Regional Municipality of York


The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. It replaced the former York County in 1971, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area and the inner ring of the Golden Horseshoe. The regional government is headquartered in Newmarket.
The 2016 census population was 1,109,909, with a growth rate of 7.5% from 2011 to 2016. The Government of Ontario expects its population to surpass 1.5 million residents by 2031.

History

At a meeting in Richmond Hill on May 6, 1970, officials representing the municipalities of York County approved plans for the creation of a regional government entity to replace York County. The plan had been presented in 1969 by Darcy McKeough, the Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs, taking about a year to determine municipal boundaries within the new regional government.
The Regional Municipality of York was created by Act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1970, which took effect on January 1, 1971. The creation of the regional municipality resulted in the consolidation of the fourteen former municipalities of York County into nine new municipalities:
Area municipalityCreated fromPolice villages dissolved
Town of AuroraTown of Aurora, annexing portions of the Townships of King and Whitchurch
Town of East GwillimburyPortion of the Township of East Gwillimbury
Town of GeorginaTownships of Georgina and North Gwillimbury, and the Village of Sutton
Township of KingPortion of the Township of King
  • King City
  • Nobleton
  • Schomberg
    • City of MarkhamTown of Markham, annexing portion of the Township of Markham
  • Thornhill
  • Unionville
    • Town of NewmarketTown of Newmarket, annexing portions of the Townships of East Gwillimbury, King and Whitchurch
    City of Richmond HillCity of Richmond Hill, annexing portions of the Townships of King, Markham, Vaughan and Whitchurch
    City of VaughanVillage of Woodbridge, annexing portions of the Townships of King and Vaughan
  • Maple
  • Thornhill
    • Town of Whitchurch–StouffvilleVillage of Stouffville, annexing portions of the Townships of Markham and Whitchurch
    The township of Whitchurch merged with the town of Stouffville to create the town of Whitchurch–Stouffville, ceding land to Aurora, Newmarket, and Richmond Hill to the west of the proposed Highway 404 and annexing a northern strip of land from the township of Markham. The western boundary of the new town of Markham was defined to be at Yonge Street, where its northern boundary was formed with Richmond Hill and its western boundary with the new town Vaughan. The new town of Vaughan would consist of all communities in the area bounded by Markham and Richmond Hill in the east, Metro Toronto in the south, the periphery of the regional municipality in the west, and the new township of King in the north.
    The townships of Georgina, North Gwillimbury, and Sutton were merged into the township of Georgina, and the East Gwillimbury neighbourhood of East Gwillimbury Heights was merged into Newmarket. King formed the northwestern part of the new region, but the eastern lot from Bathurst Street to Yonge Street was ceded to Newmarket, Aurora, and Oak Ridges, the last of which became a part of Richmond Hill. The boundary between Aurora and Newmarket was defined to be St. John's Sideroad, and Newmarket's northern boundary was defined to be Green Lane.
    The towns of Aurora, Newmarket, and Richmond Hill were defined to be the growth centres for the regional municipality, which was to become a greenbelt between the denser urban areas of Toronto to the south and Barrie to the north. The growth centres were each restricted to grow to a maximum population of 25,000 by 2000, and the regional municipality to 300,000.
    The municipal realignment merged 40% of East Gwillimbury's population into Newmarket. The council of East Gwillimbury voted to amalgamate with Newmarket, but Newmarket council opposed the amalgamation. In the plan presented by McKeough, the councils of the towns of Newmarket and Aurora were given ten years to decide whether or not to amalgamate.
    The internal municipal realignments resulted in some politicians residing in a new municipality from that which they represented at the time of realignment. The reeve of Whitchurch Township resided in the western portion of the town that was annexed by Aurora, three East Gwillimbury councillors resided in land annexed by Newmarket, including its future mayor Ray Twinney, and King councillor Gordon Rowe was a resident of Oak Ridges, which became part of Richmond Hill.

    Hydro Commissions

    Because of the mix of urban and rural areas in the Region, the provision of electricity was governed in a different manner from the rest of the regional services:
    Electric distribution was partially rationalized in 1978, when:

    Police

    The York Regional Police was also created at this time, amalgamating the fourteen town, township, and village police forces.

    Geography

    York Region covers 1,762 square kilometres from Lake Simcoe in the north to the city of Toronto in the south. Its eastern border is shared with Durham Region, to the west is Peel Region, and Simcoe County is to the northwest. A detailed map of the region showing its major roads, communities and points of interest is available.
    Towns and cities in York Region include:
    There is also one First Nation with an Indian reserve, where the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation reside on Georgina Island, Fox Island and Snake Island.
    York Region's landscape includes farmlands, wetlands and kettle lakes, the Oak Ridges Moraine and over 2,070 hectares of regional forest, in addition to the built-up areas of its municipalities. The highest point in the region is within the rolling hills of the moraine near Dufferin St. & Aurora Side Road at 360m ASL

    Climate

    York Region is situated in the humid continental climate zone with warm summers and cold winters, ample snowfall, more in the northern part of York region much of it derived from the wind driven snowbelt streamer activity.

    Government

    The region is governed by York Regional Council, which consists of 20 elected representatives from each of the constituent towns and cities in the region. These include each of the nine mayors, and 11 regional councillors who are elected from the constituent municipalities as follows:
    The leader of Council is referred to as "Regional Chair and CEO". Wayne Emmerson, a former mayor of Whitchurch-Stouffville, was elected to this office in December 2014.
    In October 2008, York Regional Municipality was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc.

    Federal and provincial representation

    Starting with the 2015 federal election, York Region encompasses all or part of the federal electoral districts of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, King—Vaughan, Markham—Stouffville, Markham—Thornhill, Markham—Unionville, Newmarket—Aurora, Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Vaughan—Woodbridge, and York—Simcoe.
    Provincially, York Region is represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by Members of Provincial Parliament for the electoral districts of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, Markham—Unionville, Newmarket—Aurora, Markham—Thornhill, Markham—Stouffville, Richmond Hill, Thornhill, King—Vaughan, Vaughan—Woodbridge, and York—Simcoe.

    Economy

    The economy of York Region is diverse. In general, the economy includes a full range of businesses from industrial to high-tech to rural/agricultural. New developments continually consume space year after year, and tend to be focused along the Yonge Street corridor from Vaughan/Richmond Hill in the south to Newmarket/Aurora in the north. There are ongoing conflicts between conservationists and developers over land use. Most contentious is the conflict use of the Oak Ridges Moraine.

    Shopping

    Major shopping centres in York Region include:
    The 2016 census population estimate by Statistics Canada was 1,109,909 residents. It is the third-largest census division in Ontario, next to that of Toronto and Peel Region, and seventh-largest in Canada. Its population density of 585.9 residents per square km is 11th highest in Canada.
    MunicipalityStatusPopulation Population Population Population
    AuroraTown20,90529,45434,85740,167
    East GwillimburyTown14,64418,36719,77020,555
    GeorginaTown22,48629,74634,77739,263
    KingTownship15,95118,12118,22318,533
    MarkhamCity114,597153,811173,383208,615
    NewmarketTown34,92345,47457,12565,788
    Richmond HillCity46,76680,142101,725132,030
    VaughanCity65,058111,359132,549182,022
    Whitchurch–StouffvilleTown15,13518,35719,83522,008
    York Regional Municipality350,602504,981592,445729,254

    MunicipalityStatusPopulation Population Population
    AuroraTown47,62953,20355,445
    East GwillimburyTown21,06922,47323,991
    GeorginaTown42,34643,51745,418
    KingTownship19,48719,89924,512
    MarkhamCity261,573301,709328,966
    NewmarketTown74,29579,97884,224
    Richmond HillCity162,704185,541195,022
    VaughanCity238,866288,301306,233
    Whitchurch–StouffvilleTown24,39037,62845,837
    York Regional Municipality892,7121,032,5241,109,909

    In the 2016 Canadian census, English is the mother tongue of 47.6% of the residents of York Region. Cantonese is the mother tongue for 9.9% of the population, followed by Mandarin, Italian, Russian and Persian. The most common ethnic and pan-ethnic origins in the Regional Municipality of York were as follows:
    Ethnic originPopulationPercentage
    Chinese255,96523.3
    Italian159,46514.5
    Canadian125,57511.4
    English116,76010.6
    Scottish81,1557.4
    Irish78,6457.1
    East Indian72,8556.6
    Russian47,5504.3
    German42,5403.9
    Iranian41,0053.7
    Polish39,2553.6
    French34,6203.1
    Filipino28,8352.6
    Ukrainian26,0702.4
    Sri Lankan22,0402.0

    Health Care

    There are currently three hospitals within the Municipality of York including:
    All three hospitals are part of the Local Health Integration Network Hospital Partnerships.
    In 2011 the construction of Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital was approved by the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Deb Matthews. The hospital site is proposed within the City of Vaughan at Major Mackenzie Drive on the east side of Highway 400. Current plans include a new $80 million building.
    Boomerang Health, in Vaughan, is a centre that provides multidisciplinary rehabilitation and medical services geared specifically for children and adolescents, in collaboration with The Hospital for Sick Children.

    Transportation

    The arterial road network in York Region is a grid, with most roads running north–south or east–west. This was done under the orders of British surveyor Augustus Jones during the 1790s. York Region assigned approximately 50 roads as York Regional Routes, meaning that the cost of maintaining of these roads is paid for by York Region.
    The major highways in the Region are:
    Former highways include:
    Most air travel is served by Toronto Pearson International Airport, which is outside of York Region and is Canada's largest airport. Buttonville Municipal Airport is a regional airport in Markham, used for general aviation and business aircraft. There are also a few unpaved airports serving the region: Hare Field in Holland Landing, Belhaven Airport in Georgina, and Stouffville Aerodrome north of Stouffville.

    Public transportation

    York Region is served by:
    Until 2001, the towns of York Region operated separate public transit services, which did not connect very well with each other. YRT was created by the Regional Government to combine five of these services:
    Since 2001, bus routes have been extensively enhanced in the five communities which had pre-existing services, but YRT's services to East Gwillimbury is limited to two routes, and service to King, Georgina and Whitchurch-Stouffville are even more limited due to the relatively small populations in each of those towns.

    Water

    Water in southern York is provided by Toronto Water and Peel Region by way of 3 pumping stations and reservoirs using water from Lake Ontario. Keswick and Sutton obtain water from Lake Simcoe by way of water treatment plants. The remainder of York obtains water from a combination of water from Lake Ontario and underground wells. Some wells are maintained by the Region and the rest privately.
    Water is distributed from 14 water pumping stations and stored at 37 elevated tanks and reservoirs:

    List of water tanks

    Four public school boards operate primary and secondary institutions in York Region, Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir, Conseil scolaire Viamonde, the York Catholic District School Board, and the York Region District School Board. CSV and YRDSB operate as secular public school boards, the former operating French first language institution, whereas the latter operated English first language institutions. The other two school boards, MonAvenir and YCDSB, operate as public separate school boards, the former operating French first language separate schools, the latter operating English first language separate schools.
    YRDSB is the largest public school board in the region, operating 175 elementary schools, and 33 secondary schools. YCDSB operates 83 elementary schools, and 15 secondary schools, while MonAvenir operates five elementary schools, and two secondary schools. CSV is the smallest public school board in the York Region, operating three elementary schools, and one secondary school in the region.
    Along with public schools, the region also holds a number of religious and private schools including:
    In addition to primary and secondary levels of education, the region is also home to post-secondary institutions such as Seneca College. The college operates three campuses spread throughout York Region, in King, Markham and Newmarket, as well as additional campuses in Toronto. The region presently does not host a university.

    News media

    *
    York's news media is also served by the outlets based in Toronto.

    Attractions

    York Region has an unusual assortment of points of interest, ranging from nature reserves to pioneer-era museums, to a modern amusement park.
    in Sharon, Ontario, Canada
    Vaughan's major attractions include the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, in the community of Kleinburg, that features works by Canadian artists including Inuit and First Nations artists. Canada's Wonderland, which features roller coasters and other rides, concerts and fireworks shows, is also in Vaughan.
    Heritage sites and historical museums in the Region include:
    Following is a sample of other attractions in the area:
    York Region lies within the Central Counties of Ontario, a tourism related association.

    Protected areas

    The Region of York signed a "Twinning Agreement" with the city of Omsk, Russia, on August 28, 1997, after it signed a "Friendship Agreement" one year previous.

    Adjacent census divisions