| Waterloo Regional Municipality, Ontario |
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Information AboutWaterloo Regional Municipality, Ontario |
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The Regional Municipality of Waterloo is located in the south-western part of the and, as a political entity, the regional municipality should be understood as the more integrated successor to the county governments of old. The region is dominated by the Kitchener - Waterloo - Cambridge metropolitan area. The Region is 1,382 square kilometres in size and its regional seat of government is in Kitchener . As of March 2006, the population is estimated to have surpassed 500,000.1 HISTORY with Waterloo Regional Municipality in red.]] The history of the Waterloo region goes back to 1783 , when the British government granted the Grand River Valley to the Iroquois , who had supported the Loyalists in the American War Of Independence , to compensate them for the loss of their land in New York . The Iroquois settled in the lower Grand River Valley (now Brant County ), and sold the land which now comprises Waterloo Region to Colonel Richard Beasley, a United Empire Loyalist. The land owned by Beasley appealed to a particular group of Pennsylvania German Mennonite farmers. They pooled resources to purchase all of the unsold land from Beasley, forming the German Company Tract and dividing the lands into 128 farms of 18,100 square metres and 32 farms of 12,000 square metres each for distribution. By the 1840s , the presence of the German -speaking Mennonite s made the area a popular choice for German settlers from Europe. These Germans founded their own communities in the south of the area settled by the Mennonites, the largest being the town of Berlin ( Changed To Kitchener , named for Lord Kitchener , due to anti-German sentiments during World War I ). The Waterloo region remained predominantly German-speaking until the early 20th century, and its German heritage is reflected in the region’s large Lutheran community and the annual Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest . There are still traditional Mennonite communities located north of Kitchener-Waterloo. The most famous is St. Jacobs , with its well-known thrice-weekly outdoor market. In 1973 , the regional municipality style of government was imposed on the county. In that major reorganization, the fifteen towns and townships of the county were reduced to just seven in the new Region of Waterloo. The new city of Cambridge was created through the merger of the city of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, the village of Blair and various parcels of township land. One township vanished when the former Waterloo Township was divided among Woolwich Township and the three cities of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. The settlement of Erbsville was annexed to the city of Waterloo and the settlement of Freeport was annexed to Kitchener. The independent village of Bridgeport was also annexed to Kitchener and this created many hard feelings both in Bridgeport (which had once upon a time been larger than Kitchener, but failed to grow when the railways passed it by) and also in the city of Waterloo, where Bridgeport Road is a major thoroughfare terminating in the village centre. The former county government was given broader powers as a Regional Municipality . Further municipal amalgamation began discussions in the 1990s , with little progress. In late 2005 , Kitchener’s city council voted to visit the subject again, with the possibility of reducing the seven constituent municipalities into one or more cities. COMMUNITIES Waterloo Region’s seven municipalities are: The three cities: There are many smaller unincorporated towns and settlements within the townships. Some of these were once independent and sustained reeves and councils but lost this status in amalgamation. These communities include:
DEMOGRAPHICS 438,515 people (2001 census) live in the Region of Waterloo. The region will pass the 500,000 mark in March 2006. If one includes full-time university students, that number increases to 545,000. The population is increasingly diverse. It has the 4th highest percentage of visible minorities in Canada. Many locals (about 23%) are of German descent historically. As house prices in the Toronto area increase, Waterloo Region is increasingly becoming an attractive area to reside in. This, among other factors, has made new residential construction rates very high; concerns about Urban Sprawl , with all its effects, continue to be raised. EDUCATION Waterloo Region is home to two universities and also home to three community college campuses: Universities: College:
See also a List Of Waterloo Region, Ontario Schools . BUSINESS Waterloo Region is expanding in both commercial and population terms. The presence of two universities, the University Of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University , acts as a catalyst for growth in the high-tech area. As of late 2004 , Waterloo Region has the lowest Unemployment Rate in Canada. Major employers in the region
SERVICES Over time, many municipal services have come under the jurisdiction of the regional government. These include Police , Emergency Medical Services , Waste Management and Recycling , and the Public Transit system. The main administration is run from the seat in Kitchener; various service offices are found in many parts of the Region. From a geographically central location in north Cambridge, maintenance operations and the police headquarters are able to reach anywhere in their service area. TRANSPORT Public transport is provided by Grand River Transit , created from amalgamation of the former Cambridge Transit and Kitchener Transit systems. The Region also owns and operates the Region Of Waterloo International Airport , near Breslau . The airport is the 12th busiest in Canada and underwent a major expansion in 2003 . The Region is in the planning stages of a Rapid Transit link between Waterloo, Kitchener, and Cambridge. MEDIA Waterloo Region is a signicant media centre. Beyond the 500000 people that live in the Region there is another 778,000 within 50 km and 6.2 million in 130 km radius. The broadcast television station is CKCO , the local affiliate of CTV . Its daily newspaper is The Record. NOTABLE RESIDENTS
REFERENCES 2 EXTERNAL LINKS
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