Mount Forest, Ont, unincorporated place within the township of Wellington North, pop 11 305 (2001c), 10 869 A (1996c), area 524.41 km2. Mount Forest was a town until 1999 when it was amalgamated into the township of Wellington North. Mount Forest is located on the Saugeen River, about 70 km north of KITCHENER-WATERLOO. The community takes its name from the town land of Mountforest, Ireland.
The first settlers in the area travelled along a trail leading from Burlington to Owen Sound on Georgian Bay. John Foster is reported to have taken up land nearby in 1840, but few followed until the 1850s. In 1855 Richard Chaloner built a blacksmith shop and the following year a sawmill opened in what would become Mount Forest. By 1864, when the community was incorporated as a village, it had a population of about 1000 people. It incorporated as a town in 1879. Subsequent growth slowed, though Mount Forest remains a service centre for the surrounding region. There are some manufacturing concerns, many based on wood products.