Do Canadians use the word county?

[whatnext]

I'm leading a campaign to take the "o" out of county. Who's with me?

[megadude]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I'm leading a campaign to take the "o" out of county. Who's with me?

Already there... just not in the geographical administrative sense.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by jonny24

It might not be apparent when travelling through, other than town signs and road signs. Or if you happened to drive past a library branch or something.

I think the conversion to single tier probably contributed to it. And then there are things like the Norfolk County Fair. All the schools have the day off to go take part in competitions and go on rides, so you get to be aware what other schools are in the county and you all have that common experience. And there's only one Catholic high school, in Simcoe, so you get used to everyone being from a different town, or commonly, the middle of nowhere like me.

I suspect you might be right about city people and their knowledge of surrounding areas. I think that those from small towns would tend to have a better idea of the regional geography than those in big cities, due to having to travel. You could live your whole life in Mississauga and never need to leave, other than TO for sports games or concerts etc.

Wheras growing up in the country means trip to cities for school shopping, etc. Even trips to town for groceries. Where I grew up, groceries could be a trip to Simcoe or a trip to Tillsonburg, depending on deals and what else we needed. Larger trips meant a bigger city, and it's really due to preference if you went to KW, London or Hamilton. My mom went to Western, so she always shops in London. A coworker always goes to Hamilton since his family lives there. And then still going to big events or trips to Toronto and Niagara.

When I was looking at schools, three closest were Conestoga (KW), Fanshawe (London) and Mohawk (Hamilton) - with there only being a 10km difference from the closest to the farthest.

Good points.

Sometimes when I'm driving I'm not quite sure which "broadcast market" I'm in until an ad comes on on the radio advertising an independent furniture shop or restaurant in London or KW or Stratford, etc.

I didn't have a very good sense and comprehension of SW Ontario so that's why I went on a few drives from Niagara to Windsor to Tobermory and many points in between. Definitely a different landscape and culture than the cottage country N and NE of me I had explored before.

As for your shopping experiences, I can indirectly relate by talking to my bro-in-law's wife. They moved from Oakville to Tiny Township and her only options for clothes were Walmart, Giant Tiger and Mark's in Midland. Basically she had to drive the 45 minutes down to Barrie. At least you had options on three cities.

[Drybrain]

As others have said, counties not only exist in eastern Canada, they can carry certain economic and cultural connotations. Pictou County in Nova Scotia, for example, is sort of a shorthand for post-industrial rural poverty. Whereas Lunenburg and Kings Counties would be emblematic of a sort of relatively well-to-do rural gentrification.

And my mother-in-law, who lives in a small town east of Moncton in New Brunswick's Westmorland County, has long been convinced that the residents of neighbouring Albert County are just a bunch of hicks.

[240glt]

They have counties in Alberta, we're surrounded by them

In BC they don't call anything "county" They use the term "regional district"

[megadude]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

As others have said, counties not only exist in eastern Canada, they can carry certain economic and cultural connotations. Pictou County in Nova Scotia, for example, is sort of a shorthand for post-industrial rural poverty. Whereas Lunenburg and Kings Counties would be emblematic of a sort of relatively well-to-do rural gentrification.

And my mother-in-law, who lives in a small town east of Moncton in New Brunswick's Westmorland County, has long been convinced that the residents of neighbouring Albert County are just a bunch of hicks.

That sounds like something that would be more prevalent in the States. Very interesting.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

we don't use counties in BC, we use regional district.

I always thought counties were just an American thing.

Ya me too! When I think of counties I think of Hazard County haha

And cottages are where cottage cheese comes from?

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I'm leading a campaign to take the "o" out of county. Who's with me?

There's actually a reason why in England, the lord of the county is referred to as an "earl" rather than a "count" such as on the continent.

Count sounded too much like "🞵🞵🞵🞵" for their liking, hence the usage of the more Anglo-Saxon term "earl"

They were afraid of people saying things like "So, what's the old 🞵🞵🞵🞵 up to today...."

[lio45]

Weren't counties (count's domains) called earldoms, then?

[Nashe]

Originally Posted by Drybrain

And my mother-in-law, who lives in a small town east of Moncton in New Brunswick's Westmorland County, has long been convinced that the residents of neighbouring Albert County are just a bunch of hicks.

Oh yes! Sorry for offense in advance, these are tongue in cheek:

Kent County (where I grew up): Flannel wearing fishermen. Acadians in "pimped out" Chevy Caveliers.
Albert County: Flannel wearing, inbred lumberjacks.

Counties come up a lot in conversation here in NB. Usually to stereotype and make jokes. Sometimes for useful demographics. Sometimes.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by lio45

Weren't counties (count's domains) called earldoms, then?

Earldom is an historical anachronism in the UK. Following the conquest, English counties were set up.

Interestingly, the wife of an Earl is a Countess.

[isaidso]

Originally Posted by Pinion

I didn't know until recently that counties existed in Canada.

I had no idea that some provinces don't have counties.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Very funny!! Muskoka is and always has been in Southern Ontario. Northerners get very upset when someone says that Muskoka is in Northern Ontario.

In Muskoka's "defense" it was formed as a district not a county and is in the Canadian Shield. But it isn't really northern culturally or economically.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by niwell

Plenty of northerners even get upset when you say Parry Sound is in the North! Although it is sometimes classified as "near-North" by the province. So more acceptable than when northwestern Ontarian's think that Sudbury (aka mini-Toronto) shouldn't even be considered as part of the North.

Correct! I don't consider Parry Sound or Parry Sound district to be part of Northern Ontario.

Yes, both Sudbury and North Bay are sometimes given a hard time about being in the North because they are not really that far away from Toronto.

[Loco101]

Originally Posted by niwell

I've noticed that many people in northern Ontario still refer to the Geographic Township they live in, particularly if it's outside a major municipality. In some cases individual townships are now municipalities, but that's quite rare. Many are parts of amalgamated single-tier municipalities (no upper/lower-tier in the North). Lots of others are unincorporated and the township name really has no relevance in any official capacity anymore.

The geographical townships are still always used for legal matters such as private property and when you get a speeding ticket. You will see the township name on the documents.

The townships are still important for mining, logging and fishing. Probably other things I don't even realize as well.

Many people here who live in rural areas will refer to the geographical township they live in if they don't live on a lake or river. But most don't as far as I can tell.

Unorganized townships are becoming popular to those who wish to escape municipal property taxes as only small fees have to be paid to the Ontario government.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by Loco101

Unorganized townships are becoming popular to those who wish to escape municipal property taxes as only small fees have to be paid to the Ontario government.

Not as small as they used to be though! Especially if you count fees towards local roads and services boards. Without giving away too much this is something I deal with a lot.

[WhipperSnapper]

I had the misfortune to be thrown in that situation right at the time the mismanagement/ embezzlement of the previous decade or two had caught up with the township. What a blooming nightmare.

[Doady]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Do we need a thread for every single random question people can think of? should I start a thread for this?

Someone replied to the thread within just 5 minutes of its creation, therefore it must have been worth creating.

[vid]

Originally Posted by niwell

I've noticed that many people in northern Ontario still refer to the Geographic Township they live in, particularly if it's outside a major municipality. In some cases individual townships are now municipalities, but that's quite rare. Many are parts of amalgamated single-tier municipalities (no upper/lower-tier in the North). Lots of others are unincorporated and the township name really has no relevance in any official capacity anymore.

The townships actually are very official, because property rights are still based on them. If you own land up here, you don't own "Parcel whatever in Thunder Bay", you own "Parcel whatever in Neebing Additional Township". It will appear on birth certificates and ID as well if you live in unincorporated area, though your mailing address will use whatever name Canada Post has chosen (and those change periodically). Someone living northwest of Thunder Bay will be in the township of Ware, which Statistics Canada calls Lappe, but Canada Post calls Kaministiquia, and they're probably referring to it as Kivikoski.

Also our districts act as counties in the judicial sense—the reason they're called "districts" is because they were judicial districts. We have a "county court" and "county seat" but we call them "District court", "district Jail", "district seat". The Sheriff of Thunder Bay (yes, we have Sheriffs in Canada too) is the District Sheriff, not the County Sheriff. In most cases, the surveyed township is older than the district it is in. (Neebing and McIntyre townships were surveyed in the 1850s but Thunder Bay District was formed in 1871, and that was the first time Thunder Bay referred to a geographic location and not just a body of water).

The other things organized at "county-level" in Northern Ontario are social services (through District Social Services Boards, though they're operated in and primarily funded by the district seat) and ambulance services (which is also an extension of the district seat's government). As a result of this, cities like Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie are in a unique position of having to provide services to outlying municipalities without being allowed to directly tax them. On the flip side, being the county seat, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie collect the provincial land taxes from the unorganized parts of the district and then remit those funds to the province, as opposed to the province collecting them directly.

So they're not "irrelevant" by any stretch, they have plenty of relevance.

And the other confusing thing: Township of Conmee is a municipality. Township of Ware is not. To distinguish them, one is a Municipal Township and the other is a Geographic Township. A lot of them are changing to "Municipality of" instead as it's more straight forward.

[Loco101]

Very well explained vid for how it works in Northern Ontario!