Essa, Ontario



Essa is a township in Ontario, Canada, west and south of the city of Barrie in Simcoe County. It is bounded by County Road 90 to its north, County Road 27 to its east, and Ontario Highway 89 to its south. The township is about 100 km from Toronto. The township is well known for its agriculture industry, particularly potato farming. Nearby CFB Borden brings a strong military presence to the area as well, including a high number of Francophone families.

Communities
The main communities of this township are Angus, Thornton, and Baxter. Other small hamlets are Cedargrove, Colwell, Egbert, Elmgrove, Hoe Doe Valley, Ivy, Utopia and West Essa.

Angus is the largest community in Essa Township, and the main access to the neighbouring Canadian Forces Base Borden. It offers services such as Essa Public Library, catholic and public elementary schools, public secondary school, a small shopping centre, many stores, a chamber of commerce and a recreation facility. Angus is located in the northwestern corner of Essa township. Located in Essa's municipal Ward 1, the township councillor for Angus is Pieter Kiezebrink.

Angus is named in honour of Angus Morrison, former Member of the Legislative Assembly for Simcoe North.

Notable residents
Controversial politician Helena Guergis, the former Member of Parliament for Simcoe—Grey, resides in Angus. Her cousin David Guergis was Essa's mayor until 2010.

Local Government
Essa is governed by a Mayor, a Deputy Mayor and three Councillors, with one Councillor representing each of the three municipal wards. The Mayor of Essa represents the town on the Simcoe County Council. As of the 2022 election, the elected council members are:

Mayor: Sandie MacDonald

Deputy Mayor: Michael Smith

Councillors:


 * Ward 1: Pieter Kiezebrink
 * Ward 2: Henry Sander
 * Ward 3: Liana Maltby

Fire, EMS and police services
Township of Essa Fire Department is a fire services staffed by full-time chief, Doug Burgin and deputy chief, Gary McNamara. With 54 volunteer fire fighters at two stations (Angus and Thornton).

Ambulance service is covered by County of Simcoe Paramedic Service station in Angus.

Policing in Essa Township is covered by Ontario Provincial Police Nottawasaga Detachment.

Education
Essa Township has 4 elementary schools and a high school:
 * Angus Morrison Elementary School (Angus)
 * Pine River Elementary School (Angus)
 * Baxter Central Public School (Baxter)
 * Our Lady of Grace Catholic School (Angus)
 * Nottawasaga Pines Secondary School (Angus)

These schools are managed by the Simcoe County District School Board and the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board.

There are also two French Schools accessible to Essa residents, managed by the French Public School Board, Conseil Scolaire Viamonde.


 * Academie La Pinède (Borden)
 * Ecole Secondaire Romeo Dallaire (Barrie)

There is also a private high school
 * Convoy International Secondary Academy (Utopia)

This school is inspected by the Ministry of Education and approved to give credits for grade 9-12 courses. The school is a private day and boarding school for local and international students. Convoy offers in-class and online classes to meet each student’s needs.

Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Essa had a population of $22,970$ living in $7,949$ of its $8,232$ total private dwellings, a change of NaN% from its 2016 population of $21,083$. With a land area of 279.92 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.