Oakville, a town in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada, is nestled on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton. With a 2021 census population of 213,759, it stands as Ontario's largest town and is part of the Greater Toronto Area, one of Canada's most densely populated regions.
The history of Oakville dates back to 1793 when Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road. In 1805, the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada purchased the lands between Etobicoke and Hamilton from the indigenous Mississaugas people. The area surrounding the waterways was auctioned off to William Chisholm in 1827, who left the development of the area to his son, Robert Kerr Chisholm, and his brother-in-law, Merrick Thomas.
Oakville's industries included shipbuilding, basket-making, and various small companies making threshing machines, wagons, watches, saddles, and metal goods. The town eventually industrialized with the opening of Cities Service Canada, Shell Canada oil refineries, the Procor factory, and the Ford Motor Company's Canadian headquarters and plant.
Oakville's Planning Department divides the town into communities based on traditional neighbourhoods.
Like much of Southern Ontario, Oakville has a Humid continental climate with cold winters and warm to very warm summers. The temperatures vary within town boundaries, generally warmer days further from the lake, except on colder days in winter.
According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Oakville had a population of 213,759 living in 73,558 of its 76,179 total private dwellings. The median age in the town is 41.6 years. In 2016, immigrants made up 35.9% of the population.
The most common mother tongues among the population in 2021 were English (57.4%), Mandarin (7.0%), Arabic (3.5%), Spanish (2.3%), and Urdu (2.2%).
The 2016 census found the most reported ethnocultural background to be White (68.5%), followed by South Asian (8.9%), Chinese (7%), Arab (3.2%), Black (2.9%), Filipino (1.9%), Latin American (1.9%), Korean (1.6%), West Asian (1.1%), and other backgrounds.
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. The Oakville Arts Council provides further artistic talents in the town showcasing films, literary figures, and visual arts.
The Oakville Children's Choir has been in business since 1994.
Oakville Galleries is a not-for-profit art museum that exhibits contemporary art, cares for a permanent collection, and delivers public programming. Its exhibition spaces are located on two sites: Gairloch Gardens and Centennial Square.
The Oakville Place Shopping Centre is an indoor shopping mall in Oakville that opened in 1981. The mall is approximately 42,000 square metres (452,000 sq ft).
Oakville is twinned with the following cities: Dorval, Quebec, Canada (1957), Neyagawa, Osaka, Japan (April 6, 1984), and Huai'an, Jiangsu, China (June, 2015).
