Regional Municipality of York

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 creation of the regional municipality resulted in the consolidation of the fourteen former municipalities of York County into nine new municipalities: 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 (to which it ceded land The council of East Gwillimbury voted to amalgamate with Newmarket, but Newmarket council opposed the amalgamation. :* the hydro-electric commissions and public utilities commissions that existed at the end of 1970 continued to provide electricity within their respective areas; :* the councillors of the former Township of Vaughan and the trustees of the former Police Village of King City became members of new Hydro-Electric Commissions for their respective areas; :* Ontario Hydro continued to have responsibility for providing electricity to those portions of the Region that were not served by any of the above commissions. Electric distribution was partially rationalized in 1978, when: :* hydro-electric commissions were established for all area municipalities except East Gwillimbury (but it could establish a commission later on, subject to Ontario Hydro's consent); :* effective January 1, 1979, all assets of the former commissions in the Region were transferred to the new commissions; :* Ontario Hydro withdrew its provision of services from all areas except those in East Gwillimbury, Georgina, King and Whitchurch-Stouffville; ==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: • Town of Aurora • Town of East Gwillimbury • Town of Georgina • Township of King • City of Markham • Town of Newmarket • City 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 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 (1,243 feet) Climate York Region is situated in the humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb) 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: • 1 from Georgina • 1 from Newmarket • 2 from Richmond Hill • 3 from Vaughan • 4 from Markham The regional councilors are elected at-large for each lower-tier municipality which has them. They are also voting members of their respective city/town council. 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 and served until retiring in 2024. Eric Jolliffe was appointed as the new Chair shortly afterwards and took office on January 1, 2025. 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. As of 2018, the provincial electoral districts are the same as the federal districts in most of Ontario. Proposed reformations In May 2023, Premier Doug Ford announced that he would look to dissolve and restructure existing regional municipalities where deemed prudent. In response, Markham mayor Frank Scarpitti publicly proposed amalgamating York Region into a single-tier municipality, claiming it would save millions of dollars. The idea was met with immediate disapproval from all other York Region mayors, excluding Vaughan Mayor Steven Del Duca, who had not publicly expressed an opinion at the time. Scarpitti was criticized for not consulting with the other mayors about his proposal before publicly announcing it, which the others mayors saw as dramatic. Ford later announced that he had no interest in Scarpitti's proposal to amalgamate, and that any future proposals which were to be seriously considered must be deliberated among all of the other mayors in a region before being made public. Later, Vaughan mayor Steven Del Duca proposed dissolving York Region and making all of its lower-tier municipalities independent, claiming that Vaughan contributed more tax dollars than it received in regional funding. No other politicians endorsed Del Duca's proposal. The mayors and councilors of York Region have generally agreed with looking into potential reforms to streamline government operations. However, the mayors of the smaller towns, such as Newmarket and Whitchurch-Stouffville, strongly urged for dialogue and diplomacy, stressing that no municipality should be left behind as a result of a restructuring. As of January 2025, the Ontario government has not made any indication as to whether York Region will be restructured or remain as-is. ==Demographics==

As a census division in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Regional Municipality of York had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Language In the 2021 Canadian census, English is the mother tongue of 45.5% of the residents of York Region. Cantonese is the mother tongue for 9.7% of the population, followed by Mandarin (8.7%), Italian (4.0%), Farsi (4.4%) and Russian (3.1%). Religion According to the 2021 census, the most reported religion among the population was Christianity (45.3%), with Catholicism (25.2%) making up the largest denomination. This was followed by Islam (7.8%), Judaism (5.2%), Hinduism (5.0%), Buddhism (2.6%) and Sikhism (1.0%). 32.5% of the population did not identify with a particular religion. ==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 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, with the most contentious being over the use of the Oak Ridges Moraine. ==Attractions==

York Region has an assortment of points of interest, ranging from nature reserves to pioneer-era museums, to a modern amusement park. in Sharon , Aurora 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: • Hillary House National Historic Site (Aurora) • Historic Main Street Newmarket (Newmarket) • Georgina Military Museum (Georgina) • Georgina Village Museum (Georgina) • King Township Museum (King) • Markham Museum (Markham) • RHLS Narrow Gauge Railway (Whitchurch–Stouffville) • Sharon Temple National Historic Site (East Gwillimbury) • Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum (Whitchurch–Stouffville) • York-Durham Heritage Railway (Whitchurch–Stouffville) Following is a sample of other attractions in the area: • Applewood Farm Winery (Whitchurch–Stouffville) • 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) • Words Alive Literary Festival (East Gwillimbury) • Bare Oaks Family Naturist Park (East Gwillimbury) • York Demonstration Forest (Whitchurch–Stouffville) ==Health care==

There are currently four hospitals within the Municipality of York including: • Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital • Markham Stouffville Hospital • Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital • Southlake Regional Health Centre All four hospitals are part of the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) Hospital Partnerships. 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. Counselling Services for York Region, is a center located in Vaughan that provides mental health services to individuals who are in need of psychological treatment and assessment. Counselling Services for York Region helped lobby for the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program which was successfully implemented by Ontario Health. The program was advocated through Advocacy York Region. ==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 leadership of British surveyor Augustus Jones during the 1790s. York Region assigned approximately 50 roads as York Regional Roads, meaning that maintenance of these roads is done by York Region. They are signposted with numbers. The major highways in the Region are: • Highway 7 (east-west) • Highway 9 (east-west) • Highway 48 (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 27 (north-south) • Highway 47 (east-west) • Highway 49 (east-west) • Highway 50 (north-south) • Note: Highway 27 and Highway 50 are still referred to as such on municipal road signs, but are no longer provincial highways. Air transportation Most air travel is served by Toronto Pearson International Airport, which is outside of York Region and is Canada's largest airport. Markham Airport is a private aerodrome in Markham. There are also a few small airports with unpaved runways serving the region: Hare Field in Holland Landing (East Gwillimbury), Belhaven Airport in Georgina, and Stouffville Aerodrome north of Stouffville. Buttonville Municipal Airport was a larger regional airport in Markham that was used for general aviation and business aircraft. It closed in November 2023. Public transportation at Yonge & Highway 7 subway platform York Region is served by: • York Region Transit (YRT), which includes the Viva bus rapid transit network, is the Region's local transit service • GO Transit, which provides commuter bus and rail service • Toronto Transit Commission (TTC), which has several bus routes which cross York's southern border, and which provide service along many north–south arterial streets in Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Markham. The western arm of the TTC's Line 1 Yonge-University extends into Vaughan to serve Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, and a future extension of the Yonge Street (eastern) portion of the line will serve the boundary areas of Vaughan, Richmond Hill, and Markham by the mid-2030's. 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 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 (Bayview, Dufferin and Milliken (tank and underground reservoir)) 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. • Georgina -water from Lake Simcoe and private wells • East Gwillimbury - region and private wells • Newmarket - region wells and water from Lake Ontario • Whitchurch-Stouffville - Region wells, water from Lake Ontario, private wells • Markham - water from Lake Ontario and private wells • Richmond Hill - water from Lake Ontario and private wells • Aurora - water from Lake Ontario and private wells • Vaughan - water from Lake Ontario and private wells • King - water from Lake Ontario, Region and private wells Water is distributed from 14 water pumping stations and stored at 37 elevated tanks and reservoirs: List of water tanks • Reesor Park water tank - built 1971, now out of service and dismantled • Newmarket - 211 Harry Walker Parkway South • Richmond Hill - 81 Coons Road • Schomberg - 186 Church Street, built 1997 • King - 60 Fisher Street, built 1982 • Stouffville - 12519 Tenth Line, built 1984 • Stouffville - Bethesda Rd, built 2005 • Aurora - 126 Allenvale Drive, 240 Orchard Heights Boulevard, built 1984 • Aurora - 180 Bloomington Road, built 2008 • Markham - 4355 14th Avenue Treatment Plants • Sutton Water Treatment Plant - closed • Georgina Water Treatment Plant - replaces Sutton plant • Keswick Water Treatment Plant • Schomberg Water Treatment Plant ==Education==

Four public school boards operate primary and secondary institutions in York Region, Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir (CSCM), Conseil scolaire Viamonde (CSV), the York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB), and the York Region District School Board (YRDSB). 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: • As-Sadiq Islamic School (Vaughan) • Academy for Gifted Children (Richmond Hill) • Country Day School (King) • Holy Trinity School (Richmond Hill) • Leo Baeck Day School (Vaughan) • Ner Israel Yeshiva College (Vaughan) • Netivot HaTorah Day School (Vaughan) • Pickering College (Newmarket) • St. Andrew's College (Aurora) • St. Thomas of Villanova College (King) • Town Centre Montessori Private School (Markham) • Toronto Waldorf School (Vaughan) In addition to primary and secondary levels of education, the region is also home to post-secondary institutions such as Seneca Polytechnic. The college operates two campuses spread throughout York Region, in King and Markham, as well as additional campuses in Toronto. The region presently does not host a university, but a Markham campus of York University is under construction as of August 2022. ==News media==

• York Region Media Group • CKVR - CTV Two (based in Barrie) • CFU758 - 90.7 RAV FM (Vaughan) • CKDX 88.5FM - Foxy 88-5 (Newmarket) • CFMS-FM - 105.9 The Region (Markham) • CIWS-FM - WhiStle Community Radio Whitchurch–Stouffville York's news media is also served by the outlets based in Toronto. ==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. ==See also==