Perth County, in the Canadian province of Ontario, is located in Southwestern Ontario, 100km west of Toronto and is very large, 2,218.46 square kilometers in size. The county seat is at Stratford. However, Stratford and the town of St. Marys, Ontario operate under their own municipal governments that are independent from the County's government. The County, Townhships and independent entities "enjoy a large degree of collaboration and work together to growth the region as a leading location for industry and people" according to the County. Census data published for Perth County by Statistics Canada includes those two separate municipalities and most Perth County publications also include the two, at least in some sections of the document.The County's most recent Official Plan, excluding St. Marys and Stratford which have their own plans, was published in February, 2016. This is a consolidated Plan. Previously, each of the fourteen local municipalities in the County had a local Official Plan.SubdivisionsThe county includes: Municipality of North Perth, 2011 population 12,631 Township of Perth East, 2011 population 12,028 Township of Perth South, 2011 population 3,993 Municipality of West Perth, 2011 population 8,919 Town of St. Marys, 2011 population 6,655, and City of Stratford, 2011 population 30,886, with independent municipal governments
