| Huron County | |
| Official Name: | County of Huron |
| Settlement Type: | County (upper-tier) |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Seat Type: | County seat |
| Seat: | Goderich |
| Parts Type: | Municipalities |
| P1: | Ashfield–Colborne–Wawanosh |
| P2: | Bluewater |
| P3: | Central Huron |
| P4: | Goderich |
| P5: | Howick |
| P6: | Huron East |
| P7: | Morris-Turnberry |
| P8: | North Huron |
| P9: | South Huron |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Land Km2: | 3398.28 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Total: | 61366 |
| Population Density Km2: | 18.1 |
| Timezone: | EST |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 43.6667°N -105°W |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code span |
| Postal Code: | N0G, N0M, N7A |
Huron County is a county of the province of Ontario, Canada. It is located on the southeast shore of its namesake, Lake Huron, in the southwest part of the province. The county seat is Goderich, also the county's largest community.
The population reported in the 2021 Census for this predominantly agricultural area with many villages and small towns was 61,366 in a land area of 3,398 square kilometres. Of the total population, 7,881 reside in Goderich.
The portion of the Huron Tract ceded to the Canada Company was established as the "County of Huron" in 1835, with the exception of certain townships that were transferred to other counties:[2]
In 1835, the county was declared to consist of the following townships:[3]
They have since devolved to the following counties (as outlined in red):
Legislation was passed by the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada in 1838 to authorize the separation of the county from the London District and constitute it as the Huron District.[4] The county was extended northward in 1840, upon the survey of a new range of townships on its northern boundary, beginning with Ashfield Township, and later including Wawanosh, Morris, Grey and Elma.[5] The District itself came into being in October 1841.[6]
Huron County was continued for electoral purposes in 1845,[7] and the District was extended northwards as far as the Bruce Peninsula in 1846.[8]
The District (which existed for judicial and municipal purposes) was abolished at the beginning of 1850.[9] Legislation passed later in the same session of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada provided for the county to be reconstituted as the United Counties of Huron, Perth and Bruce, with the territory of the Bruce Peninsula withdrawn and annexed to Waterloo County.[10] The townships were distributed as follows:
| From | Perth County | Bruce County | Huron County | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huron County |
|
|
| |
| Waterloo County |
|
The Bruce Peninsula was later returned to Bruce in 1851.[12] The County of Perth was given its own Provisional Municipal Council at that time,[13] and was separated from the United Counties in 1853.[14]
Several townships were transferred to Middlesex County:
Legislation was passed in 1866 to provide for the dissolution of the United Counties on January 1, 1867, with Huron and Bruce County becoming separate counties for all purposes.[17]
The Huron County Council consists of fifteen members from the nine area municipalities to ensure that each is represented on this council. Each year, a Warden is elected from the group; this individual chairs meetings and represents the County at various functions. Elected to Ashfeild-Colborne-Wawanosh Council in 2014, and acclaimed as Mayor in 2018, the current Warden is Glen McNeil.
Most of the population of the county resides in the Huron—Bruce, formerly Huron and Huron—Middlesex, federal electoral district. The majority also reside in the Huron—Bruce (provincial electoral district) formerly known as Huron and Huron—Middlesex.
The county's Official Plan (2015) addresses the following issues: "agriculture, community services, the economy, natural environment, extractive resources, and settlement patterns." According to this document, agriculture is a particularly significant part of the economy since "Huron leads all counties and regions in Ontario in total value of production; and it also exceeds the production totals of several provinces".[18]
Huron County comprises nine lower-tier municipalities (in order of population):
The boundaries of the county's municipalities have been in effect since 2001, after the provincial government imposed mergers throughout the province.
As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Huron 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 3398.28km2, it had a population density of in 2021.