Milton, Ontario, a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada, is part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. With a population of 132,979 according to the 2021 census, Milton is a rapidly growing community. Between 2001 and 2011, it 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.
The history of Milton, Ontario, is deeply intertwined with the Mississaugas of the Credit and the Chippewa of Lakes Huron and Simcoe. In 1818, the Chippewa ceded their land to the Crown, and the Crown sought to purchase the adjacent lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit. The Mississaugas agreed to sell their 648,000 acres of land in exchange for an annual amount of goods, leading to the establishment of significant municipalities, including Brampton and Milton.
The town of Milton took root from a settlement by Jasper Martin along the Sixteen Mile Creek. Martin, who immigrated from Newcastle upon Tyne, England, was granted 100 acres of land from the Crown in 1820. He built a grist mill along the creek, creating a pond known as Mill Pond to power his mill. This mill became the centre of settlement for others in the region. By 1837, the area had a population of approximately 100 people and was named after the English poet John Milton.
Milton is classified as a humid continental climate (Dfb) in the Koppen climate classification system. The town experiences four distinct seasons and year-round precipitation, with warm, rainy summers with cool nights and long, cold, and snowy winters.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Milton had a population of 132,979 living in 40,038 of its 41,000 total private dwellings, a change of 20.7% from its 2016 population of 110,128. With a land area of 363.83 km2 (140.48 sq mi), it had a population density of 365.5/km2 (946.6/sq mi) in 2021.
The 2021 census found that English was the mother tongue of 55.6% of the population. The next most common mother tongues were Urdu (9.7%), Arabic (4.1%), Spanish (2.3%), Punjabi (1.8%), Tagalog (Filipino) (1.5%), Polish (1.3%), Portuguese (1.3%), Mandarin (1.1%), French (1.1%), and Hindi (1.1%).
Milton's Planning Department divides the town into communities. These divisions have little to do with politics and are based on traditional neighbourhoods.
Major service clubs in Milton include The Rotary Club of Milton, the Milton Lions Club, the Optimist Club of Milton, and the Milton & District Kinsmen Club.
Milton is served by three main arterial east-west regional roads and three north-south regional roads. Highway 401 bisects the town, separating the mainly rural and industrial areas to the north from the primarily residential and commercial developments in the southern part of town. Milton Transit is the municipal provider of bus services for the town, and intercity service is served by GO Transit via buses and trains.
Milton has many conservation parks, campgrounds, and recreational areas. The conservation parks in the Milton area are owned by Conservation Halton, a conservation authority. Five large parks operated by Conservation Halton reside in the town, and Mohawk Raceway is located near Campbellville.
Every Labour Day weekend, the Milton Steam-Era takes place. The Milton Fall Fair is held every year on the last weekend of September. Culture Days is a weekend-long celebration of arts and culture in Milton featuring free interactive events for all ages and held during the last weekend of September.
The town has very easy access throughout the GTA by Highways 401 and 407 towards Oakville, Burlington, and Hamilton on the town, or by the former Highway 25 (Halton Road 25). There are two key freight railway routes (both by CN and CP), passenger services from GO Transit, and Via Rail passenger connections in the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor in both neighbouring Oakville and Georgetown.
Milton, Ontario, has a sister city relationship with Santa Maria, Bulacan, Philippines, established since July 6, 1999.
