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 / 43.54778; -79.58083[1]
• elevation	74 m (243 ft)[2]
Length	90 km (56 mi)[3]
Basin size	1,000 km2 (390 sq mi)[3]
Discharge
• location	Erindale, Mississauga[4]
• average	8.12 m3/s (287 cu ft/s)[4]
• 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: