Golden Horseshoe

The core of the Golden Horseshoe starts from Niagara Falls at the eastern end of the Niagara Peninsula bordering the United States via New York and extends west, wrapping around the western end of Lake Ontario at Hamilton and then turning northeast to Toronto (on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario), before finally terminating at Clarington in Durham Region.

[3] The phrase Golden Horseshoe was first used by Westinghouse Electric Corporation president Herbert H. Rogge in a speech to the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce on January 12, 1954: Hamilton in 50 years will be the forward cleat in a "golden horseshoe" of industrial development from Oshawa to the Niagara River ... 150 miles [240 km] long and 50 miles [80 km] wide ...

It will run from Niagara Falls on the south to about Oshawa on the north and take in numerous cities and towns already there, including Hamilton and Toronto.

[4]The speech writer who actually penned the phrase was Charles Hunter MacBain, executive assistant to five Westinghouse presidents including Rogge.

[5] The Golden Horseshoe was officialized on July 13, 2004, in a report from the provincial Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal titled Places to Grow, in which the region's borders extended west to Waterloo Region, north to Barrie / Simcoe County, and northeast to the county and city of Peterborough.

[6] A subsequent edition released on February 16, 2005, broadened the term further, adding Brant, Haldimand and Northumberland Counties to the region.

The Greater Golden Horseshoe region is officially designated in Ontario Regulation 416/05[7] under the Places to Grow Act.

The designation Greater Golden Horseshoe has legal significance with respect to taxation: in April 2017, the Government of Ontario announced plans to impose a 15 per cent Non-Resident Speculation Tax (NRST) on non-Canadian citizens, non-permanent residents and non-Canadian corporations (with exceptions or rebates for refugees, qualifying students and certain people working in Ontario[8]) buying residential properties containing one to six units in the Greater Golden Horseshoe (GGH).

While manufacturing remains important to the economy of the region, the manufacturing sector has experienced a significant decline since 2000 as a result of unfavourable currency exchange rates, increasing energy costs, and reduced demand from the United States, which is by far the largest market for Ontario's goods.

As of 2014[update], sectors such as information technology, health care, Agtech, tourism, research and finance provide the bulk of growth in the Golden Horseshoe.

The Golden Horseshoe contains many small towns with historic main streets, most notably the community of Niagara-on-the-Lake, located near the Niagara River.

Seasonal amusement parks and large outdoor attractions in the Golden Horseshoe include Canada's Wonderland, run by Six Flags, in Vaughan; Wet'n'Wild Toronto (formerly Wild Water Kingdom) in Brampton; African Lion Safari in Hamilton and Cambridge; and the defunct Marineland in Niagara Falls.

The Golden Horseshoe is home to many amateur and professional sports clubs, and university and college varsity programs.

Note that the Toronto Blue Jays temporarily played their home games in the United States (more specifically Dunedin, Florida and Buffalo, New York) due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North America in 2020 and 2021, while the Toronto Raptors played their home games in the United States (more specifically Tampa, Florida) during the pandemic to minimize cross-border travel.

In May 2024, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) announced that its 14h franchise had been awarded to Toronto-based Kilmer Sports Ventures.

[54] Known as the Toronto Tempo, the team is expected to play its home games at the Coca-Cola Coliseum starting in its debut in 2026.

[56] Expansion is underway to facilitate all-day 15-minute or better commuter train service, electrification and increased ridership on five of the busiest lines.

The western end of Lake Ontario . The region takes its name from the horseshoe shape.
A worker installing car batteries at Ford's Oakville Assembly . The automotive industry is a major sector of the Golden Horseshoe's economy.
The Niagara Peninsula is Canada's largest wine-growing region and a major producer of Ontario wine .
Convocation Hall in the University of Toronto
Toronto Caribbean Carnival, also known as Caribana , is an annual cultural festival held in the City of Toronto.
View of Webster's Falls in Hamilton. The falls is a part of the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve , which runs across the western portion of the Golden Horseshoe.
View of the Leviathan roller coaster at Canada's Wonderland in Vaughan ; Canada's Wonderland is owned by Six Flags since 2024
A Toronto Blue Jays game at the Rogers Centre in 2018
The Queen Elizabeth Way is a major controlled-access highway that connects the Greater Toronto Area with the Niagara Peninsula .
A Toronto Rocket train at the Toronto subway 's Davisville station on Line 1 Yonge–University
A spear-like tower is between a white-domed structure and small buildings on the left, and increasingly taller buildings to the right. In the foreground is a lake, with a few visible buoys, and the background is a deep blue sky with a few clouds near the horizon.
Skyline of Downtown Toronto in 2018. The city is the financial anchor of the Golden Horseshoe.
A tree-lined highway is in the foreground, angled diagonally from bottom right to middle left of the image. Buildings are in the centre, and the background is a sky meeting rolling hills in the distance.
Hamilton lies at the western edge of Lake Ontario .
A spike tower with a pod is lit along its length on the right. Other buildings sit on the right while a river and large waterfall occupies the left.
Niagara Falls is a major tourist destination, situated at the southeastern portion of the Golden Horseshoe.