Toronto Township is a former municipality now mostly part of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, with its northern extremity now a part of Brampton. It was directly west of but not part of the City of Toronto (which was named York at the time of the township's establishment), and its land area makes up the majority of present-day Mississauga.

History

Toronto Township was formed as a locally unincorporated part of York County, Upper Canada on August 2, 1805 when officials from York purchased 84000 acre of land from the Mississaugas (First Nations people) for 1,000 Pounds. After the land was surveyed, much of it was given by the Crown in the form of land grants to Loyalists. More than a dozen small communities grew in this area, most of which were located near natural resources, waterways for industry and fishing, and routes leading into York. The township became part of Peel County in 1851. In 1873, in light of the continued growth seen in this area, Toronto Township was incorporated as a rural municipality and a council was created to oversee the affairs of the various villages that were unincorporated at that time. The council's responsibilities included road maintenance, the establishment of a police force, and mail delivery service. Toronto Township was a municipality until 1967, when the town's citizens and politicians voted to change the township to a town and rename it Mississauga, which won over the second-place Sheridan after a naming contest. Mississauga became a city seven years later in 1974, and ceded its northernmost area (and thus lands formerly part of the township) to Brampton.