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The 'Golden Horseshoe' is a densely populated and industrialized region or urban agglomeration centred around the west end of Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada. Most of it is also part of the Windsor-Quebec City corridor. With a population of 8.1 million people, it makes up over a quarter (25.6%) of the population of Canada and contains approximately 75% of Ontario's population,^[1] making it one of the largest population concentrations in North America. Although it is a geographically named sub-region of Southern Ontario, 'Greater Golden Horseshoe' is more frequently used today to describe the metropolitan regions that stretch across the area in totality.
The built-up region extends from Niagara Falls at the eastern end of the Niagara Peninsula, wraps around Lake Ontario west to Hamilton, anchored by Toronto on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario, continuing to the east of Oshawa and spreading inland in all directions away from the Lake Ontario shoreline, west to the Kitchener-Waterloo area and north to Barrie. The whole region's area is about 33,500 km², However, 7,300 km of it is covered by the Greenbelt.
The phrase, "Golden Horseshoe," was first used by Westinghouse President, Herbert H. Rogge, in a speech to the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, on January 12, 1954. “Hamilton in 50 years will be the forward cleat in a 'golden horseshoe' of industrial development from Oshawa to the Niagara River...150 miles long and 50 miles wide...It will run from Niagara Falls on the south to about Oshawa on the north and take in numerous cities and towns already there, including Hamilton and Toronto." Fast Facts from Hamilton's Past

Contents

Definition

Demographics

Economy

Name

Attractions

Education

Divisions

Census Metropolitan Areas

Municipalities

Urban areas in the Golden Horseshoe

Telephone Area Codes

References

Definition

Golden Horseshoe was used as a geographical distinction since the 1950s, but it was only on July 13, 2004 that a report from the provincial Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal entitled ''Places to Grow'' coined the term 'Greater Golden Horseshoe', extending the boundaries west to Waterloo Region, north to Barrie, and northeast to Peterborough.^[2] A subsequent edition released February 16, 2005, broadened the term further, adding Brant, Haldimand and Northumberland Counties. Statistics Canada defined the region first in its 2001 census as the 'Extended Golden Horseshoe', combining many CMAs. The Greater Golden Horseshoe is officially designated in Ontario Regulation 416/05^[3] under the Places to Grow Act.

Demographics

The population of the Greater Golden Horseshoe is 8.1 million residents as of the 2006 census.¹
The region is projected to grow to over 11.5 million people by the 2030s [1]. The definition of the Golden Horseshoe as an agglomerated urban area, that is combining Census Metropolitan Areas is similar to how population counts are tabulated for Combined Statistical Area which are used in the United States to combine more than one metropolitan areas into a larger defined urbanized area. These metropolitan areas are intrinsically linked through inter-dependence of services, trade, close proximity and other factors , in this context they can also be viewed as a single Region.

Economy

The economy of this region is booming. Toronto's stock exchange is the third largest on the continent by market capitalization (after New York), and seventh largest in the world [2]. Recently, five major office-dominated skyscrapers have been planned in its financial district (to go along with hundreds of condominiums).
Niagara Falls has one of the world's largest per-capita tourist economies, benefiting from millions of tourists coming to see its majestic waterfalls and shop in its numerous stores. The wine making and fruit growing industries of the Niagara Peninsula produce award-winning wines which are beginning to attract attention around the world, in particular the ice wine for which the region is known.
Cities such as Hamilton, Oshawa, Oakville, Whitby and Kitchener all benefit from having major large-scale industrial production facilities, Hamilton being steel-dominated and Oshawa being much more car-oriented. Other significant auto-production facilities also exist in St. Catharines, Cambridge and Alliston. Hamilton and Toronto also have two of the largest seaports in Lake Ontario. The Welland Canal system handles tanker ship and recreational traffic through the Great Lakes. Large rail and truck distribution facilities are located in Toronto, Vaughan and Brampton.
Lester B. Pearson International Airport, located in Mississauga is the busiest Canadian Airport handling approximately 30 million passengers a year. Other regional airports of signifinance include John C. Munro International Airport south of Hamilton which is a major regional freight and courier location; Buttonville Airport and Toronto Island Airport in the Greater Toronto Area both mostly serve regional business travellers and Region of Waterloo International Airport serving the Region of Waterloo Area. On the US side, Buffalo-Niagara International Airport is second largest in passenger volume in the region to Pearson Airport and is frequently used by Canadian passengers flying to US destinations.

Name

The "horseshoe" part of the region's name is derived from the characteristic horseshoe shape of the west end of Lake Ontario with Burlington roughly positioned in the centre. The "golden" part is historically attributed to the region's wealth and prosperity, according to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. (An alternative explanation often quoted attributes it to its bright, or "golden", appearance from space, as a result of a continuous urban stretch of nighttime lights; however, the name predates satellite imagery.)

Attractions

Being a major world city, Toronto is known world-wide for its performing arts (theatre, opera, etc). However, it also has a large night-scene. It has one of the largest downtowns on the continent, and an Uptown and a Midtown. It is an extremely pedestrian friendly, green and safe city.
Toronto is also home to many world-class shopping districts, such as Yonge-Bloor and The Beaches. These and many others are home to major, big-name retailers. The city also is home to several large, upscale malls such as Yorkdale, The Eaton Centre and Sherway Gardens.
Large cultural annual festivals include Oktoberfest (Kitchener) and Caribana (Toronto).
The Niagara Region has become one of the major wine-production areas in Canada. The Golden Horseshoe contains many small towns with tourist-jammed, historic main streets -Niagara-on-the-Lake the most well known among them. Niagara Falls, Ontario is one of the world's largest waterfalls, and attracts millions to Clifton Hill, a neighborhood featuring hundreds of souvenir stores, restaurants and skyline-changing hotels.
The Niagara Escarpment, a world biosphere as designated by the United Nations runs north and then east through the region cutting the Niagara Gorge at Niagara Falls, the well-known Bruce Trail runs along the escarpment through mostly protected woodlands. Similar protection of some wooded areas exists on the Oak Ridges Moraine running west-east in the north end of the Greater Toronto Area, although development pressures continue to threathen habitat.
Hamilton has the historical reputation of being a blue-collar city; however, waterfront redevelopments and large-scale gentrification have been rapidly changing the perception of the city, although it retains a large industrial base.

Education

This region is home to several universities, many of which are well known and respected throughout the world, including Brock University, McMaster University, the University of Toronto, University of Guelph, University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University, York University, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, and Ryerson University.The University of Toronto has three campuses; One in Downtown Toronto, one in Scarborough, and one in Mississauga. Numerous other universities and colleges can be found in the region.
There is also a strong integration between the universities and hospitals in the area, particularly in Toronto and Hamilton, which have an extensive medical research core.

Divisions

Census Metropolitan Areas

CMAs in the Greater Golden Horseshoe with over 100,000 in population are: Population and dwelling counts, for census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations, 2006 and 2001 censuses - 100% data
# Toronto CMA 5,113,149
# Hamilton CMA 692,911
# Kitchener-Waterloo CMA 451,235
# St. Catharines-Niagara CMA 390,317
# Oshawa CMA 330,594
# Barrie CMA 177,061
# Guelph CMA 127,009
# Brantford CMA 124,607
# Peterborough CMA 116,570

Municipalities

Municipalities (Census Subdivisions) in the Greater Golden Horseshoe with over 100,000 in population at the 2006 census are: Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), 2006 and 2001 censuses - 100% data
# Toronto 2,503,281
# Mississauga 668,549
# Hamilton 504,559
# Brampton 433,806
# Markham 261,573
# Vaughan 238,866
# Kitchener 204,668
# Oakville 165,613
# Burlington 164,415
# Richmond Hill 162,704
# Oshawa 141,590
# St. Catharines 131,989
# Barrie 128,430
# Cambridge 120,371
# Guelph 114,943
# Whitby 111,184

Urban areas in the Golden Horseshoe

Main articles: List of Municipalities in the Golden Horseshoe

Telephone Area Codes

# 416 - City of Toronto
# 647 - overlay code for Toronto City
# 905 - York, Peel, Halton, Durham, Hamilton, Niagara, and Northumberland County
# 289 - overlay code for York, Peel, Durham, Hamilton and Niagara
# 519 - Waterloo, Wellington, Dufferin, Brant and Haldimand-Norfolk
# 226 - overlay for Southwestern Ontario
# 705 - Simcoe, Kawarthas and Peterborough

References

1. Portrait of the Canadian Population in 2006: Subprovincial population dynamics, Greater Golden Horseshoe
2. Places to Grow
3. Ontario Statutes and Regulations
4. McMaster University Website