Burlington is a city at the west end of Lake Ontario in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It borders Hamilton to the south, Milton to the northwest, and Oakville to the northeast. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, the Hamilton census metropolitan area, and the Golden Horseshoe urban region. Burlington was founded in 1874, and gained city status in 1974. With a population of 186,948 as of 2021, Burlington is the twenty-eighth-most populous municipality in Canada.
History
Before the 19th century, the land on which Burlington now stands was home to the Mississauga nation. The British purchased the land from the Mississaugas in Upper Canada Treaties 3 (1792), 8 (1797), 14 (1806), and 19 (1818).
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.
Treaty 8 concerned the purchase of the Brant Tract, 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 still celebrates an annual Joseph Brant Day in early August.
Subsequent disputes between the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the Canadian government over payment for the Brant Tract and the Toronto Purchase were settled in 2010 for the sum of $145 million (CAD).
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 the latter half of the 19th century, increased wheat production from Western Canada convinced local farmers to switch to fruit and vegetable production.
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.
Farming still thrived though, and the resultant growth resulted in continued prosperity. By 1906, the town boasted its own newspaper—the Burlington Gazette—as well as a town library and a local rail line that connected Burlington to nearby Hamilton. During the First World War, 300 local men volunteered for duty in the Canadian Expeditionary Force—38 did not return. In 1914, Burlington was incorporated into a town.
As more settlers arrived and cleared the land, cash crops replaced subsistence farming. Gradually, mixed farming and market gardens became the dominant form of agriculture, and in the early 20th century the area was declared the Garden of Canada. The first peaches grown in Canada were cultivated in the Grindstone Creek watershed in the city's south-west part. The farming tradition has passed down through the generations. Today over 40 per cent of the Grindstone Creek watershed is still devoted to farms, orchards and nurseries.
Following the Second World War, cheap electricity from nearby Niagara Falls and better transportation access due to the new (1939) Queen Elizabeth Way encouraged both light industry and families to move to Burlington. The population skyrocketed as new homes were built, encouraging developers to build even more new homes. On January 1, 1958, Burlington officially annexed most of the Township of Nelson, as well as Aldershot, formerly a part of East Flamborough Township. By 1967, the last cash crop farm within the city had been replaced by the Burlington Centre.
Burlington was the site of the Brant Inn built by the lake in 1917, which became famous during the '40s and '50s for showing big-band performers.
By 1974, with a population exceeding 100,000, Burlington was incorporated as a city. The extremely high rate of growth continued, and between 2001 and 2006, the population of Burlington grew by 9%, compared to Canada's overall growth rate of 5.4%. By 2006, the population topped 160,000.
Geography
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 . The main urban area is south of the Parkway Belt and Highway 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.
Climate Burlington's climate is humid continental (Köppen climate classification Dfa) with warm to hot, humid summers and cold, occasionally snowy winters. The climate is moderated somewhat by its proximity to Lake Ontario. Monthly mean temperatures range from in July to in January. The average annual precipitation is of rain and of snow.
Although it shares the continental climate found in Southern Ontario, its proximity to the lake moderates winter temperatures, and it also benefits from a sheltering effect of the Niagara Escarpment, allowing the most northerly tracts of Carolinian forest to thrive on the Escarpment that runs through western sections of city. Several species of flora and fauna usually found only in more southern climes are present in Burlington, including paw-paw (Asimina triloba), green dragon (Arisaema dracontium), tuckahoe (Peltandra virginica), American columbo (Frasera caroliniensis), wall-rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria), plus the Louisiana waterthrush, hooded warbler, southern flying squirrel and rare eastern pipistrelle bat. Near the visible promontory of Mount Nemo that rises some 200 m (650 ft) above the lake level, a "vertical forest" of white cedar clinging to the Escarpment face includes many small trees that are more than one thousand years old.
Hamilton Harbour, the western end of Lake Ontario, is bounded on its western shore by a large sandbar, now called the Beach strip, that was deposited during the last ice age. A canal bisecting the sandbar allows ships access to the harbour. The Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway (part of the Queen Elizabeth Way), and the Canal Lift Bridge allow access over the canal.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Burlington 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.
According to the 2016 census, Burlington's population was 183,314 where 48% of residents were male and 52% female. Minors (individuals up to the age of 19) made up 22.6% of the population (almost identical to the national average of 22.4%), and seniors (age 65+) were 19.2% (higher than the national average of 16.9%). This older population was also reflected in Burlington's median age of 43.3, which was higher than the Canadian median of 41.2.
Religion According to the 2021 census, 58.3% of Burlington residents identify as Christian, with Catholics (29.4%) making up the largest denomination, followed by Anglican (5.8%), United Church (5.2%), and other denominations. Others identify as Muslim (4.3%), Sikh (2.3%), Hindu (1.1%), Buddhist (0.6%), Jewish (0.4%), and with other religions. A total of 32.4% of the population report no religious affiliation.
Language 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%).
Mother tongue Population % English 142,605 78.7 French 2,970 1.6 Spanish 2,680 1.5 Polish 2,365 1.3 Arabic 2,205 1.2 Italian 1,845 1.0 Punjabi 1,795 1.0 German 1,645 0.9 Mandarin 1,555 0.9 Portuguese 1,545 0.9 Tagalog (Filipino) 1,290 0.7 Dutch 1,080 0.6
Knowledge of language Population % English 178,540 99.1 French 16,140 9.0 Spanish 4,455 2.5 Polish 2,920 1.6 Italian 2,865 1.6 Arabic 2,750 1.5 German 2,685 1.5 Punjabi 2,565 1.4 Hindi 2,055 1.1 Portuguese 2,040 1.1 Mandarin 1,990 1.1 Tagalog (Filipino) 1,830 1.0
Ethnicity Ethnic originPopulation%English56,13031.2Canadian42,93523.8Scottish40,05022.2Irish37,16020.6German18,64510.4French16,5859.2Italian14,2357.9Polish10,4755.8Dutch9,1155.1Ukrainian8,1604.5East Indian7,2454.0 The 2021 census records a visible minority of 20.9%.
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.
+ Panethnic groups in the City of Burlington (2001−2021)Panethnicgroup20212016201120062001 European 143,180 149,320 151,195 145,720 137,575 South Asian 11,955 8,695 6,325 5,030 3,235 East Asian 6,295 5,160 4,175 3,280 2,335 Middle Eastern 5,510 3,495 2,385 1,555 1,075 African 4,670 3,795 2,830 2,450 2,305 Southeast Asian 4,075 3,520 2,270 1,550 890 Latin American 3,205 2,325 1,660 1,135 665 Indigenous 2,385 1,970 1,510 1,070 905 Other/Multiracial 2,680 1,835 1,135 685 755 Total responses 183,955 180,125 173,490 162,480 149,735 Total population 186,948 183,314 175,779 164,415 150,836
Economy Burlington's economic strength is the diversity of its economic base, mainly achieved because of its geography, proximity to large industries in southern Ontario (Canada's largest consumer market), its location within the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and proximity to Hamilton, and its transportation infrastructure including the Port of Hamilton on Burlington Bay. This diversity has allowed for sustained growth with regards to the economy. The city has a robust economy with potential for growth—it is at the hub of the Golden Horseshoe, is largely driven by both the automotive and manufacturing sectors.
No single employer or job sector dominates Burlington's economy. The leading industrial sectors, in terms of employment, are food processing, packaging, electronics, motor vehicle/transportation, business services, chemical/pharmaceutical and environmental. The top five private sector employers in Burlington are Fearmans Pork Inc, Cogeco Cable, Evertz Microsystems, Boehringer Ingelheim and EMC2. Other notable business include The EBF Group, ARGO Land Development, The Sunshine Doughnut Company and TipTapPay Micropayments Ltd. The largest public sector employers in the city are the City of Burlington, Burlington Economic Development, the Halton District School Board, the Halton Catholic District School Board and Joseph Brant Hospital.
Burlington Centre and Mapleview Centre are popular malls within the city. The city's summer festivals include Canada's Largest Ribfest, and the Burlington Sound of Music Festival which also attract many visitors.
Arts and culture Organizations The Burlington Teen Tour Band has operated in the city since 1947, including members between the ages of 13 and 21. The marching band are regular participants in major international parades. They are also referred to as "Canada's Musical Ambassadors" and have represented Canada all over the world. One such occasion was during the 2018 Tournament of Roses Parade, where the band represented Canada for the fifth time in the band's history.