Caledon (; 2021 population 76,581) is a town in Peel Region, Ontario, Canada. The name comes from a shortened form of Caledonia, the Roman name for what is now Scotland. Caledon is primarily rural with a number of hamlets and small villages, but also contains the larger community of Bolton (population 26,795) in its southeastern quadrant, adjacent to York Region. Some spillover urbanization also occurs in the south bordering the City of Brampton.

Caledon is the northernmost of three municipalities of Peel Region and part of the Greater Toronto Area. The town is northwest of Brampton. According to Statistics Canada the land area is and, according to the city the area is , which makes Caledon the largest municipality by area in the Greater Toronto Area.

History By 1869, Belfountain was a village with a population of 100 in the Township of Caledon, Peel County. It was established on the Credit River. There were stagecoaches to Erin and Georgetown. The average price of land was $20.The province of Ontario gazetteer and directory. H. McEvoy Editor and Compiler, Toronto: Robertson & Cook, Publishers, 1869, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044081323123&view=1up&seq=58&q1=caledon%20$20, accessed 23 October 2020 The township was likely named by settlers like Edward Ellis, who came from the area around Caledon, County Tyrone, now in Northern Ireland, or by public voting.

In 1974, Caledon's land area roughly tripled in size when Caledon Township was restructured into the present town by amalgamating with the part of Chinguacousy Township north of Mayfield Road (excluding Snelgrove), with the southern half becoming part of Brampton; as well as the villages of Bolton and Caledon East and Albion Township. As part of this restructuring, Peel County became Peel Region.

Communities

The primary administrative and commercial centre of Caledon is the community of Bolton, which the federal government estimated as having a population of 26,795 in 2021.

Aside from Bolton, other smaller communities in Caledon include the following:

Rural service centres (i.e., larger hamlets, villages, or new residential developments): Caledon East, Mayfield West Villages: Alton, Belfountain, Caledon Village, Cheltenham, Inglewood, Mono Mills, Palgrave Hamlets: Albion, Alloa, Brimstone (Brimstone Point), Campbell's Cross, Cataract, Claude, Melville, Mono Road, Terra Cotta, Wildfield Industrial/commercial centres: Sandhill, Tullamore, Victoria Other localities: Boston Mills, Castlederg, Cedar Meadows, Cedar Mills, Coulterville, Coventry, Ferndale, Forks of the Credit, The Grange, Humber, Humber Grove, Kilmanagh, Lockton, Macville, McLeodville, Glasgow, Palgrave Estates, Rockside, Rosehill, Silver Creek, Sleswick, Sligo, Star, Stonehart, Taylorwoods, Tormore, Valleywood

The municipality is otherwise sparsely populated, mostly with farms.

Former localities Former hamlets (ghost towns) include:

Kennedy's Corners (Old School and Airport Roads) Fox's Corners (Willoughby Road and Charleston Side Road) Greenlaw (The Grange Sideroad and Winston Churchill Boulevard) Caldwell (The Grange Sideroad and Kennedy Road) Caldwell Junction (Olde Base Line and Mountainview Roads) “Old” Glasgow (Edelweiss Park/Humber Valley Heritage Trail) Glencoe's Corners (Olde Base Line and Creditview Roads) Mayfield (Mayfield and Dixie Roads). Area at Brampton boundary now undergoing urbanization. McBride's Corners (Olde Base Line Road and Highway 10) Ballycroy (Ballycroy Road and Highway 50)

Demographics

In the 2021 Canadian census, conducted by Statistics Canada, Caledon had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

In 2021, the median age was 40.8 years old, slightly lower than the provincial median of 41.6 years old. Caledon's population is made of 49.8% women and 50.2% men. There were 24,795 private dwellings. According to the 2011 National Household Survey, the median value of a dwelling in Caledon is $474,087, significantly higher than the national average of $280,552. The median household income (after-taxes) in Caledon is $83,454, much higher than the national average of $54,089. The average individual's income was $53,870.

Ethnicity According to the 2021 Census, the largest five ethnic origins of the residents of Caledon are Italian (17,630; 23.2%), English (10,320; 13.6%), Indian (9,120; 12.0%), Scottish (8,270; 10.9%), and Canadian (8,095; 10.6%).

66.3% of Caledon residents were white/European, 32.8% were visible minorities, and 0.8% were Indigenous. The largest visible minority groups were South Asian (21.4%), Black (3.6%), Latin American (1.7%), Chinese (1.0%) and Filipino (1.0%)

+ Panethnic groups in the Town of Caledon (2001−2021)Panethnic group20212016201120062001 European 50,450 53,195 52,820 52,385 47,710 South Asian 16,310 6,635 1,995 1,265 700 African 2,770 1,880 1,205 860 770 Latin American 1,310 905 600 480 175 Southeast Asian 1,105 730 495 395 80 Middle Eastern 1,060 495 300 175 255 East Asian 975 900 620 525 365 Indigenous 620 615 450 360 145 Other/multiracial 1,490 855 495 390 175 Total responses 76,085 66,215 58,975 56,840 50,360 Total population 76,581 66,502 59,460 57,050 50,605

Language English is the mother tongue of 65.4% of the residents of Caledon. Native speakers of Punjabi make up 11.1% of the town's population, Italian 5.4%, Portuguese 1.4%, Spanish 1.3%, and Polish 1.0%.

Religion As of 2021, 58.5% of Caledon's population was Christian, down from 77.5% in 2011. 38.2% of residents were Catholic, 10.5% were Protestant, 6.0% were Christian without precision, 1.8% were Christian Orthodox, and 2.0% belonged to other Christian denominations or Christian-related traditions; 19.3% of the population was non-religious or secular, up from 18.6% in 2011. All other religions and spiritual traditions accounted for 22.2% of the population, up from 3.9% in 2011. They included Sikhism (14.3%), Hinduism (4.7%), Islam (2.1%), Buddhism (0.5%), and Judaism (0.4%).

+ Religious groups in the Town of Caledon (1991−2021)Religiousgroup2021201120011991 Christian 44,495 45,685 41,720 29,440 Sikh 10,865 1,175 375 105 Hindu 3,545 495 165 65 Muslim 1,580 215 160 115 Buddhist 365 90 45 35 Jewish 280 180 115 90 Other religion 290 150 125 30 Irreligious 14,665 10,975 7,650 4,885 Total responses 76,085 58,975 50,360 34,775

Government The town is run by a mayor, six town councillors and two regional councillors. The mayor and the two regional councillors represent Caledon at the Region of Peel: Mayor Annette Groves Councillor Ward 1 Lynn Kiernan Councillor Ward 2 Dave Sheen Councillor Ward 3 Doug Maskell Councillor Ward 4 Nick deBoer Councillor Ward 5 Tony Rosa Councillor Ward 6 Cosimo Napoli Regional Councillor Wards 1, 2, 3 Christina Early Regional Councillor Wards 4, 5, 6 Mario Russo

Per capita, Caledon has by far the largest representation on Peel Regional Council of the three municipalities, however Caledon's land mass exceeds that of Mississauga and Brampton combined.

Climate

Education The Peel District School Board operates 14 public schools and two secondary (high) schools in Caledon. The Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board operates several Catholic elementary/middle and two secondary schools. The Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir operates one Catholic francophone (first-language French) elementary school. There also several private and Montessori schools.

School (location in community)

Allan Drive Middle School (Bolton) Alloa Public School (Alloa) Alton Public School (Alton) Belfountain Public School (Belfountain) Brampton Christian School (Mayfield West) Caledon Central Public School (Caledon Village) Caledon East Public School (Caledon East) Countryside Montessori and Private School Creative Children's Montessori School (Bolton) École élémentaire catholique Saint-Jean-Bosco (Mayfield West) Ellwood Memorial Public School (Bolton) Herb Campbell Public School (Campbell's Cross)

Headwater Hills Montessori School The Hill Academy Holy Family Elementary School (Bolton) Humberview Secondary School (Bolton) King's College School James Bolton Public School (Bolton) James Grieve Public School (Tullamore) Macville Public School (Bolton) Mayfield Secondary School Mind Valley Montessori and Private School (Bolton) Palgrave Public School (Palgrave) St. Evan Catholic Elementary School (Mayfield West)

St. John Paul II Elementary School (Bolton) Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School (Caledon East) SouthFields Village Public School (Mayfield West) St. Cornelius Elementary School (Caledon East) St. John the Baptist Elementary School (Bolton) St. Nicholas Elementary School (Bolton) St Michael Catholic Secondary School (Bolton) Tony Pontes Public School (Mayfield West)

Emergency services Caledon Fire & Emergency Services provides firefighting (using both career and volunteer firefighters), and medical emergency services. It has nine stations.

Ambulance service is run by the regional government's Peel Regional Paramedic Services, with three stations (#10, 11 and 12).

Despite being part of Peel Region, Caledon has its policing conducted from Ontario Provincial Police Caledon Detachment, rather than Peel Regional Police. The OPP also patrols the provincial highways in Caledon.

Transportation

Highways/roads Highways in the municipality: Highway 10 (Hurontario Street) Highway 410 (southerly continuation of Highway 10)

Former highways (now Regional roads): Charleston Sideroad or Peel Road 24 (formerly Highway 24 west of Highway 10) Peel Road 50 (formerly Highway 50) Peel Road 136 (formerly Highway 136)

Though never a provincial highway, Airport Road (Peel Road 7), is a major north-south route to and from the Georgian Triangle for travellers from southern Peel.

Public transit

GO Transit

GO Transit operates two bus routes in Caledon: serving Bolton along Highway 50 and through east Mississauga and connecting with Malton GO Station on the Kitchener line. serving Orangeville and Brampton and connecting with Brampton GO Station on the Georgetown line via Highway 10 and Brampton's Main Street.

Local transit

Due to its largely rural nature, Caledon does not have its own transit system; however, Brampton Transit provides a rush hour-only bus line, 41 Bolton in Bolton and travels south down Highway 50 in to Queen Street/Highway 7 (at the border of Brampton and Vaughan) to make connections with other Brampton Transit routes and York Region Transit (YRT). Brampton Transit also operates three other routes short distances into suburban areas bordering Brampton within the town: Route 81 Mayfield West serves Kennedy Road in Mayfield West, and Routes 18 Dixie and 30 Airport Road provide limited service into industrial areas.

Paratransit services for the elderly, disabled, and infirm are provided by Caledon Community Services Transportation and Transhelp. Both are run by the Region of Peel Accessible Transportation Services.

History

There were two earlier privately-operated transit services running solely within Bolton with no connections to other services: In 1999 a company named Caledon Transit Incorporated ran a trial bus service in the community. In 2006, the growing population of Bolton prompted local resident Darren Parberry to start a second bus service with two routes using leased school buses, called Métis Transit. One route ran briefly in 2006. Both services ceased operations due to low ridership. Between 2019 and 2024, there was a third service, operated by a private contractor, Voyago, which provided the Bolton line bus service in Bolton and traveled south down Highway 50 to Queen Street/Highway 7 to connect with Brampton Transit and YRT until it was replaced by the current Brampton Transit Route 41 on May 1, 2024. Adult cash fares were $4.00 and there were no free transfers with these systems.