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Township of Algonquin Highlands

Permanent2021
2,588
people living here all year
Person-year2021
5,948
full-time equivalent, modelled
Peak2021
13,788
everyone here at once

62% of dwellings are not occupied by permanent residents. Which of the three populations a figure is divided by changes the answer, so every per-person figure on this page says which one it used.

What is where

Pharmacies, hospitals, shops and licensed transmitters across the county, with this municipality’s picked out. A count cannot tell you what is nearest, or how far away the next one is.

HospitalPharmacyFamily health teamLong-term careSpecimen collectionMinistry of Health service register
LCBOLCBO agency outletOther licensed retailOntario liquor retail locations
Mobile and fixed wirelessMobile onlyFixed wireless onlyISED spectrum licences
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Algonquin HighlandsDysart et alHighlands EastMinden Hills
The whole county, with roads and place names →

What it is like to live here

Getting online

Businesses and services within reach

Recreation and setting

Parks and picnic areas

current

2.0per 1,000 person-years

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. The County's GIS maps this category unevenly between municipalities — most mapped points fall in one of them — so the count measures where the mapping effort went as much as where the facilities are.

Mapped trail features

current

1.3per 1,000 person-years

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. The County's GIS maps this category unevenly between municipalities — most mapped points fall in one of them — so the count measures where the mapping effort went as much as where the facilities are.

Lake access points

current

384

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. The County's GIS maps this category unevenly between municipalities — most mapped points fall in one of them — so the count measures where the mapping effort went as much as where the facilities are.

Indoor recreation facility space

2024

402 m²per 1,000 person-years

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Filed as the municipality reported it. Schedule 80D asks for recreation floor space without saying what counts as one, and the filings answer different questions: Highlands East filed 4,716 m2 of indoor space for 2018, 50,612 m2 for 2019 and 657 m2 for 2022, a 77-fold swing in four years during which it neither built nor closed anything of that size. Its outdoor figure moved from 37 m2 to 149,734 m2 in one year. What changed was the inventory being counted. Read one municipality against another and the answer is which inventory each chose.

Outdoor recreation facility space

2024

210 m²per 1,000 person-years

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Filed as the municipality reported it. Schedule 80D asks for recreation floor space without saying what counts as one, and the filings answer different questions: Highlands East filed 4,716 m2 of indoor space for 2018, 50,612 m2 for 2019 and 657 m2 for 2022, a 77-fold swing in four years during which it neither built nor closed anything of that size. Its outdoor figure moved from 37 m2 to 149,734 m2 in one year. What changed was the inventory being counted. Read one municipality against another and the answer is which inventory each chose.

Safety

Losses due to structural fires, 3-year average

2023

$137.86per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

What the council does

What it costs

Fire protection expenses

2024

$194.49per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

General government expenses

2024

$40.69per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Where the line between administration and operations is drawn differs. Algonquin Highlands books 2.5% of spending here against 14.3% in Minden Hills, while having the highest salary share and the highest total spending per dwelling of the four. It is a boundary, not an overhead.

General government expenses: 10-year growth (constant dollars)

2024

2.2% a year

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Inherited from the base metric, which is not comparable between municipalities: Where the line between administration and operations is drawn differs. Algonquin Highlands books 2.5% of spending here against 14.3% in Minden Hills, while having the highest salary share and the highest total spending per dwelling of the four. It is a boundary, not an overhead. A rate of change does not repair that, because a boundary that moves appears in the rate as growth.

General government expenses: 5-year growth (constant dollars)

2024

1.2% a year

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Inherited from the base metric, which is not comparable between municipalities: Where the line between administration and operations is drawn differs. Algonquin Highlands books 2.5% of spending here against 14.3% in Minden Hills, while having the highest salary share and the highest total spending per dwelling of the four. It is a boundary, not an overhead. A rate of change does not repair that, because a boundary that moves appears in the rate as growth.

Governance (council) expenses

2024

$31.48per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • ⚠ The order of the municipalities changes depending on how much of the year seasonal residents are counted as present, which no source states.

Library expenses

2024

$5.07per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

Amortization

2024

$298.62per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • ⚠ The order of the municipalities changes depending on how much of the year seasonal residents are counted as present, which no source states.

Salaries, wages and employee benefits

2024

$762.48per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • ⚠ The order of the municipalities changes depending on how much of the year seasonal residents are counted as present, which no source states.

Financial position

Tangible capital assets, net book value

2024

$3,855per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • ⚠ The order of the municipalities changes depending on how much of the year seasonal residents are counted as present, which no source states.

Net long-term liabilities

2024

$0.00per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

Obligatory reserve funds, end of year

2024

$104.89per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

Reserves, end of year

2024

$1,224per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Whether reserve money is filed as reserves or as discretionary is a filing choice, not a difference in what is held. Compare on finance.reserves.total.

Total reserves and reserve funds

2024

$1,224per person-year

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • ⚠ The order of the municipalities changes depending on how much of the year seasonal residents are counted as present, which no source states.

Discretionary reserve funds, end of year

Not availableNot comparable between municipalities: whether reserve money is filed here or under Reserves is a filing choice, not a difference in what is held. Compare on finance.reserves.total.How we get this data →

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Whether reserve money is filed as discretionary or as reserves is a filing choice, not a difference in what is held. Compare on finance.reserves.total.

What the money buys

Firefighters

2026

8.4per 1,000 person-years

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

Fire stations

2026

0.5per 1,000 person-years

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

Bridge and culvert deck area

2024

220 m²per 1,000 dwellings

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

Paved road spending per lane kilometre

2023

16599.6

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Cost over a denominator the four municipalities do not define the same way. Highlands East files 16 lane kilometres of hot-mix as its paved network where its neighbours count surface treatment, so this reads as $136,392 a lane kilometre and is a filing convention rather than a cost. Compare on the winter lane kilometre, which is defined the same way by all four.

Unpaved road spending per lane kilometre

2023

736.1

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. The other side of the same split. What counts as unpaved depends on where each municipality put surface treatment.

Building and development

Complete applications on submission

2024

52

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Which instrument an application takes is set by each municipality's official plan and zoning by-law. Highlands East's plan precludes using a minor variance to reduce a shoreline setback, so it records one or two a year where its neighbours record twenty to thirty for the same kind of decision.

Incomplete applications on submission

2024

5

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Which instrument an application takes is set by each municipality's official plan and zoning by-law. Highlands East's plan precludes using a minor variance to reduce a shoreline setback, so it records one or two a year where its neighbours record twenty to thirty for the same kind of decision.

Building permit applications received

2024

17.1per 1,000 dwellings

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Which instrument an application takes is set by each municipality's official plan and zoning by-law. Highlands East's plan precludes using a minor variance to reduce a shoreline setback, so it records one or two a year where its neighbours record twenty to thirty for the same kind of decision.

Land division files before council

2026

0.3per 1,000 person-years

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • ⚠ Counted to 2026-08-13, not to the year end. A part year against a whole one is not a fall in caseload.

Zoning relief files before council

2026

6.6per 1,000 person-years

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • ⚠ Counted to 2026-08-13, not to the year end. A part year against a whole one is not a fall in caseload.

Road allowance files before council

2026

6.6per 1,000 person-years

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • ⚠ Counted to 2026-08-13, not to the year end. A part year against a whole one is not a fall in caseload.

Planning files before council

2026

14.5per 1,000 person-years

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • ⚠ Counted to 2026-08-13, not to the year end. A part year against a whole one is not a fall in caseload.

Total value of construction activity

2024

$8,860per dwelling

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

Minor variance applications before the committee of adjustment

2026

7.2per 1,000 dwellings

Divided by the 2021 population, the nearest published to this figure.

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Which instrument an application takes is set by each municipality's official plan and zoning by-law. Highlands East's plan precludes using a minor variance to reduce a shoreline setback, so it records one or two a year where its neighbours record twenty to thirty for the same kind of decision.

How council works

Agenda items, median

2026

31

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Agenda and minute conventions differ between clerks, and these are counted over harvested packages rather than over every meeting held. The trend within one municipality is meaningful; the level against another is largely a difference in drafting.

Agenda package pages, median

2026

222

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Agenda and minute conventions differ between clerks, and these are counted over harvested packages rather than over every meeting held. The trend within one municipality is meaningful; the level against another is largely a difference in drafting.

Delegations per meeting, median

2026

5

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Agenda and minute conventions differ between clerks, and these are counted over harvested packages rather than over every meeting held. The trend within one municipality is meaningful; the level against another is largely a difference in drafting.

Council meetings in the harvested corpus

2026

11

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Agenda and minute conventions differ between clerks, and these are counted over harvested packages rather than over every meeting held. The trend within one municipality is meaningful; the level against another is largely a difference in drafting.

Motions per meeting, median

2026

37

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Agenda and minute conventions differ between clerks, and these are counted over harvested packages rather than over every meeting held. The trend within one municipality is meaningful; the level against another is largely a difference in drafting.

Staff reports per meeting, median

2026

19

  • Shown as filed, and not on a common basis with the other municipalities. Agenda and minute conventions differ between clerks, and these are counted over harvested packages rather than over every meeting held. The trend within one municipality is meaningful; the level against another is largely a difference in drafting.