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Credit River
Credit River
	The Credit River in Port Credit
	Location of the mouth of the Credit River in Ontario
Etymology	From Rivière au Crédit, used by French fur traders
Native name	Missinnihe
Location
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Physical characteristics
Source	Niagara Escarpment
• location	near Orangeville, Ontario and Caledon East, Ontario
• elevation	400 m (1,300 ft)
Mouth	Lake Ontario
• location	Port Credit
• coordinates	43°32′52″N 79°34′51″W / 43.54778°N 79.58083°W
• elevation	74 m (243 ft)
Length	90 km (56 mi)
Basin size	1,000 km2 (390 sq mi)
Discharge
• location	Erindale, Mississauga
• average	8.12 m3/s (287 cu ft/s)
• minimum	0.085 m3/s (3.0 cu ft/s)
• maximum	501 m3/s (17,700 cu ft/s)

The Credit River is a river in southern Ontario, which flows from headwaters above the Niagara Escarpment near Orangeville and Caledon East to empty into Lake Ontario at Port Credit, Mississauga. It drains an area of approximately 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi). The total length of the river and its tributary streams is over 1,500 kilometres (930 mi).

Despite urbanization and associated problems with water quality on the lower section of this river, it provides spawning areas for Chinook salmon and rainbow trout. There is a fish ladder on the river at Streetsville. Much of the river can still be travelled by canoe or kayak. The headwaters of the Credit River is home to a native self-sustaining brook trout population and an introduced brown trout population.

Credit Valley Conservation, the local watershed management conservation authority, operates several Conservation Areas including Belfountain, Island Lake, and Terra Cotta.

Forks of the Credit Provincial Park is located on the upper part of the river between Brampton and Orangeville, and is near the Bruce Trail.

Communities in the river's watershed include the following:

Naming

The river became known as Missinnihe (Eastern Ojibwa: "trusting creek"^[5]) to the Mississaugas First Nation who met annually with white traders there. To the First Nations, the river was "held in reverential estimation as the favourite resort of their ancestors"^[6] and the band, which ranged from Long Point on Lake Erie to the Rouge River on Lake Ontario, became known as the Credit River Indians. Their descendants are today the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.^[6]

The origins of the English name come from the time when French fur traders supplied goods to the native people in advance (on credit) against furs which would be delivered the following spring. It was known as the Rivière au Crédit. The trading post was set up at the mouth of the river, in Port Credit, in the early 18th century.^{[citation needed]}

Watershed population and land use

As of the 2006 census, 750,000 people live in the watershed. Of those, 87 percent live in the lower third of the watershed. Population growth is approximately 3 percent per year. In 1999, 21 percent of the watershed was developed. By 2020, 40 percent of the watershed will be developed (based on approved development and the official plans of the municipalities).

Plants and animals

The Credit River is home to a wide range of wildlife. Some species are permanent or seasonal residents while others are sighted occasionally. This watershed is home to 1,330 plant species, 64 fish species (including many bait fish, pike, and brook trout), 41 mammal species, 5 turtle species, 8 snake species, 17 amphibian species, and 244 bird species.^[7]

Turtle species (5)

Common snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina
Midland painted turtle, Chrysemys picta marginata
Red-eared slider, Trachemys scripta elegans
Blanding's turtle, Emydoidea blandingii
Common map turtle, Graptemys geographica

^[7]

Snake species (8)

Eastern garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis
Northern redbelly snake, Storeria occipitomaculata
Northern brown snake, Storeria dekayi
Northern ringneck snake, Diadophis punctatus edwardsii
Eastern milk snake, Lampropeltis triangulum triangulum
Northern water snake, Nerodia sipedon
Smooth green snake, Opheodrys vernalis
Northern ribbon snake, Thamnophis saurita septentrionalis

^[7]

Amphibian species (17)

Common mudpuppy, Necturus maculosus maculosus
Red-spotted newt (eastern), Notophthalmus viridescens
Jefferson salamander, Ambystoma jeffersonianum
- "Silvery salamander"
- "Tremblay's salamander"
Blue-spotted salamander, Ambystoma laterale
Northern redback salamander, Plethodon cinereus
Four-toed salamander, Hemidactylium scutatum
Spotted salamander, Ambystoma maculatum
Eastern American toad, Anaxyrus americanus americanus
Northern spring peeper, Pseudacris crucifer crucifer
Tetraploid grey treefrog, Hyla versicolor
Striped chorus frog (western), Pseudacris triseriata triseriata
Wood frog, Lithobates sylvaticus
Northern leopard frog, Lithobates pipiens
Pickerel frog, Lithobates palustris
Green frog, Lithobates clamitans
Mink frog, Lithobates septentrionalis
Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus

^[7]

In popular culture

The Canadian indie rock band The Constantines entitled a track "Credit River" on their 2008 album Kensington Heights.^{[citation needed]}

A youth Hockey team in the OMHA is named the Credit River Capitals

Bridges

List of major roadways crossing over the Credit in Peel Region:

Lakeshore Road - 4 lane steel box girder bridge
Queen Elizabeth Way - two span open spandrel deck arch bridges built in 1934 and widened 1960; maybe demolished and replaced^[8] pending review
Dundas Street West - two separate span steel box girder bridges
Burnhamthorpe Road West - two separate span concrete bridges
Ontario Highway 403 - 8 lane concrete girder overpass(es)
Eglinton Avenue West - two separate span concrete bridges
- a lower small steel truss bridge for pedestrian trail visible from the north side
Bristol Road West - two lane concrete girder bridge
Britannia Road - 4 lane concrete overpass
Creditview Road - concrete overpass being widened with new span to accommodate 4 lanes
Ontario Highway 401 - 6 lane concrete girder overpasses
Old Derry Road West - two lane steel Warren truss bridge (c. 1930 and rehabilitated in 2005)
Derry Road - 6 lane concrete overpass
Ontario Highway 407 - two separate span 8 lane concrete girder overpasses
Steeles Avenue West - 4 lane concrete girder overpass
Creditview Road - single lane concrete bowstring bridge c. 1928
Mississauga Road - 4 lane concrete girder overpass near Queen Street in Brampton
Heritage Road - 2 lane concrete overpass
Ontario Highway 7 / Guelph Street - 2 lane overpass