Regional Municipality of York

Regional Municipality of York
Regional Municipality of York
	— Regional Municipality —
	The York Region Administrative Centre.
	; Seal
	; Seal
	Motto: Ontario's Rising Star
	Map showing York Region's location in Ontario
	Coordinates: 44°3′5″N 79°28′49″W / 44.05139°N 79.48028°WCoordinates: 44°3′5″N 79°28′49″W / 44.05139°N 79.48028°W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Established	1792 (County)
Established	1971 (Regional Municipality)
Seat	Newmarket
	Government
• Chair	Bill Fisch
• Governing Body	York Regional Council
	Area
• Total	1,762.17 km2 (680.38 sq mi)
	Population (2011)
• Total	1,032,524
• Density	585.9/km2 (1,517/sq mi)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4)
Website	www.york.ca

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 seat of government is in Newmarket.

The 2011 census population was 1,032,524,^[3]. At the Canada 2006 Census, 50,815 residents inhabited rural areas in the municipality, and 841,897 resided in urban areas.^[4] Its growth rate of 22.4% from 2001 to 2006 was the third highest amongst all census divisions in Canada,^[5] and the Government of Ontario expects its population to surpass 1.5 million residents by 2031.^[6]

[edit] 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 map of the region^[7] showing its major roads and communities is available.

Towns and cities in York Region include:

Town of Aurora
Town of East Gwillimbury
Town of Georgina
Township of King
Town of Markham
Town of Newmarket
Town of Richmond Hill
City of Vaughan
Town of Whitchurch–Stouffville

There is also one First Nation with an Indian reserve, where the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation reside.

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.

[edit] Government

The region is governed by a group known as York Regional Council, which consists of 20 elected representatives from each of the constituent towns and cities in the region, including each of the nine mayors and 11 regional councillors, who are elected from the constituent municipalities as follows^[8]:

1 from each of Georgina and Newmarket
2 from Richmond Hill
3 from Vaughan
4 from Markham

The leader of Council is referred to as "Regional Chair and CEO". Bill Fisch currently holds this office.

In October 2008, the York Regional Municipality was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc.^[9]

[edit] Federal and provincial representation

York Region encompasses all or part of the federal electoral districts of Markham—Unionville, Newmarket—Aurora, Oak Ridges—Markham, Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Vaughan and York—Simcoe. The same districts are used to elect representatives federally in the Canadian House of Commons and provincially in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

[edit] Economy

The economy of York Region is diverse. In general, the economies in its southern communities include a full range of businesses from industrial to high-tech. Further north, beginning in the northern sections of Vaughan and Markham, extensive wetlands and farmland still remain, although new housing developments continually consume space year after year. There are ongoing conflicts between conservationists and developers over land use. Most contentious is the conflict use of the Oak Ridges Moraine.

[edit] Shopping

Major shopping centres located in York Region include:

Hillcrest Mall (Richmond Hill)
Markville Shopping Centre (Markham)
Pacific Mall (Markham)
Market Village (Markham)
The Promenade Shopping Centre (Vaughan)
Upper Canada Mall (Newmarket)
Vaughan Mills (Vaughan)
Woodside Mall (Markham)
First Markham Place (Markham)

[edit] Transportation

See List of numbered roads in York Region

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:

Highway 7 (east-west)
Highway 9 (east-west)
Highway 27 (north-south)
Highway 48 (north-south
Highway 50 (north-south)
Highway 400 (north-south)
Highway 404 (north-south)
Highway 407 (east-west)
Highway 427 (north-south)

Former highways include:

Highway 11 (north-south)
Highway 47 (east-west)
Highway 49 (east-west)

[edit] Air transportation

Most air travel is served by Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada's largest airport. Toronto/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 is located in Holland Landing (East Gwillimbury) and Belhaven Airport is located in Georgina.

[edit] Public transportation

Map of York Region and the municipalities it includes.

York Region is served by:

York Region Transit (YRT), which includes the Viva bus rapid transit network
GO Transit, which offers bus and train service
Toronto Transit Commission, which has several bus routes which cross York's southern border, and which offer limited services in Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Markham.

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:

Vaughan Transit
Markham Transit
Richmond Hill Transit
Aurora Transit - merged in 1999 with Newmarket Transit
Newmarket Transit

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 sparse populations in each of those towns.

[edit] Water

Water in southern York is provided by Toronto Water and Peel Region by way of 3 pumping stations and reservoirs (Bayview, Dufferin and Milliken) using water from Lake Ontario.^[10] Keswick and Sutton obtain water from Lake Simcoe by way of water treatment plants. The remainder of York gets water from underground wells. Some wells are maintained by the region and the rest privately.

Georgina - Lake Simcoe and private wells
East Gwillimbury - region and private wells
Newmarket - region wells and water from Toronto
Whitchurch-Stouffville - Region wells and water from Toronto, private wells
Markham - water from Toronto and private wells
Richmond Hill - water from Toronto and private wells
Aurora - water from Toronto/Peel and private wells
Vaughan - water from Toronto/Peel and private wells
King - Water from Toronto/Peel and Region and private wells

Water is distributed from 14 water pumping stations and stored at 37 elevated tanks and reservoirs.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Treatment Plants

Sutton Water Treatment Plant - closed
Georgina Water Treatment Plant - replaces Sutton plant
Keswick Water Treatment Plant

[edit] Education

See Category:High schools in York Region

Public schools, with classes up to grade 12, are administered by the York Region District School Board, which operates 180 schools. In addition, the York Catholic District School Board operates 95 schools with a curriculum based in Roman Catholic doctrine.

Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology has three campuses located in York Region, in King, Markham and Newmarket. York University is located just outside of York Region's southern border, in Toronto.

In addition, there are many other religious and private schools located in the Region. These include:

Academy for Gifted Children (Richmond Hill)
The Country Day School (King City)
Holy Trinity School (Richmond Hill)
Leo Baeck Day School (Thornhill)
Ner Israel Yeshiva College (Thornhill)
Netivot HaTorah Day School (Thornhill)
Pickering College (Newmarket)
St. Andrew's College (Aurora)
St. Thomas of Villanova College (King City)
Town Centre Montessori Private School (Markham)
Blyth Education (Thornhill)

[edit] News media

York Region Media Group
First Local/Rogers TV York Region
CKVR - A (based in Barrie)
CFU758 - 90.7 RAV FM (Thornhill)
CKDX 88.5FM - Foxy 88-5 (Newmarket)

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

[edit] 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 Vaughan, the major attractions include the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, located in the community of Kleinburg and 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:

Hillary House National Historic Site (Aurora)
Georgina Military Museum (Georgina)
Georgina Village Museum (Georgina)
King Township Museum (King)
Markham Museum (Markham)
RHLS Narrow Gauge Railway (Whitchurch–Stouffville)^[2]
Sharon Temple (East Gwillimbury)
Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum (Whitchurch–Stouffville)^[3]
York-Durham Heritage Railway (Whitchurch–Stouffville)^[4]

Following is a sample of other attractions in the area:

Applewood Farm Winery (Whitchurch–Stouffville)^[5]
Canadian Heritage Humber River
Fred Varley Art Gallery (Markham)
Canada's Wonderland (Vaughan)
Oak Ridges Trail
Puck's Farm (King)
Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts
Sutton-Zephyr Trail
Willow Springs Winery (Whitchurch–Stouffville)^[6]
Words Alive Literary Festival (East Gwillimbury)
York Demonstration Forest (Whitchurch–Stouffville)

[edit] Protected areas

Baker Sugarbush Conservation Area
Boyd Conservation Area
Bruce's Mill Conservation Area
Duclos Point Provincial Nature Reserve
Gold Creek Conservation Area
Holland Landing Prairie Provincial Nature Reserve
Kortright Centre for Conservation
Lake St. George Conservation Area
Mabel Davis Conservation Area
Milne Park
Pickering Lands Preservation Site
Rogers Reservoir Conservation Area [7]
Sheppards Bush Conservation Area
Sibbald Point Provincial Park
Thornton Bales King Conservation Area
Wesley Brooks Memorial Conservation Area (known as "Fairy Lake" locally^[11])
Whitchurch Conservation Area
Willow Beach Conservation Area

[edit] Sister city

Omsk (Russia)

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.

[edit] Demographics

The Regional Municipality of York is one of the fastest growing census divisions in Canada; from 2001 to 2006, its population increased by 22.4%.^[12] The 2009 mid-year population estimate by Statistics Canada was 1,016,379 residents.^[13] It is the third-largest census division in Ontario, next to that of Toronto and Peel Region,^[13] and seventh-largest in Canada.^[14] Its population density of 506.7 residents per square kilometre is 11th highest in Canada.^[15]

According to the Canada 2006 Census:^[16]

Population:
- in 2006: 892,712
- in 2001: 729,254
- change: +22.4%
Land area (square km) 1,761.64
Total private dwellings: 287,320
Private dwellings occupied by usual residents: 275,673

According to the 2006 census visible minorities comprised 37.2% of York Region.

Visible Minority groups
- Chinese: 15.6%
- South Asian: 9.1%
- West Asian: 2.4%
- Black: 2.4%
- Filipino: 1.9%
- Korean: 1.2%
- South East Asian: 1.1%
- Latin American: 1.0%
- Arab: 0.8%
- Japanese: 0.2%
- Other: 0.4%
- Multiple Visible Minority: 1.0%