| Grey County | |
| Official Name: | County of Grey |
| Settlement Type: | County (upper-tier) |
| Seal Size: | 100x80px |
| Image Blank Emblem: | Grey County logo.svg |
| Blank Emblem Type: | Logo |
| Blank Emblem Size: | 150px |
| Pushpin Map: | CAN ON Grey#Canada Southern Ontario |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Seat Type: | County seat |
| Seat: | Owen Sound |
| Parts Type: | Subdivisions |
| P4: | Municipality (Town) of Meaford |
| P5: | Township of Chatsworth |
| P6: | Township of Georgian Bluffs |
| P7: | Municipality (township) of Grey Highlands |
| P8: | Township of Southgate |
| P9: | Township of West Grey |
| Government Type: | Upper Tier Municipal Government |
| Leader Title: | Warden |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 1852 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Land Km2: | 4513.50 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Population Total: | 93830 |
| Population Density Km2: | 20.8 |
| Timezone: | EST |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 44.3333°N -120°W |
| Area Code: | 519 / 226 / 548 |
| Website: | www.grey.ca |
Grey County is a county of the Canadian province of Ontario. The county seat is in Owen Sound. It is located in the subregion of Southern Ontario named Southwestern Ontario. Grey County is also a part of the Georgian Triangle. At the time of the Canada 2016 Census the population of the county was 93,830.[1]
Grey County consists of the following municipalities (in order of population):
| Municipality | 2016 Population[2] | Population Centres[3] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21,341 | Owen Sound | ||
| 12,518 | Durham | ||
| 10,991 | Meaford | ||
| 10,479 | |||
| 9,804 | Markdale | ||
| 7,688 | Hanover | ||
| 7,354 | Dundalk | ||
| 7,025 | Thornbury | ||
| 6,630 | Chatsworth |
The first European settlement was in the vicinity of Collingwood or Meaford. Exploring parties arrived from York in 1825 by travelling from Holland Landing and down the Holland River into Lake Simcoe and Shanty Bay. From there they travelled by land to the Nottawasaga River into Georgian Bay and along the thickly wooded shore.
In 1837 the village of Sydenham was surveyed by Charles Rankin. In 1856 it was incorporated as the Town of Owen Sound with an estimated population of 2,000.
In 1840, the area became part of the new District of Wellington, and its territory formed the County of Waterloo for electoral purposes.[4] [5] In 1849, Wellington District was abolished, and Waterloo County remained for municipal and judicial purposes.[6] The territory of the Bruce Peninsula became part of Waterloo in 1849,[7] but was later withdrawn and transferred to Bruce County in 1851.[8]
In January 1852, Waterloo County became the United Counties of Wellington, Waterloo and Grey.[9] Grey County was named in honour of the British Colonial Secretary's father, Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830-1834.[10] Its territory was declared to consist of the following townships, together with part of the Indian Reserves on the Bruce Peninsula:[11]
The Indian lands were later surveyed and became the townships of Keppel[12] and Sarawak.[13] A Provisional Municipal Council was organized for the County in April 1852, with the Town of Sydenham named as the county town.[14]
Waterloo was withdrawn from the United Counties in January 1853, and the remainder was renamed the United Counties of Wellington and Grey.[15] In January 1854, the United Counties was dissolved, and Wellington and Grey were separate counties for all purposes.[16]
In 1861-1862 the first gravel roads were constructed into Owen Sound at a cost of $300,000. The four colonization roads were:
Prior to the road building it often took two days to walk up to Owen Sound.[17]
In 1881, the township of Melancthon and the village of Shelburne were withdrawn from Grey and transferred to the new Dufferin County.[18] [19]
On January 1, 2001, Grey County underwent a major restructuring, resulting in the reduction in number of the local municipalities:[20]
| New Municipality | Constituted from | |
|---|---|---|
| City of Owen Sound | ||
| Town of Hanover | ||
| Thornbury and Collingwood Township | ||
| Chatsworth, Sullivan and Holland | ||
| Shallow Lake, Keppel, Derby and Sarawak | ||
| Flesherton, Markdale, Artemesia, Euphrasia and Osprey | ||
| Meaford, St. Vincent and Sydenham | ||
| Dundalk, Egremont and Proton | ||
| Durham, Neustadt, Glenelg, Normanby and Bentinck | ||
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Grey County had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 4497.93km2, it had a population density of in 2021.[21]