Many workers relocated to Welland from the company's operations in Plymouth, Massachusetts were of Italian origin. 14.8% of inhabitants are under the age of 14, while those over 65 account for 21.3%.Īnother significant cultural group was established with the opening of the Plymouth Cordage plant. The population rose from 50,631 in the 2011 Census.Īccording to the 2016 census, 91.2% of the population is Caucasian, 3.9% Aboriginal, 1.6% Black, 0.8% Latin Americans, and 2.5% of Asian descent. Welland is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by the Liberal Party Member of Parliament Vance Badawey, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by the NDP Member of Provincial Parliament Jeff Burch, representing the Niagara Centre and the provincial ridings of Niagara Centre, respectively.ĭemographics Historical populations Yearĭuring the 2016 Census, the population of Welland was determined to be 52,293, making Welland the 97th largest city in Canada. The project is proving to be a catalyst for development, as several new establishments have been opened downtown and some businesses are expanding. The new building, facing both East Main Street and the old canal, houses the city hall and the Welland Public Library. The Civic Square project has been completed after spanning the terms of three city councils and three mayors. The chief local political issue is the redevelopment of the downtown core, which has deteriorated in the years after the Welland By-Pass project. Regional responsibilities include social welfare, community health, and policing through the Niagara Regional Police. The city is responsible for fire protection, libraries, parks and recreation and secondary streets, but many municipal services come from the broader level of government, the Niagara Region. Welland firefighters responding to a road accident. A report published by the City of Welland in 2013 said, 'for over 10 years now, these programs have produced only very moderate uptake and development since being introduced.' : 78 Other former industrial cities have grappled with similar painful transitions. Integral to the program is the use of incentives to promote revitalization and redevelopment. The City of Welland is working to revitalize the downtown core through an ongoing community improvement plan. With the completion of the bypass, Welland's east end (and the former town of Crowland) was like an island between the new and old canal channels. The Welland By-Pass project, started in 1967 and finished in 1973, provided a new, shorter alignment for the Welland Canal by moving it from downtown Welland to the city's outskirts.

In the 1960s, the city was starting to outgrow the canal passing through its core. By the 1930s, Welland was an important industrial city in the region and was developing rapidly. In 1906 the Plymouth Cordage Company was the first major industrial company to open a plant in Welland. Together with the canal, these two factors attracted the development of heavy industry in Welland. One of the few railway crossings across the canal was near Welland. Welland gained its present name when it was incorporated on 25 July 1858. This name is reflected in the name of the Merrittville Highway (Niagara Road 50), which served as the primary north-south route in central Niagara before the construction of Highway 406. The growing town was later named Merrittsville, after William Hamilton Merritt, the initiator of the Welland Canal project. A small shantytown soon developed around the facility, providing essential services in what was a convenient stop-over location for travellers and workers on the canal. A lock to cross from the canal to the river and vice versa was also built. A wooden aqueduct was built to carry the Welland Canal over the Welland River at what is now downtown Welland, and the area became known as simply Aqueduct. The First Welland Canal was extended in 1833 to reach Lake Erie and has influenced development of this city ever since. Cook's Mills was the second to last engagement of the War of 1812 on Canadian soil. After an intense skirmish, the Americans retreated to Buffalo, New York. On 19 October 1814, Canadian forces led by George Hay, 8th Marquess of Tweeddale, met an American raiding party, numbering approximately nine hundred, near the eastern edge of the present community during the Battle of Cook's Mills. Tensions continued between Great Britain and the newly independent United States, and the War of 1812 broke out. The area was settled in 1788 by United Empire Loyalists who had been granted land by the Crown to compensate for losses due to property they left in the British Thirteen Colonies during and after the American Revolutionary War.

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