The Vibe

Halton Hills is a bit of an enigma. Set against a textbook Southern Ontario landscape, it features two, count ‘em, two downtown areas in Georgetown and Acton. You get twice the fun, culture, dining experiences, and shopaholic fixes in one relatively small area. It’s like a town with a split personality. The first appeals to families with its farms and orchards, pizza joints and parks, and the other attracts young couples who love to keep up with exciting foodie experiences, toast their weekends with local brews and wines, and take in some art or a show. A good dose of historic charm completes Halton Hills’ picture-perfect lifestyle that has a distinctly up and coming rural meets urban vibe.

The Story

Halton Hills is located on the Traditional Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation which was first occupied by the Attawandaron, followed by the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee. By the 1800s, fishing, hunting and the diverse landscape attracted the Hurons and Mississauga people.
In 1819, the British government purchased the land under Treaty 19. Originally named Esquesing, which means That Which Lies At End, the settlement had a population of just 424 settlers in 1821.

The surrounding towns such as Georgetown attracted landowners including town founder George Kennedy who established a sawmill powered by Silver Creek, a woolen mill, gristmill, and a foundry. As the area prospered, Williamsburg was established in 1825 by the Benajah Williams family who ran mills in the area, with the original mill still standing today. It became Glen Williams in 1852 and was the home to the famous retailor Timothy Eaton before he founded the iconic Eaton’s store at the site of what is now the Eaton Centre in Toronto. The site of the original store Mr. Eaton found in Glen Williams is one of the many historic buildings in the area.

In 1820, James McNab founded Norval when he bought land to raise sheep and build a mill following the War of 1812. Within 10 years, over 200 people moved to the community where they built churches, mills, a tavern and two stores. The Adams brothers founded Acton not long after in 1825 where their leather tannery earned the town the nickname of Leather Town.

Limestone was another booming industry in the area and today, many of the area’s 19th century kilns can be spotted along what is now known as The Bruce Trail. Other structures still existing from that period include the original train station and railbed of the Toronto Suburban Railway.

The economic success of the area led to the arrival of the Grand Trunk Railway in 1856 in Georgetown, stimulating further growth. In 1864 Georgetown became a village and by 1869 1,500 people called it home.

To make an exceedingly long story short, Georgetown, Acton, Esquesing and their hamlets amalgamated into the Town of Halton Hills in 1974. In 2024, Halton Hills ranked sixth on Point2’s 100 largest municipalities with the best life-work balance.

You’ll find the area offers an assortment of exciting, detached homes of various sizes and ages, with some priced well below what you’ll pay in Toronto. Areas like Georgetown are also building modern choices ideal for first time buyers, including well-appointed low-rise condo apartments. If you’re up to it, this could also be your chance to snatch up a fixer-upper in a lovely mature neighbourhood or capitalize on a large lot with a small, not so great home perfect for a tear down/rebuild project.

The Convenience

Halton Hills is about an hour’s drive 40km northwest of Toronto. It has GO train stations in Georgetown and Acton, and partners with Milton Transit’s municipal bus services along the Steeles Avenue corridor from Milton GO Station to Lisgar GO Station in Mississauga.

With its two urban centres, Georgetown and Acton, you have all the conveniences of a city, within the close-knit community of a charming small town. Shopping, arts, culture, food, and drink feature prominently in local life, and you’ll also find Glen Williams, Stewarttown and Norval offer their share of sites to enjoy.

Nature is central to life in Halton Hills with its pristine hiking trails at the local Conservation areas including Silver Creek, Limehouse and Terra Cotta, 30 km of the Bruce Trail, 11 local trails throughout the town and a 7.2 km stretch of the Credit Valley Trail.

Enjoy an endless number of events throughout the year as well as culinary routes and farm experiences!

The Residents

About 63,000 people live in Halton Hills, with almost half of the population married or living with a partner, creating a surprisingly large number of two-family households. The community enjoys above average wealth, at $127,000 per year compared to the provincial average of $116,000. The vast majority of the population are English speaking, but the area is slowly attracting a more diverse cross section of cultures.

The Best Part

Halton Hills is just so gosh darn unique with its two urban centres offering all the things we look for in a trendy downtown Toronto neighbourhood. The charm and population are the perfect combination to attract an eclectic collection of business owners who thrive in creating bespoke experiences from farm to fork dining to live music under the stars at a local experiential farm. So cool.