Huron County, Ontario

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Huron County is a county of the province of Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeast shore of its namesake, Lake Huron, in the southwest part of the province. The county seat is Goderich, also the county's largest community.

The population reported in the 2021 Census for this predominantly agricultural area with many villages and small towns was 61,366 in a land area of 3,398 square kilometres.<ref name="sc2021" /> Of the total population, 7,881 reside in Goderich.<ref>Template:SCref</ref>

History

Original extent of the Huron Tract.

Original extent of the Huron Tract.
Map of Canada West in 1850, with the Huron District outlined in brown.

Map of Canada West in 1850, with the Huron District outlined in brown.
Canada West in 1857. Huron County is marked in light pink.

Canada West in 1857. Huron County is marked in light pink.
Huron County Militia in Goderich, 1866

Huron County Militia in Goderich, 1866

The portion of the Huron Tract ceded to the Canada Company was established as the "County of Huron" in 1835, except certain townships that were transferred to other counties:<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref>

Adelaide Township went to Middlesex County
The townships of Moore and Sarnia, Plympton, Enniskillen, Warwick, Brooke and Bosanquet went to Kent County

Historic townships

In 1835, the county was declared to consist of the following townships:<ref>1835 Act, s. 1</ref>

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Biddulph
Blanshard
Colborne
Downie
Ellice
South Easthope
North Easthope
Fullarton
Goderich
Hay
Hibbert
Hullett
Logan
McKillop
McGillivray
Stephen
Stanley
Tuckersmith
Usborne
Williams

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They have since devolved to the following counties (as outlined in red):

Territorial evolution

Legislation was passed by the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada in 1838 to authorize the separation of the county from the London District and constitute it as the Huron District.<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref> The county was extended northward in 1840, upon the survey of a new range of townships on its northern boundary, beginning with Ashfield Township, and later including Wawanosh, Morris, Grey and Elma.<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref> The District itself came into being in October 1841.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Huron County was continued for electoral purposes in 1845,<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref> and the District was extended northwards as far as the Bruce Peninsula in 1846.<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref>

The District (which existed for judicial and municipal purposes) was abolished at the beginning of 1850.<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref> Legislation passed later in the same session of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada provided for the county to be reconstituted as the United Counties of Huron, Perth and Bruce, with the territory of the Bruce Peninsula withdrawn and annexed to Waterloo County.<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref> The townships were distributed as follows:

Distribution of the townships of the United Counties of Huron, Perth and Bruce (1850)<ref>1849 Act, ss. 33, 35, 36</ref>
From	Perth County	Bruce County	Huron County
Huron County	Template:Div col Blanchard Hibbert Fullarton Logan Downie (including the Gore of Downie) Ellice Easthope North Easthope South (including the Town of Stratford) Elma Wallace Template:Div col end	Template:Div col Huron Kinloss Curloss Carrick Kincardine Greenock Brant Bruce Saugeen Elderslie Arran Template:Div col end	the remaining townships of Huron County
Waterloo County	Mornington

The Bruce Peninsula was later returned to Bruce in 1851.<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref> The County of Perth was given its own Provisional Municipal Council at that time,<ref>S.Prov.C. 1849, c. 96, s. 3</ref> and was separated from the United Counties in 1853.<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref>

Several townships were transferred to Middlesex County:

Williams, in 1845<ref>1845 Act, Sch. B</ref>
Biddulph and McGillivray, in 1862.<ref>Template:Cite canlaw</ref>

Legislation was passed in 1866 to provide for the dissolution of the United Counties on January 1, 1867, with Huron and Bruce County becoming separate counties for all purposes.<ref>Template:Cite journal, implementing Template:Cite canlaw</ref>

Government

The Huron County Council consists of fifteen members from the nine area municipalities, ensuring that each of which is represented on this council. Each year, a Warden is elected from the group; this individual chairs meetings and represents the County at various functions. Elected to Ashfeild-Colborne-Wawanosh Council in 2014 and acclaimed as Mayor in 2018, the current Warden is Glen McNeil.

Most of the population of the county resides in the Huron—Bruce, formerly Huron and Huron—Middlesex, federal electoral district. The majority also reside in the Huron—Bruce (provincial electoral district), formerly known as Huron and Huron—Middlesex.

The county's Official Plan (2015) addresses the following issues: "agriculture, community services, the economy, natural environment, extractive resources, and settlement patterns." According to this document, agriculture is a particularly significant part of the economy since "Huron leads all counties and regions in Ontario in total value of production; and it also exceeds the production totals of several provinces".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Municipalities

Huron County comprises nine lower-tier municipalities (in order of population):

Municipality of South Huron (population centre: Exeter)
Municipality of Huron East (population centres: Seaforth, Brussels)
Town of Goderich
Municipality of Central Huron (population centre: Clinton)
Municipality of Bluewater (population centre: Bayfield)
Township of Ashfield–Colborne–Wawanosh
Township of North Huron (population centre: Wingham, Blyth)
Municipality of Howick
Municipality of Morris-Turnberry

The boundaries of the county's municipalities have been in effect since 2001, after the provincial government imposed mergers throughout the province.