- Definition
A county is like a large area of land that has its own local government to manage things, and it can be broken down into smaller sections called townships.
Wellington County provides some services for several local municipalities, while the City of Guelph is a separate single-tier municipality.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: A county is a type of upper-tier municipal government that may provide services for several local municipalities.
Ask your child: Which level of local government provides services where we live?
Common mix-up: Ontario has counties, regional municipalities, single-tier municipalities, and other local arrangements. Not every city or town belongs to a county.
Examples
- Looking at a map to see how your local county includes several neighbouring towns.
- A county library system that lets you borrow books from any town within that area.
county is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
