List of cities in Ontario

Cities in the Canadian province of Ontario

A city is a subtype of municipalities in the Canadian province of Ontario. A city can have the municipal status of either a single-tier or lower-tier municipality. Prior to 2003, Ontario had minimum population thresholds of 15,000 and 25,000 for city status. Minimum population thresholds are no longer necessary for a municipality to brand itself as a city.

Ontario has 52 cities,[1] which together had in 2016 a cumulative population of 9,900,179 and average population of 190,388.[2] The most and least populous are Toronto and Dryden, with 2,794,356 and 7,749 residents, respectively.[2] Ontario's newest city is Richmond Hill, whose council voted to change from a town to a city on March 26, 2019.[3] Previous to that, Markham changed from a town to a city on July 1, 2012.[4]

History

Under the former Municipal Act, 1990, a city was both an urban and a local municipality.[5] Under that act, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) could change the status of a village or town, upon its request, to a city if it had a population of 15,000 or more.[5] The OMB could also incorporate a township as a city under the same conditions with the exception that the population requirements was 25,000 or more.[5] In either event, if located within a county, authorization by the Minister of Municipal Affairs was also required.[5]

In the transition to the Municipal Act, 2001, conventional municipal statuses and their associated population threshold requirements were abandoned. On December 31, 2002, every city that:[6]

  • "existed and formed part of a county, a regional or district municipality or the County of Oxford for municipal purposes" became a lower-tier municipality yet retained its name as a city; and
  • "existed and did not form part of a county, a regional or district municipality or the County of Oxford for municipal purposes" became a single-tier municipality yet retained its name as a city.

The current legislation also provides lower- and single-tier municipalities with the authority to name themselves as "cities", or other former conventional municipal status types such as "towns", "villages" or "townships", or generically as "municipalities".[7]

List

Rank (2021) Municipality Municipal status Population (2021) Population (2016) Change Land area (km2) Population density (/km2)
1
Toronto City 2,794,356 2,731,571 +2.3% 631.1 4,427.8
2
Ottawa City 1,017,449 934,243 +8.9% 2788.2 364.9
3
Mississauga City 717,961 721,599 −0.5% 292.74 245.3
4
Brampton City 656,480 593,638 +10.6% 265.89 2,469.0
5
Hamilton City 569,353 536,917 +6.0% 1118.31 509.1
6
London City 422,324 383,822 +10.0% 420.5 1,004.3
7
Markham City 338,503 328,966 +2.9% 210.93 1,604.8
8
Vaughan City 323,103 306,233 +5.5% 272.44 1,186.0
9
Kitchener City 256,885 233,222 +10.1% 136.81 1,877.7
10
Windsor City 229,660 217,188 +5.7% 146.02 1,572.8
11
Richmond Hill City 202,022 195,022 +3.6% 100.79 2,004.4
12
Burlington City 186,948 183,314 +2.0% 186.12 1,004.4
13
Oshawa City 175,383 159,458 +10.0% 145.72 1,203.6
14
Greater Sudbury City 166,004 161,531 +2.8% 3186.26 52.1
15
Barrie City 147,829 141,434 +4.5% 99.01 1,493.1
16
Guelph City 143,740 131,794 +9.1% 87.43 1,644.1
17
Cambridge City 138,479 129,920 +6.6% 112.99 1,225.6
18
St. Catharines City 136,803 133,113 +2.8% 96.20 1,422.1
19
Waterloo City 121,436 104,986 +15.7% 64.06 1,895.7
20
Thunder Bay City 108,843 107,909 +0.9% 327.77 332.1
21
Brantford City 104,688 98,563 +6.2% 98.65 1,061.2
22
Pickering City 99,186 91,771 +8.1% 231.10 429.2
23
Niagara Falls City 94,415 88,071 +7.2% 210.25 449.1
24
Peterborough City 83,651 81,032 +3.2% 64.76 1,291.7
25
Sault Ste. Marie City 72,051 73,368 −1.8% 221.99 324.6
26
Sarnia City 72,047 71,594 +0.6% 163.90 439.6
27
Norfolk County City 67,490 64,044 +5.4% 1597.68 42.2
28
Welland City 55,750 52,293 +6.6% 81.16 686.9
29
Belleville City 55,071 50,716 +8.6% 247.15 222.8
30
North Bay City 52,662 51,553 +2.2% 315.53 166.9

Gallery

Name[1][8] Municipal
status[1]
Census division[1][9] Population
(2016)[2]
Population
(2011)[8]
Change
(%)[8]
Area
(km²)[8]
Population
density[8]
Barrie[note 1] Single-tier Simcoe 141,434 136,063 3.9 99.04 1,428.0
Belleville Single-tier Hastings 50,716 49,454 2.6 247.25 205.1
Brampton Lower-tier Peel 593,638 523,911 13.3 266.36 2,228.7
Brant Single-tier Brant 36,707 35,638 3.0 843.25 43.5
Brantford[note 2] Single-tier Brant 97,496 93,650 4.1 72.44 1,345.9
Brockville Single-tier Leeds and Grenville 21,346 21,870 −2.4 20.85 1,023.6
Burlington Lower-tier Halton 183,314 175,779 4.3 185.66 987.3
Cambridge[note 3] Lower-tier Waterloo 129,920 126,748 2.5 113.01 1,149.6
Clarence-Rockland Lower-tier Prescott and Russell 24,512 23,185 5.7 297.71 82.3
Cornwall Single-tier Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry 46,589 46,340 0.5 61.56 756.8
Chatham Single-tier Chatham 43,550 44,676 2.3 2,451.9 756.8
Dryden[note 4] Single-tier Kenora 7,749 7,617 1.7 66.19 117.1
Elliot Lake Single-tier Algoma 10,741 11,348 −5.3 714.65 15.0
Greater Sudbury[note 5] Single-tier Sudbury 161,531 160,274 0.8 3,228.35 50.0
Guelph Single-tier Wellington 131,794 121,688 8.3 87.22 1,511.1
Haldimand County Single-tier Haldimand 45,608 44,876 1.6 1,251.54 36.4
Hamilton[note 6] Single-tier Hamilton 536,917 519,949 3.3 1,117.29 480.6
Kawartha Lakes Single-tier Kawartha Lakes 75,423 73,214 3.0 3,084.38 24.5
Kenora Single-tier Kenora 15,096 15,348 −1.6 211.59 71.3
Kingston Single-tier Frontenac 123,798 123,363 0.4 451.19 274.4
Kitchener[note 7] Lower-tier Waterloo 233,222 219,153 6.4 136.77 1,705.2
London[note 8] Single-tier Middlesex 383,822 366,151 4.8 420.35 913.1
Leamington Single-tier Essex 27,595 28,403 0.58 261.24 105.3
Markham Lower-tier York 328,966 301,709 9.0 212.35 1,549.2
Mississauga[note 9] Lower-tier Peel 721,599 713,443 1.1 292.43 2,467.6
Niagara Falls[note 10] Lower-tier Niagara 88,071 82,997 6.1 209.73 419.9
Norfolk County Single-tier Norfolk 64,044 63,175 1.4 1,607.55 39.8
North Bay Single-tier Nipissing 51,553 53,651 −3.9 319.11 161.6
Orillia Single-tier Simcoe 31,166 30,586 1.9 28.58 1,090.3
Oshawa[note 11] Lower-tier Durham 159,458 149,607 6.6 145.64 1,094.9
Ottawa[note 12] Single-tier Ottawa 934,243 883,391 5.8 2,790.30 334.8
Owen Sound Lower-tier Grey 21,341 21,688 −1.6 24.27 879.2
Pembroke[note 13] Single-tier Renfrew 13,882 14,360 −3.3 14.56 953.3
Peterborough[note 14] Single-tier Peterborough 81,032 78,698 2.9 64.25 1,261.2
Pickering Lower-tier Durham 91,771 88,721 3.4 231.55 396.3
Port Colborne Lower-tier Niagara 18,306 18,424 −0.6 121.96 150.1
Prince Edward County Single-tier Prince Edward 24,735 25,258 −2.1 1,050.49 23.5
Quinte West Single-tier Hastings 43,577 43,086 1.1 494.02 88.2
Richmond Hill[note 15] Lower-tier York 195,022 185,541 5.1 101.11 1,928.8
Sarnia Lower-tier Lambton 71,594 72,366 −1.1 164.85 434.3
Sault Ste. Marie Single-tier Algoma 73,368 75,141 −2.4 223.24 328.6
St. Catharines[note 16] Lower-tier Niagara 133,113 131,400 1.3 96.13 1,384.8
St. Thomas Single-tier Elgin 38,909 37,905 2.6 35.63 1,092.1
Stratford Single-tier Perth 31,465 30,886 1.8 28.28 1,112.5
Temiskaming Shores Single-tier Timiskaming 9,920 10,400 −4.6 178.11 55.7
Thorold Lower-tier Niagara 18,801 17,931 4.9 82.99 226.5
Thunder Bay[note 17] Single-tier Thunder Bay 107,909 108,359 −0.4 328.36 328.6
Timmins Single-tier Cochrane 41,788 43,165 −3.2 2,978.83 14.0
Toronto[note 18] Single-tier Toronto 2,731,571 2,615,060 4.5 630.20 4,334.4
Vaughan Lower-tier York 306,233 288,301 6.2 273.56 1,119.4
Waterloo[note 19] Lower-tier Waterloo 104,986 98,780 6.3 64.02 1,639.8
Welland Lower-tier Niagara 52,293 50,631 3.3 81.04 645.3
Windsor[note 20] Single-tier Essex 217,188 210,891 3.0 146.38 1,483.8
Woodstock Lower-tier Oxford 40,902 37,754 8.3 48.97 835.3
Total cities 9,900,179 9,478,924 2.39 26,045.14 813.91

See also

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ^ The Barrie census metropolitan area (CMA) is formed around the City of Barrie.
  2. ^ The Brantford CMA includes the City of Brantford as well as the County of Brant, which is a single-tier city.
  3. ^ The City of Cambridge, as well as the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, form parts of the Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo CMA.
  4. ^ Dryden is Ontario's smallest city by population.
  5. ^ Greater Sudbury is Ontario's largest city by area. The Greater Sudbury CMA is formed around the City of Greater Sudbury.
  6. ^ Hamilton is Canada's tenth-largest city. The Hamilton CMA includes the cities of Burlington and Hamilton.
  7. ^ The City of Kitchener, as well as the cities of Cambridge and Waterloo, form parts of the Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo CMA.
  8. ^ The London CMA includes the cities of London and St. Thomas.
  9. ^ Mississauga is Ontario's largest lower-tier city.
  10. ^ The City of Niagara Falls, as well as the cities of Port Colborne, St. Catharines, Thorold and Welland, form parts of the St. Catharines–Niagara CMA.
  11. ^ The Oshawa CMA is formed around the City of Oshawa.
  12. ^ Ottawa is Canada's capital and fourth-largest city. The Ontario portion of the Ottawa–Gatineau CMA includes the cities of Clarence-Rockland and Ottawa.
  13. ^ Pembroke is Ontario's smallest city by area.
  14. ^ The Peterborough CMA is formed around the City of Peterborough.
  15. ^ Richmond Hill is Ontario's newest city, adopting the name on March 26, 2019.
  16. ^ The City of St. Catharines, as well as the cities of Niagara Falls, Port Colborne, Thorold and Welland, form parts of the St. Catharines–Niagara CMA.
  17. ^ The Thunder Bay CMA is formed around the City of Thunder Bay.
  18. ^ Toronto is Ontario's capital and Canada's and Ontario's largest city by population. The Toronto CMA includes the cities of Brampton, Markham, Mississauga, Pickering, Richmond Hill, Toronto and Vaughan.
  19. ^ The City of Waterloo, as well as the cities of Cambridge and Kitchener, form parts of the Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo CMA.
  20. ^ The Windsor CMA is formed around the City of Windsor.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "List of Ontario Municipalities". Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing. September 21, 2012. Archived from the original on February 28, 2013. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c "subdivisions (municipalities) and designated places, 2016 and 2011 censuses – 100% data". Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017.
  3. ^ "Richmond Hill Becomes a City". RichmondHill.ca. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Markham to change from town to city". CBC News. May 30, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d "Municipal Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter M.45". Service Ontario. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  6. ^ "Municipal Act, S.O. 2001, Chapter 25". Service Ontario. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  7. ^ "The Municipal Councillor's Guide". Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2011 and 2006 censuses (Ontario)". Statistics Canada. May 28, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  9. ^ "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census divisions, 2011 and 2006 censuses (Ontario)". Statistics Canada. January 30, 2013. Retrieved June 27, 2013.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Subdivisions of Ontario
CountiesDistrictsRegional municipalitiesSingle-tier municipalitiesSeparated municipalitiesRegions
  • flag Ontario portal
  • Category:Ontario
  • WikiProject: Ontario