In 1807, British immigrants settled the area surrounding Dundas Street as well as on the shore of Lake Ontario.

The area around the creeks, 390 ha (960 acres), ceded to the Crown by the Mississaugas,[6] was auctioned off to William Chisholm in 1827.

He left the development of the area to his son, Robert Kerr Chisholm, and his brother-in-law, Merrick Thomas.

The town eventually became industrialized with the opening of Cities Service Canada (later BP Canada, and now Petro-Canada) and Shell Canada oil refineries (both now closed), the Procor factory (no longer manufacturing), and, most importantly, the Ford Motor Company's Canadian headquarters and plant, all close to the Canadian National Railway and the Queen Elizabeth Way highway between Toronto and Fort Erie (Buffalo).

[14] [15] The town served as a location for fugitive enslaved Black people to escape the slavery of America and establish themselves.

[17] Like much of Southern Ontario, Oakville has a humid continental climate straddling Dfa/Dfb classifications, with cold winters with frequent snowfall, and warm summers.

Others identify as Muslims (4%), Hindus (2.1%), Sikhs (1.4%), Buddhists (0.8%), Jewish (0.5%) and with other religions, and 20.6% of the population report no religious affiliation.

[43] The top employers in Oakville include:[44] Sagen MI Canada (TSX:MIC),[45] Algonquin Power & Utilities,[46] Canadian Tire Financial Services, Cameron's Brewing Company,[47] Equirex,[48] Pelmorex,[49] and Rockstar Toronto are based in Oakville, while Siemens, The Ford Motor Company, and MADD Canada have their head Canadian offices in the town.

Many Oakville residents work in advanced manufacturing at large facilities operated by UTC Aerospace Systems and General Electric.

[50] Many Oakville companies fall under the life science umbrella, with an emphasis on pharmaceuticals and elder care.

Among a range of events, the festival included small amusement park rides, arts and crafts, food and drinks, free concerts headlined by Canadian bands, and nightly fireworks displays.

The Waterfront Festival took place in late June of each year until 2010, when it was cancelled due to financial difficulties,[56] despite having annual attendance of up to 100,000 visitors.

Kerrfest is an annual outdoor music festival that takes place in early September in Oakville.

Having begun in 2014, the event includes free performances and is open to the public, located at Westwood Park.

[58] The For the Love of the Arts Festival is an annual event taking place in the late spring in Oakville.

The event is intended as a symbolic presentation of a "shared space" and is entirely sponsored by local corporate and private donations.

[60] The Northeast Oakville Fair is an annual event that takes place toward the end of spring across from the Iroquois Ridge Community Centre.

The fair brings together local businesses, inflatables, food trucks, hot air balloon rides, family activities, and a DJ that's free and open to the public.

[68] In 2018, the owner, Clublink, planned to demolish the golf course in order to build residential and commercial properties.

[69] In 2021, following objections from the community and municipal government, Clublink withdrew its development plan and stated it would continue operating Glen Abbey as a golf course.

Three Olympians, Adam van Koeverden, Mark Oldershaw and Larry Cain, trained at the club.

[78] At the municipal level, the governing body is the Oakville Town Council consisting of a mayor (currently Rob Burton) and fourteen councillors.

Two provincial ridings are situated in Oakville, which use the same boundaries as the federal ridings and are currently represented provincially by: Two federal ridings are situated in Oakville, which are currently represented by: Local bus service is provided by Oakville Transit with some bus lines extending as far as Highway 407 & Dundas Carpool Lot in Burlington and South Common Centre in Mississauga.