Halton Region trivia
22 facts and quiz questions about Burlington, Ontario. Each one links to its source. A new fact of the day goes live every morning.
Fact of the day
Burlington Nature
A conservation authority bought 88 acres in 1959 to stop a quarry from growing. Today the cliffs draw rock climbers, and white cedars on the escarpment face include small trees more than a thousand years old.
Sources: Wikipedia, Mount Nemo Conservation Area, Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario
Burlington Quiz
In 1792 John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada, named the west end of Lake Ontario Burlington Bay after Bridlington in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
Source: Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario
Burlington History
A bronze statue by Andre Gauthier shows a Second World War Canadian sailor saluting his lost shipmates. Its granite base lists Royal Canadian Navy and Merchant Navy ships sunk in that war.
Source: Wikipedia, Spencer Smith Park
Burlington Places
The centre opened on October 1, 2011, with a 718-seat Main Stage and a 148-seat studio theatre. It is the only performing arts centre in Ontario with LEED Gold certification.
Sources: Wikipedia, Burlington Performing Arts Centre, Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario
Burlington Quiz
Burlington counted 186,948 people in the 2021 Census, up 2 percent from 2016. That made it the 28th most populous municipality in Canada.
Source: Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario
Burlington Quiz
The Royal Botanical Gardens, which spans Burlington and Hamilton, is the largest botanical garden in Canada. It is also a National Historic Site, with display gardens, nature sanctuaries and more than 20 km of trails.
Sources: Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario, Wikipedia, Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario)
Burlington Nature
The Katie Osborne Lilac Collection in the Arboretum is one of the most diverse lilac collections in the world. Its Lilac Dell holds 570 plants of 407 varieties.
Burlington History
King George V gave formal permission in 1930 to call the gardens the Royal Botanical Gardens. The Rock Garden, made by lining an old gravel pit with escarpment limestone, is the oldest garden on the site.
Burlington Culture
The Burlington Lakeshore Rotary Club held the first Ribfest in 1996. It takes over Spencer Smith Park on Labour Day weekend and raises money for local charities. It took the name Canada's Largest Ribfest in 2009.
Burlington Quiz
The first Skyway bridge opened on October 30, 1958, with tolls. The tolls ended on December 28, 1973, because they slowed traffic badly. A second bridge, of concrete, opened beside it in 1985.
Burlington Quiz
The free festival began in 1980 and was usually held on Father's Day weekend along the waterfront. After 45 years in Spencer Smith Park it ended, and in 2026 the Lakeshore Music and Arts Festival took its place.
Burlington Places
The waterfront park honours Spencer Smith, a former president of the Burlington Horticultural Society who helped build the city's park system. In winter its Centennial Pond is an ice rink; in summer it is a pond for model sailboats.
Source: Wikipedia, Spencer Smith Park
Burlington Culture
The Burlington Teen Tour Band has played since 1947, with members aged 13 to 21. It marched in the 2018 Tournament of Roses Parade, its fifth time there, and played on Juno Beach for the D-Day anniversaries in 2019 and 2024.
Source: Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario
Burlington Quiz
Wellington Square and Port Nelson merged in 1873 to become the Village of Burlington. It became a town in 1914 and a city in 1974, when its population passed 100,000.
Source: Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario
Burlington People
Joseph Brant died on November 24, 1807, in his house at the head of Lake Ontario, on land that later became Burlington. The Joseph Brant Museum and Joseph Brant Hospital both stand on land he once owned.
Source: Wikipedia, Joseph Brant
Burlington Culture
The Brant Inn opened beside the lake in 1917. It became famous in the 1940s and 1950s for its big-band performers.
Source: Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario
Burlington History
Brant built a house meant as a half-scale version of Johnson Hall, the mansion of Sir William Johnson that had impressed him as a young man. He farmed about 100 acres of crops there. His first house in Burlington was torn down in 1932.
Source: Wikipedia, Joseph Brant
Burlington Quiz
The S-shaped pier runs 137 metres into the lake and has a raised lookout with a 12-metre beacon. Building began in 2006, and after long delays it opened in June 2013, during the Sound of Music Festival.
Source: Wikipedia, Brant Street Pier
Burlington Quiz
The British granted Joseph Brant a tract of about 3,450 acres on Burlington Bay for his service in the American Revolutionary War. He and his household settled there around 1802, and the city still marks Joseph Brant Day in early August.
Sources: Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario, Wikipedia, Joseph Brant
Burlington Nature
The first peaches grown in Canada came from the Grindstone Creek watershed in southwest Burlington. Farming here did so well that, in the early 20th century, the area was called the Garden of Canada.
Source: Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario
Burlington Sports
First held in 1969, the games were a youth sports and culture exchange between Burlington, Ontario, and Burlington, Vermont. Other cities later joined. They ended in 2010 after their 40th anniversary.
Source: Wikipedia, Burlington, Ontario
Burlington Places
The vertical lift bridge built in 1962 is the sixth bridge over the canal since 1830. It lets ships pass between Hamilton Harbour and Lake Ontario, and its road deck is metal grating, not pavement.
