Rayside-Balfour, Ontario

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Rayside-Balfour was a town in Ontario, Canada, which existed from 1973 to 2000.

It was created as part of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury. The town took its name from the geographic townships of Rayside and Balfour, which fell within the boundaries of the new town.

Although the Regional Municipality of Sudbury was a very important centre of franco-ontarian population and culture, Rayside-Balfour was the only town in the regional municipality which had a majority francophone population.

On January 1, 2001, the town and the Regional Municipality were dissolved and amalgamated into the city of Greater Sudbury. In 1996, the last Canadian census before the municipal amalgamation, the town had a population of 16,050.

In 2006, there has been interest in the deamalgamation of the former town of Rayside-Balfour from the City of Greater Sudbury. However, as any referendum on the matter would require the consent of the provincial government, it is not known whether any such move toward deamalgamation will take place.