of gardens and nature sanctuaries, including four outdoor display gardens, the Mediterranean Garden under glass, three on-site restaurants, the Gardens' Gift Shop, and festivals.
Burlington has twin-city relationships with Apeldoorn, Gelderland, Netherlands (May 6th, 2005) and Itabashi, Japan (May, 1989). Both cities have a park or garden named after each other. Burlington is home to Apeldoorn Park while Apeldoorn is home to Burlington Garden. Itabashi Way, Itabashi Garden (opened July 1st, 2019) and Itabashi Bridge (gifted June 1997) are all named after the city. Itabashi Bridge was donated to the City of Burlington by Itabashi as gratitude for the city's naming of Itabashi Way. In 2020, Itabashi Garden won the Parks and Recreation Ontario's Award of Excellence for Recreational Facility (non-aquatic) or Park Design.
