From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The history of the Waterloo region goes back the 1783, when the British government granted the Grand River Valley to the Iroquois, who had supported the Loyalists in the American War of Independence, to compensate them for the loss of their land in New York. The Iroquois settled in the lower Grand River Valley (now Brant County), and sold the land which now comprises Waterloo Region to Colonel Richard Beasley, a United Empire Loyalist.
The land owned by Beasley appealed to a particular group of Pennsylvania German Mennonite farmers. They pooled resources to purchase all of the unsold land from Beasley, forming the German Company Tract and dividing the lands into 128 farms of 181 hectares and 32 farms of 1.2 hectares each for distribution. By the 1840s, the presence of the German-speaking Mennonites made the area a popular choice for German settlers from Europe. These Germans founded their own communities in the south of the area settled by the Mennonites, the largest being the town of Berlin (now Kitchener).
The Waterloo region remained prodominantly German-speaking until the early 20th century, and its German heritage is reflected in the region's large Lutheran community and the annual Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest.
There are still traditional Mennonite communities located north of Kitchener-Waterloo. The most famous is St. Jacobs, where an outdoor market is held in the summer.
About 470,000 people live in the Region of Waterloo, including full-time university students. Many locals are of German descent.
Waterloo Region is home to two universities, the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University. It is also home to three campuses of Conestoga College, one in the Doon area of Kitchener, one in Cambridge, and the other in Waterloo.
Waterloo Region is expanding in both commercial and population terms. The presence of two universities, including the University of Waterloo, acts as a catalyst for growth in the high-tech area. Research In Motion is a major employer. As house prices in the Toronto area increase, Waterloo Region is increasingly becoming an attractive area to reside in.
Over time, many municipal services have come under the jurisdiction of the regional government. These include police, waste management and recycling, and the public transit system, known as Grand River Transit.
The Region also owns and operates the Waterloo Regional Airport (IATA airport code YKF), near Breslau. The airport is the 12th busiest in Canada and underwent a major expansion in 2003. This led to new services the following year, provided by QuikAir to Ottawa and Montreal, Quebec, and Northwest Airlines to Detroit, Michigan.
Demographics
Education
Business
Services
Communities
Waterloo Region's seven municipalities are:
Smaller communities include:
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