Essa, Ontario

Essa is a township in Ontario, Canada, west and south of the city of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is bounded by County Road 90 to its north, County Road 27 to its east, and Ontario Highway 89 to its south. The township is about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Toronto. The township is well known for its agriculture industry, particularly potato farming. Nearby CFB Borden brings a strong military presence to the area as well, including a high number of Francophone families.

Essa
Township (lower-tier)
Township of Essa
Motto(s):  Where Town and Country Meet
Essa Show map of Simcoe County Essa Show map of Southern Ontario
Coordinates: 44°15′N 79°47′W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
County	Simcoe
Government
• Mayor	Sandie MacDonald [1]
• Deputy Mayor	Michael Smith [1]
• MPs	Terry Dowdall
• MPPs	Brian Saunderson
Area [2]
• Land	280.03 km2 (108.12 sq mi)
Population  (2016)[2]
• Total	21,083
• Density	75.3/km2 (195/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Area code(s)	705, 249
Website	essatownship.on.ca

Thornton

Peacekeepers Park, Angus

Communities

The main communities of this township are Angus, Thornton, and Baxter. Other small hamlets are Cedargrove, Colwell, Egbert, Elmgrove, Hoe Doe Valley, Ivy, Utopia and West Essa.

Angus is the largest community in Essa Township, and the main access to the neighbouring Canadian Forces Base Borden. It offers services such as Essa Public Library, catholic and public elementary schools, public secondary school, a small shopping centre, many stores, a chamber of commerce and a recreation facility. Angus is located in the northwestern corner of Essa township. Located in Essa's municipal Ward 1, the township councillor for Angus is Pieter Kiezebrink.

Angus is named in honour of Angus Morrison, former Member of the Legislative Assembly for Simcoe North.^[3]

Notable residents

Controversial politician Helena Guergis, the former Member of Parliament for Simcoe—Grey, resides in Angus.^[4] Her cousin David Guergis was Essa's mayor until 2010.^[4]

Local Government

Essa is governed by a Mayor, a Deputy Mayor and three Councillors, with one Councillor representing each of the three municipal wards. The Mayor of Essa represents the town on the Simcoe County Council. As of the 2022 election, the elected council members are:^[5]

Mayor: Sandie MacDonald

Deputy Mayor: Michael Smith

Councillors:

• Ward 1: Pieter Kiezebrink
• Ward 2: Henry Sander
• Ward 3: Liana Maltby

Fire, EMS and police services

Township of Essa Fire Department is a fire services staffed by full-time chief, Doug Burgin and deputy chief, Gary McNamara. With 54 volunteer fire fighters at two stations (Angus and Thornton).^[6]

Ambulance service is covered by County of Simcoe Paramedic Service station in Angus.

Policing in Essa Township is covered by Ontario Provincial Police Nottawasaga Detachment.

Education

Essa Township has 4 elementary schools and a high school:

• Angus Morrison Elementary School (Angus)
• Pine River Elementary School (Angus)
• Baxter Central Public School (Baxter)
• Our Lady of Grace Catholic School (Angus)
• Nottawasaga Pines Secondary School (Angus)

These schools are managed by the Simcoe County District School Board and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board.

There are also two French Schools accessible to Essa residents, managed by the French Public School Board, Conseil Scolaire Viamonde.

• Academie La Pinède (Borden)
• Ecole Secondaire Romeo Dallaire (Barrie)

There is also a private high school

• Convoy International Secondary Academy (Utopia)

This school is inspected by the Ministry of Education and approved to give credits for grade 9-12 courses. The school is a private day and boarding school for local and international students. Convoy offers in-class and online classes to meet each student’s needs.

Climate

Egbert 1 W, Ontario, Canada (1981-2010 quasi-normals )
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.6     27 11     2.1     30 13     2     39 20     2.9     53 33     3.6     66 43     3.1     74 53     3.7     79 57     2.4     77 55     2.3     70 48     2.1     57 38     3.4     44 30     2.7     32 18 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     41     −3 −12     52     −1 −11     51     4 −7     73     12 1     91     19 6     79     23 12     93     26 14     60     25 13     58     21 9     53     14 3     86     6 −1     69     0 −8 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm

Climate data for Egbert (1991−2020 normals, extremes 1988–present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high humidex	15.5	15.8	28.9	36.1	41.5	48.4	45.9	46.0	41.6	37.6	27.3	18.3	48.4
Record high °C (°F)	15.0 (59.0)	16.0 (60.8)	26.5 (79.7)	29.5 (85.1)	33.6 (92.5)	35.3 (95.5)	35.0 (95.0)	36.5 (97.7)	34.5 (94.1)	29.1 (84.4)	24.0 (75.2)	17.0 (62.6)	36.5 (97.7)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−2.9 (26.8)	−2.0 (28.4)	3.2 (37.8)	10.9 (51.6)	18.4 (65.1)	23.4 (74.1)	26.0 (78.8)	25.0 (77.0)	21.1 (70.0)	13.6 (56.5)	6.4 (43.5)	0.3 (32.5)	11.9 (53.4)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−7.2 (19.0)	−6.4 (20.5)	−1.3 (29.7)	5.6 (42.1)	12.3 (54.1)	17.5 (63.5)	20.1 (68.2)	19.2 (66.6)	15.3 (59.5)	8.9 (48.0)	2.7 (36.9)	−3.2 (26.2)	7.0 (44.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−11.3 (11.7)	−10.8 (12.6)	−5.9 (21.4)	0.3 (32.5)	6.2 (43.2)	11.5 (52.7)	14.2 (57.6)	13.3 (55.9)	9.5 (49.1)	4.1 (39.4)	−1.1 (30.0)	−6.6 (20.1)	2.0 (35.6)
Record low °C (°F)	−35.5 (−31.9)	−32.1 (−25.8)	−29 (−20)	−14.3 (6.3)	−5.1 (22.8)	1.0 (33.8)	5.0 (41.0)	4.5 (40.1)	−2.5 (27.5)	−6.3 (20.7)	−22.1 (−7.8)	−32 (−26)	−35.5 (−31.9)
Record low wind chill	−38.5	−41.7	−35.9	−18.0	−6.8	0.0	0.0	0.0	−3.8	−8.8	−25.2	−36.9	−41.7
Average precipitation mm (inches)	54.7 (2.15)	44.7 (1.76)	47.9 (1.89)	61.6 (2.43)	73.9 (2.91)	83.0 (3.27)	77.9 (3.07)	82.6 (3.25)	72.3 (2.85)	65.4 (2.57)	71.8 (2.83)	57.6 (2.27)	793.2 (31.23)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	21.3 (0.84)	15.5 (0.61)	23.7 (0.93)	56.4 (2.22)	70.2 (2.76)	83.9 (3.30)	76.2 (3.00)	73.5 (2.89)	75.8 (2.98)	61.3 (2.41)	55.0 (2.17)	19.6 (0.77)	632.4 (24.90)
Average snowfall cm (inches)	40.2 (15.8)	32.9 (13.0)	26.1 (10.3)	8.9 (3.5)	0.1 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	0.0 (0.0)	2.7 (1.1)	21.9 (8.6)	41.5 (16.3)	174.1 (68.5)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm)	18.3	14.4	14.3	12.5	13.5	12.4	12.8	12.9	13.3	14.8	16.9	17.3	173.3
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm)	4.0	3.3	5.9	10.9	13.1	11.6	11.8	11.8	12.8	14.4	10.8	5.4	115.6
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm)	15.2	11.2	9.1	3.0	0.19	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.88	6.3	11.6	57.4
Average relative humidity (%) (at 15:00 LST)	75.5	70.3	62.3	55.7	54.6	57.4	56.1	58.1	60.2	66.2	72.2	79.5	64.0
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada[7]

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Essa had a population of 22,970 living in 7,949 of its 8,232 total private dwellings, a change of 9% from its 2016 population of 21,083. With a land area of 279.92 km² (108.08 sq mi), it had a population density of 82.1/km² (212.5/sq mi) in 2021.^[8]

	2021	2016	2011
Population	22,970 (+9.0% from 2016)	21,083 (+13.9% from 2011)	18,505 (+9.5% from 2006)
Land area	279.92 km2 (108.08 sq mi)	280.03 km2 (108.12 sq mi)	280.07 km2 (108.14 sq mi)
Population density	82.1/km2 (213/sq mi)	75.3/km2 (195/sq mi)	66.1/km2 (171/sq mi)
Median age	37.6 (M: 37.2, F: 38.0)	36.5 (M: 35.5, F: 37.6)
Private dwellings	8,232 (total)  7,949 (occupied)	7,478 (total)	6,930 (total)
Median household income	$108,000	$87,243

Canada census – Essa community profile

References: 2021^[9] 2016^[10] 2011^[11] earlier^[12][13]

See also

• List of townships in Ontario
• List of francophone communities in Ontario

References

1. "Certificate of Election Results" (PDF). Essa Township. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-11-24. Retrieved 2018-11-23.
2. "Census Profile, 2016 Census: Essa, Township". Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
3. Hamilton, William (1978). The Macmillan Book of Canadian Places and Names. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada. p. 134. ISBN 0-7715-9754-1.
4. "Growing Up Guergis: The evolution of a political family", Simcoe Life, Spring 2007.
5. "Certificate of Election Results" (PDF). Essatownship.on.ca. October 22, 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 24, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
6. "Fire Department". Essa Township. Archived from the original on April 16, 2020. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
7. "Egbert, Ontario". Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020. Environment Canada. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2024.
8. "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Ontario". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
9. "2021 Community Profiles". 2021 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. February 4, 2022. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
10. "2016 Community Profiles". 2016 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. August 12, 2021. Retrieved 2019-07-05.
11. "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. March 21, 2019. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
12. "2006 Community Profiles". 2006 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. August 20, 2019.
13. "2001 Community Profiles". 2001 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. July 18, 2021.

External links

• Official website