| Credit River | |
| Native Name: | Ojibwa: Missinnihe |
| Name Etymology: | From Rivière au Crédit, used by French fur traders |
| Pushpin Map: | Canada Ontario |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth of the Credit River in Ontario |
| Subdivision Type1: | Country |
| Subdivision Name1: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Ontario |
| Length: | 90km (60miles)[1] |
| Discharge1 Location: | Erindale, Mississauga[2] |
| Discharge1 Min: | 0.085m3/s |
| Discharge1 Avg: | 8.12m3/s |
| Discharge1 Max: | 501m3/s |
| Source1: | Niagara Escarpment |
| Source1 Location: | near Orangeville, Ontario and Caledon East, Ontario |
| Source1 Elevation: | 400m (1,300feet) |
| Mouth: | Lake Ontario |
| Mouth Location: | Port Credit |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 43.5478°N -79.5808°W[3] |
| Mouth Elevation: | 74m (243feet)[4] |
| Basin Size: | 1000km2 |
The Credit River is a river in southern Ontario, which flows from headwaters above the Niagara Escarpment near Orangeville and Caledon East to empty into Lake Ontario at Port Credit, Mississauga. It drains an area of approximately 1000km2. The total length of the river and its tributary streams is over 1500km (900miles).
Despite urbanization and associated problems with water quality on the lower section of this river, it provides spawning areas for Chinook salmon and rainbow trout. There is a fish ladder on the river at Streetsville. Much of the river can still be travelled by canoe or kayak. The headwaters of the Credit River is home to a native self-sustaining brook trout population and an introduced brown trout population.
Credit Valley Conservation, the local watershed management conservation authority, operates several Conservation Areas including Belfountain, Island Lake, and Terra Cotta.
Forks of the Credit Provincial Park is located on the upper part of the river between Brampton and Orangeville, and is near the Bruce Trail.
Communities in the river's watershed include the following:
The river became known as Missinnihe (Eastern Ojibwa: "trusting creek"[5]) to the Mississaugas First Nation who met annually with white traders there. To the First Nations, the river was "held in reverential estimation as the favourite resort of their ancestors" and the band, which ranged from Long Point on Lake Erie to the Rouge River on Lake Ontario, became known as the Credit River Indians. Their descendants are today the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
The origins of the English name come from the time when French fur traders supplied goods to the native people in advance (on credit) against furs which would be delivered the following spring. It was known as the Rivière au Crédit. The trading post was set up at the mouth of the river, in Port Credit, in the early 18th century.
As of the 2006 census, 750,000 people live in the watershed. Of those, 87 percent live in the lower third of the watershed. Population growth is approximately 3 percent per year. In 1999, 21 percent of the watershed was developed. By 2020, 40 percent of the watershed will be developed (based on approved development and the official plans of the municipalities).
The Credit River is home to a wide range of wildlife. Some species are permanent or seasonal residents while others are sighted occasionally. This watershed is home to 1,330 plant species, 64 fish species (including many bait fish, pike, and brook trout), 41 mammal species, 5 turtle species, 8 snake species, 17 amphibian species, and 244 bird species.[6]
The Canadian indie rock band The Constantines entitled a track "Credit River" on their 2008 album Kensington Heights.
A youth Hockey team in the OMHA is named the Credit River Capitals
List of major roadways crossing over the Credit in Peel Region:
Most of the bridges were built in the mid-20th century or later. Only the Queen Elizabeth Way and Old Derry Road West bridges are older.
CP Rail and CN Rail have steel deck truss bridges crossing over the Credit River.