Oakville Harbour
Oakville is a wonderful place to visit, relax and enjoy yourself, find great entertainment, and indulge your shopping mania. The downtown area is replete with great restaurants and cafes, specialty shops, and fun shops for you to wile away an afternoon. Oakville is well known as Ontario's premier dining and shopping destination. Whether you're there for a business luncheon or to take advantage of the great bargains, downtown Oakville provides a pleasurable and comfortable atmosphere for you to work and play in. Interesting and stimulating events are held in Oakville. The Downtown Oakville Jazz Festival is held annually, and Midnight Madness is Oakville's biggest shopping event of the year. It's a great place for friends to meet and have a coffee and croissant, or for the family to shop for birthday gifts and school clothes for the kids.
Oakville places a premium on creating a city wherein residents can live, work, and play in the best possible lifestyle, and because of this, it is a very desirable location to call home. The town has established an impressive plan to assess its parks, recreation opportunities, cultural heritage, library services, and community service programs. It is uniquely responsive to its community members on these issues, with the intent to constantly improve Oakville's quality of life. The plan is based on the recognition that activities such as participating in a yoga class at a recreation center, visiting a museum steeped in local history, researching health issues at the library, exercising on a scenic trail, or going to a concert - these activities contribute greatly to the well-being of the community. Oakville is growing and changing rapidly, and the community plans on evaluating and making positive additions and changes to continually enhance their lifestyle.
LOCATION
Oakville (population 150,000 in 2001) is located right on Lake Ontario and the Queen Elizabeth Highway (QEW), midway between Toronto (about 31 km away) and Hamilton (about 20 km away). Oakville is part of the Greater Toronto Area metropolitan community.
TRANSPORTATION/AIRPORTS
The Toronto Pearson International Airport is located in nearby Mississauga. This transportation center accounts for one-third of all air traffic in Canada, and serves the Greater Toronto area. The airport serves as the hub for Air Canada.
BRIEF HISTORY
In 1805 the Assembly of Upper Canada bought most of the lands between Etobicoke and Hamilton from the Mississaugas. The Mississaugas were natives peoples related to the Chippewa, and were called "Mississauga" by European settlers due to the fact that they traded along the Mississagi River, which is located at the head of Lake Huron. In 1807 British immigrants settled on the shore of Lake Ontario and the area surrounding Dundas Street. The nearby area surrounding the creeks was purchased in 1820. In 1827 this 1000 acres was auctioned off to William Chisholm, a Scottish immigrant who left the development of the area to his son, Robert Kerr Chisolm, and his brother-in-law, Thomas Merrick.
Ship-building, timber shipment, and wheat farming were Oakville's first industries. The area suffered an economic recession in the 1850's resulting in the closing of the foundry, the most important industry in town. Basket-making then became a major industry in the town, and a railway contributed to Oakville's economic development.
Later on industrialization developed due to the opening of the Petro-Canada refinery, the Procor factory, and, most importantly, the Ford Motor Company factory.
In 1962 the town of Oakville merged with its neighboring villages (Bronte, Palermo, Sheridan, and Trafalgar) to become the new Town of Oakville.
EDUCATION
The Halton District School Board serves students throughout the Halton region, which includes the municipalities of Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton, and Oakville. The District operates 72 elementary schools and 16 secondary schools. A team of 80 principals and 72 vice-principals, nine superintendents, one executive officer, as well as more than 2,500 teaching staff, and 1,000 support/non-teaching staff make the Halton District School Board one of the region's largest employers.
Public schools are organized into three levels: primary school includes junior kindergarten through grade 6; the secondary school includes grades 7 and 8; and high school covers grades 9 through 12. Students aspiring to higher education will generally be directed into the 'academic stream". The "applied stream" is offered to students who plan to complete the high school curriculum.
Regular curriculum includes a wide range of topics including - but not limited to - core French, technology, vocational, music and arts programs. Other programs offered within District include French Immersion, English-as-a-Second-Language, and adult and continuing education programs. Special education programs are also provided for students with special needs.
Oakville is nestled on the north shore of Lake Ontario, perfectly situated between Toronto and Hamilton in Canada's economic heartland. Oakville is strategically located on one of Canada's most travelled highways, the Queen Elizabeth Highway (QEW), allowing a short 30 minute trip to Toronto and one hour to the US border. Canada's largest airport is only 20 minutes away.
Picturesque, historic and friendly are just some of the words used to describe the Town of Oakville. With a population of approximately 129,000 people, the municipality has worked hard to preserve an atmosphere of home town pride and community spirit. Here is a town that offers the convenience of a large city with the atmosphere and benefits of small town living.
Boasting a quality of life and family environment that is "second to none", Oakville is a great place to live, work and enjoy your leisure time. This growing community has always been a desirable residential location and an outstanding centre for business and commerce. Oakville offers a strong and diversified industrial base with concentration in automotive, pharmaceutical, aerospace and high technology.
The people of Oakville are one of the highest skilled and well educated workforces in the Toronto area, from which the diverse corporate community can draw. Eighty-three percent of the labour force has earned a university degree or trade certificate.
Oakville is blessed with an abundance of natural features including the Lake Ontario waterfront, two harbours and extensive ravine and valley systems.
This historic town, founded in 1827, has preserved its rich heritage, especially in the downtown area where 19th century buildings house many fine shops and restaurants. Oakville with its interesting shops, superb restauarants and bistros, Waterfront Festival, Canadian Open at Glen Abbey and the Performing Arts are only a few on the many year round means of enjoyment.
The town has something for everyone of all ages to enjoy and help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Oakville is a town you will be proud to call home.
Check out these links for more information:
Regional Municipality of Halton, ONT.
Town of Oakville
Halton District School System (serving Oakville)
