The Regional Municipality of Haldimand-Norfolk was a regional municipality

Regional municipality

A regional municipality is a type of Canadian municipal government similar to and at the same municipal government level as a county, although the specific structure and servicing responsibilities may vary from place to place...

 in the Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 province of Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 which existed from 1974 to 2000.

It was formed by merging the historic counties

Historic counties of Ontario

The Canadian province of Ontario has several historic counties, which are past census divisions that no longer exist today. Most historic counties either merged with other counties, or became regional municipalities or single-tier municipalities...

 of Haldimand

Haldimand County, Ontario

Haldimand is a rural city-status single-tier municipality on the Niagara Peninsula in Southern Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Erie, and on the Grand River. Municipal offices are located in Cayuga....

 and Norfolk

Norfolk County, Ontario

Norfolk County is a rural city-status single-tier municipality on the north shore of Lake Erie in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Bloomsburg is a small town located in Norfolk County and is the hometown of David Slater. The county seat and largest community is Simcoe...

. The merger came following the report of Milt Farrow, a "special advisor" appointed by the Government of Ontario.

On January 1, 2001, the regional municipality was dissolved and two single-tier municipalities, the Town of Haldimand and the Town of Norfolk, were formed. The municipalities immediately changed their official names to Haldimand County and Norfolk County -- and special advisor Milt Farrow later said in published interviews that he should have recommended those names. Since they no longer have townships

Township (Canada)

The term township generally means the district or area associated with a town. However in some systems no town needs to be involved. The specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country, usually to describe a local rural or semi-rural government within the county...

 or other municipal subdivisions below them, both municipalities are not true "county" governments in the traditional sense.

Prior to the 2001 restructuring, the Regional Municipality of Haldimand Norfolk consisted of the upper-tier regional government and the lower-tier Towns of Haldimand, Dunnville and Simcoe, and the townships of Delhi, Norfolk and the City of Nanticoke.

The last regional chairperson in Haldimand-Norfolk was John Harrison.

Many smaller communities such as Port Dover and Port Rowan are now in "Norfolk County".