Halton, being a Regional Municipality within Ontario, Canada, existing only for administrative purposes, has no coherent history, or at least one other than that of shifting legal boundaries. So, instead, this page offers a look at the people of Halton, and what their demographics are like.

Halton had a population of 458,435 people in 2016, containing almost 4.1% of the entire province’s population in this singualar municipality alone. Halton is part of the larger Toronto Metropolitan Area, though the municipality is really between the influence of the cities of Toronto and Hamilton, and just happens to be somewhat closer to Toronto. Halton’s population skews slightly younger than the province as a whole, with the average age in Halton being 39.4 years versus 41.0 in Ontario as a whole (Census Profile).

Halton is also significantly wealthier than Ontario as a whole, with the median income for full-time workers being $68,481 in Halton versus $55,121 in Ontario as a whole, with the difference in the average incomes being even more significant, $90,417 in Halton to $68,628 in the whole of Ontario. It is worth keeping in mind that these statistics are in Canadian dollars and not American dollars, as I note due to mine own American nationality. At the time of writing this (4/29/2019), $1 U.S. is equal to $1.35 Canadian, so the difference is rather significant (for instance, the median incomes in Halton versus Ontario are $50,909.56 versus 40,977.59 in today’s U.S. dollars (Census Profile).

Halton is also slightly more white than the provincial average, with 25.3% of the residents of the Halton Regional Municipality being “visible minorities” (the term the Canadian census uses), with Ontario’s average being 28.8% visible minorities. That being said, there are very strong differences between the various parts of the municipality in this regard. Of the four smaller municipalities within Halton, the Town of Milton is the most racially diverse, being 42.8% minority, whereas the Town of Halton Hills being a much whiter extreme with a minority population of only 7.4% (Frisque).

All this paints a picture of the typical, affluent suburb, being whiter and richer than average. Unfortunately, the details of the complainant’s identity in this case are not available, so their demographics cannot be analysed quite as closely. That being said, it is worth noting that the more affluent a parent is, the more likely they are to be involved with their community and their child’s education, similarly making it more likely that more affluent parents, having the time and resources to help their students with their work and get involved at their local school, are to object to the content of said school’s curriculum.

In terms of religion, the major focus of this website, there is unfortunately no religious data on Halton specifically. There is, however, religious demographic data for the province of Ontario as a whole (Ontario Population 2019):

As one can see, Ontario is a majority-Christian province, with Roman Catholics being the largest Christian group. Considering the amount of Catholics and Christians in general in the province, it is unsurprising that a work such as Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass caused such a stir, especially considering that, due to the bifurcated nature of the Canadian educational system, parents had to chose to send their children to the explicitly religious Halton Catholic School District where this case occurred, rather than the secular alternative.

 

Sources Cited:

“Census Profile, 2016 Census – Halton, Regional Municipality [Census Division], Ontario and Ontario (Province).” Statistics Canada/Statistique Canada, Canada.ca, 29 Apr. 2019, www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CD&Code1=3524&Geo2=PR&Code2=35&Data=Count&SearchText=halton&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&TABID=1.

Frisque, Graeme. “Halton Hills by Far the Least Ethnically Diverse Area of Halton Region: Census.” TheIFP.ca, 25 Oct. 2017, www.theifp.ca/news-story/7683745-halton-hills-by-far-the-least-ethnically-diverse-area-of-halton-region-census/.

Ontario Population 2019 – Worldpopulationreview.com. worldpopulationreview.com/canadian-provinces/ontario-population/.