Vaughan | |
---|---|
City of Vaughan | |
![]() Vaughan viewed from Canada's Wonderland | |
![]() Location of Vaughan within York Region | |
Coordinates: 43°50′N79°30′W / 43.833°N 79.500°W Coordinates: 43°50′N79°30′W / 43.833°N 79.500°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | Ontario |
Regional Municipality | York |
Communities | List of major subdivisions |
Settled | 1792 |
Incorporated | |
• Township | 1850 |
• City | 1991 |
Government | |
• Type | Municipal (City) |
• Mayor | Steven Del Duca |
• Deputy Mayor | Linda D. Jackson |
• Regional Councillors | Mario Ferri Gino Rosati Mario Racco |
• City Manager | Nick Spensieri |
• Governing Body | Vaughan City Council |
Area | |
• Land | 272.44 km2 (105.19 sq mi) |
Population | |
• Total | 323,103 (17th) |
• Density | 1,185.9/km2 (3,071/sq mi) |
• Total Private Dwellings | 107,159 |
Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
Area code(s) | 905, 289, 365, and 742 |
Website | www |
Vaughan ( /vɔːn/ ) (2021 population 323,103) [1] is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increasing by 80.2% during this time period and having nearly doubled in population since 1991. [2] It is the fifth-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area, and the 17th-largest city in Canada.
The township was named after Benjamin Vaughan, a British commissioner who signed a peace treaty with the United States in 1783.
In the late pre-contact period, the Huron-Wendat people populated what is today Vaughan. The Skandatut ancestral Wendat village overlooked the east branch of the Humber River (Pine Valley Drive) and was once home to approximately 2,000 Huron in the sixteenth century. [3] The site is close to a Huron ossuary (mass grave) uncovered in Kleinburg in 1970, and one kilometre north of the Seed-Barker Huron site. [4]
The first European to pass through Vaughan was the French explorer Étienne Brûlé, who traversed the Humber Trail in 1615. However, it was not until townships were created in 1792 that Vaughan began to see European settlements, as it was considered to be extremely remote and the lack of roads through the region made travel difficult.
Despite the hardships of pioneer life, settlers came to Vaughan in considerable numbers. The population grew from 19 men, 5 women, and 30 children in 1800 to 4,300 in 1840. The first people to arrive were mainly Pennsylvania Germans, with a smaller number of families of English descent and a group of French Royalists. This migration from the United States was by 1814 superseded by immigrants from Britain. While many of their predecessors had been agriculturalists, the newer immigrants were highly skilled tradespeople, useful for a growing community.
Among the facilities established by this group were a number of hamlets, the oldest of which was Thornhill, where a sawmill was erected in 1801, a grist mill in 1815, and had a population of 300 by 1836. Other such enclaves included Kleinburg, Coleraine, Rupertville [5] (Maple), Richmond Hill, Teston, Claireville, Pine Grove, Carrville, Patterson, Burlington, Concord, Edgeley, Fisherville, Elder's Mills, Elgin Mills, Jefferson, Nashville, Purpleville, Richvale, Sherwood, Langstaff, Vellore, and Burwick (Woodbridge). [6]
In 1846, the Township was primarily agricultural but had a population of 4,300. There were six grist mills and 25 saw mills. [7] By 1935, there were 4,873 residents.
However, World War II sparked an influx of immigration, and by 1960, the population stood at 15,957. The ethnocultural composition of the area began to change with the arrival of different groups such as Italians, Jews and Eastern Europeans.
Incorporated in 1850 as Vaughan Township, a municipal government was established. Vaughan Road was a historic road constructed in 1850 that linked Vaughan Township with Toronto. It incorporated parts of present-day Dufferin Street north of Eglinton Avenue in Toronto, though all that remains of it today is the separate alignment farther south, running through the eastern half of the former City of York. [8] In 1971, the new regional government of York Region was established, acquiring policing and welfare services from the communities it served; simultaneously, the township merged with the Village of Woodbridge to form the Town of Vaughan. In 1991, it changed its legal status to City of Vaughan. [9]
Two F2 tornadoes tore through the city of Vaughan during the Southern Ontario Tornado Outbreak on August 20, 2009. Premier Dalton McGuinty and Mayor Linda Jackson toured the destruction the next day and reported 200 homes in critical shape and as many as 600 additional homes likely to be demolished. The tornadoes also ripped up trees, flipped cars, and left thousands of people without electricity. Vaughan declared a state of emergency because of the widespread damage. [10] [11] No deaths were reported from the tornadoes, but one man who was injured in the storms suffered a heart attack the following morning. [12]
North American telephone customers placing calls to Vaughan may not recognize the charge details on their billings. Although Vaughan has been a single municipality since 1971, the local incumbent local exchange carrier, Bell Canada, splits the city into three historical rate centres–Kleinburg, Maple and Woodbridge. Part of the Thornhill rate centre extends into Vaughan. Indeed, Vaughan does not even appear in the telephone book.
Vaughan is governed by a ten-member council comprising a mayor, four regional councillors, and five local councillors. The mayor, elected at large, is the head of the council and a representative on York Region Council. The four regional councillors are also elected at large, and serve on both the city council and York Regional Council. Five local councillors are also elected, one from each of Vaughan's five wards, to represent those wards on Vaughan Council.
City councillors meet at Vaughan City Hall, located in Maple. The city's City Hall was opened on September 25, 2011, and is named in memory of late Mayor Lorna Jackson. The new Civic Centre is one of the first in Canada to conform to a LEED Gold Standard, the second highest environmental classification available. [13]
Vaughan is the first municipality in Ontario to have a Youth City Councillor. The youth city councillor is appointed as a non-voting member of Council every six months to represent the youth of Vaughan. Vaughan council originally rejected the proposal of a youth councillor but, after the Vaughan Youth Cabinet amended its proposal, Council accepted the recommendation. [14]
After serving as mayor for nine years, Lorna Jackson saw the Town of Vaughan become incorporated as the City of Vaughan. [15] Following the death of Mayor Lorna Jackson in 2002, Michael Di Biase was appointed mayor by Vaughan council by virtue of his position as one of two regional councillors representing Vaughan, Joyce Frustaglio was the other regional councillor. Gino Rosati, a Vaughan local councillor, was subsequently appointed by Vaughan Council to fill Di Biase's position as regional councillor and a by-election was held to fill Rosati's local councillor's position which was won by Linda Jackson, the daughter of Mayor Jackson. Di Biase first became involved in the city's politics in 1985, when he was elected as a local councillor in 1985. Di Biase retained the mayorship in the 2003 municipal election, defeating challenger Robert Craig.
In the municipal election on November 13, 2006, Di Biase was narrowly defeated by Linda Jackson, who was sworn in as mayor on December 4, 2006. On June 18, 2008, an audit of Jackson's 2006 campaign finances found that the politician exceeded her legal spending limit of $120,419 by at least $12,356, or 10 per cent. The auditors, LECG Canada Ltd., say that amount could almost double if what they believed to be unreported contributions in kind at various election events but couldn't prove are later verified. [16]
They also found other apparent contraventions of the Canada Elections Act, including at least five instances where associated companies made donations that exceeded the normal $750 donation limit per company.
On June 24, 2008, Vaughan Council voted unanimously to hire a special prosecutor to consider laying charges against Mayor Linda Jackson under the Municipal Elections Act in reaction to the auditors' report. Council hired Timothy Wilkin, "an expert in municipal law" to decide what if any charges are to be laid. [17] If Jackson is charged and found guilty, she would face punishments ranging from fines to removal from office.[ needs update ]
Subsequently, an audit was conducted on former Mayor Di Biase's 2006 election campaign funds. This exposed 27 contraventions under the Elections Act, along with a $155,000 anonymous cash payment made to his lawyer to cover his legal fees. Di Biase has refused to disclose who made this payment. [18]
On 25 October 2010, longtime MP Maurizio Bevilacqua was elected mayor and he assumed office in December 2010.
On 24 October 2022, former Ontario Liberal Party leader Steven Del Duca was elected mayor and he assumed office on November 15, 2022.
Vaughan is bounded by Caledon and Brampton to the west, King and Richmond Hill to the north, Markham and Richmond Hill to the east, and Toronto — in the dissolved cities of Etobicoke and North York, to the south.
The city is made up of nearly a dozen historic communities. Likely as a result of the municipality being established when it was still largely a rural area with scattered settlements, most residents (and even non-residents) identify more with the larger communities than they do with the city as a whole and have greatly expanded their areas, and the City officially designates five in the urban area as major communities, with all of the built-up areas of the city considered as being within one of them. This includes corporations such as Bell Canada, which uses the original community rate centres and lists them separately in the phone book, resulting in local calling areas being different throughout the city.
The Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is a new 179 hectare (442 acre) city centre under development around the intersection of Highway 7 and Jane Street, at the site of the former hamlet of Edgeley.
When the Township of Vaughan officially became a town in 1971, it was made up four historic communities (Maple, Kleinburg, Thornhill, and Woodbridge) large enough to have their own village or town centres. Vaughan committed to building a new business and commercial core distinct from all of them. This commitment became policy in 1998 when Official Plan Amendment 500 called for the Vaughan Corporate Centre, as it was then branded, to become a focal point for business activity and major commercial development. [20]
It is served by the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre subway station, which is the northwestern terminus of Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway system. It is also a major transit hub for York Region Transit (YRT), as well as Viva and Züm bus rapid transit services. [21]
Vaughan section of Thornhill is home to northern boundary of Toronto's Koreantown North. Along with neighbouring Markham, Korean businesses flank Yonge from Steeles to as far north to Centre St./Thornhill Summit Dr. (but some can also be found in Richmond Hill up to Elgin Mills Rd.)
Vaughan like much of the Greater Toronto Area features a continental climate Dfb and has four distinct seasons.
Climate data for Woodbridge (Vaughan) Climate ID: 6159575; coordinates 43°47′N79°36′W / 43.783°N 79.600°W ; elevation: 164 m (538 ft); 1981–2010 normals | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 17.0 (62.6) | 15.5 (59.9) | 26.5 (79.7) | 31.5 (88.7) | 33.0 (91.4) | 36.0 (96.8) | 39.0 (102.2) | 37.2 (99.0) | 36.1 (97.0) | 30.6 (87.1) | 25.0 (77.0) | 19.5 (67.1) | 39.0 (102.2) |
Average high °C (°F) | −2.5 (27.5) | −0.5 (31.1) | 4.3 (39.7) | 12.0 (53.6) | 18.8 (65.8) | 24.1 (75.4) | 26.9 (80.4) | 25.4 (77.7) | 20.9 (69.6) | 13.9 (57.0) | 6.9 (44.4) | 0.8 (33.4) | 12.6 (54.7) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −6.6 (20.1) | −4.8 (23.4) | −0.4 (31.3) | 6.6 (43.9) | 12.9 (55.2) | 18.1 (64.6) | 20.8 (69.4) | 19.6 (67.3) | 15.4 (59.7) | 9.0 (48.2) | 3.1 (37.6) | −2.8 (27.0) | 7.6 (45.7) |
Average low °C (°F) | −10.7 (12.7) | −9.2 (15.4) | −5.2 (22.6) | 1.2 (34.2) | 6.8 (44.2) | 12.0 (53.6) | 14.7 (58.5) | 13.8 (56.8) | 9.8 (49.6) | 4.0 (39.2) | −0.8 (30.6) | −6.4 (20.5) | 2.5 (36.5) |
Record low °C (°F) | −34.5 (−30.1) | −30.0 (−22.0) | −29.4 (−20.9) | −17.2 (1.0) | −6.7 (19.9) | −1.7 (28.9) | 2.8 (37.0) | −0.6 (30.9) | −5.0 (23.0) | −11.7 (10.9) | −18.3 (−0.9) | −30.0 (−22.0) | −34.5 (−30.1) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 50.3 (1.98) | 44.2 (1.74) | 49.2 (1.94) | 63.3 (2.49) | 79.1 (3.11) | 76.3 (3.00) | 70.4 (2.77) | 80.4 (3.17) | 84.6 (3.33) | 66.5 (2.62) | 78.3 (3.08) | 57.4 (2.26) | 799.8 (31.49) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 20.4 (0.80) | 23.2 (0.91) | 31.4 (1.24) | 59.6 (2.35) | 79.1 (3.11) | 76.3 (3.00) | 70.4 (2.77) | 80.4 (3.17) | 84.6 (3.33) | 66.0 (2.60) | 71.1 (2.80) | 34.6 (1.36) | 697.0 (27.44) |
Average snowfall cm (inches) | 29.9 (11.8) | 21.1 (8.3) | 17.8 (7.0) | 3.7 (1.5) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.45 (0.18) | 7.2 (2.8) | 22.8 (9.0) | 102.8 (40.5) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 13.5 | 10.3 | 10.7 | 11.8 | 12.0 | 10.8 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 10.6 | 12.7 | 13.1 | 12.8 | 137.4 |
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 4.2 | 4.4 | 6.4 | 10.7 | 12.0 | 10.8 | 9.5 | 9.6 | 10.6 | 12.6 | 11.1 | 6.5 | 108.3 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 10.2 | 6.8 | 5.1 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.23 | 3.0 | 7.5 | 34.3 |
Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada [22] |
Vaughan was the largest city in Canada without a hospital [23] until the 2021 opening of Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital on Major Mackenzie Drive north of Canada's Wonderland. [24] Its planning began in 2007. [25] The provincial government of Ontario approved construction of the hospital in July 2011, and a tender for bids to construct it was issued in 2014 or 2015. [26] Land preparation for construction began in the summer of 2014. [27] Construction on the grounds began in October 2016. The expected date of completion was late 2020. [28] It is part of a regional hospital system with a "single governance, administration and medical staff" [26] managed by Mackenzie Health. The hospital officially opened on 6 June 2021.
Vaughan offers a complex transportation infrastructure, which includes highways, public transit, regional roads, municipality-funded roads, and train services.
Year | Pop. | ±% |
---|---|---|
1971 | 16,189 | — |
1976 | 18,120 | +11.9% |
1981 | 30,386 | +67.7% |
1986 | 67,595 | +122.5% |
1991 | 115,477 | +70.8% |
1996 | 132,549 | +14.8% |
2001 | 182,022 | +37.3% |
2006 | 238,866 | +31.2% |
2011 | 288,301 | +20.7% |
2016 | 306,233 | +6.2% |
2021 | 323,103 | +5.5% |
[29] [30] [31] [32] [33] |
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Vaughan had a population of 323,103 living in 103,914 of its 107,159 total private dwellings, a change of 5.5% from its 2016 population of 306,233. With a land area of 272.44 km2 (105.19 sq mi), it had a population density of 1,186.0/km2 (3,071.6/sq mi) in 2021. [34]
Median age as of 2021 was 41.6, on par with the Ontario median age of 41.6. [33]
According to the 2021 Census, English is the mother tongue of 45.2% of the residents of Vaughan. Italian is the mother tongue for 9.8% of the population, followed by Russian (6.0%) and Mandarin (4.0%). Each of Spanish, Persian, Cantonese, Urdu, Punjabi, Hebrew, Tagalog (Filipino), Vietnamese, Portuguese, and Korean have a percentage ranging from 2.9% to 1.3%, signifying Vaughan's high linguistic diversity. [33]
As of 2021, most reported religion among the population was Christianity (53.1%), with Catholicism (38.6%) making up the largest denomination. This was followed by Judaism (13.2%), Islam (7.4%), Hinduism (4.8%), Buddhism (2.4%) and Sikhism (1.8%). 17.0% of the population did not identify with a particular religion. [33]
Ethnic Origin (2021) | Population | Percent |
---|---|---|
Italian | 85,030 | 26.5 |
Chinese | 27,235 | 8.5 |
Jewish | 25,325 | 7.9 |
Russian | 18,245 | 5.7 |
Canadian | 17,780 | 5.5 |
East Indian | 17,330 | 5.4 |
Polish | 9,885 | 3.1 |
Filipino | 9,140 | 2.9 |
Portuguese | 8,300 | 2.6 |
English | 8,265 | 2.6 |
Vietnamese | 7,305 | 2.3 |
Ukrainian | 7,080 | 2.2 |
Iranian | 6,935 | 2.2 |
Irish | 6,715 | 2.1 |
Scottish | 5,895 | 1.8 |
As of 2021, visible minorities make up 35.4% of the population. [33]
Panethnic group | 2021 [35] | 2016 [36] | 2011 [37] | 2006 [38] | 2001 [39] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | Pop. | % | |
European [lower-alpha 1] | 187,985 | 58.5% | 195,830 | 64.39% | 195,770 | 68.38% | 174,485 | 73.31% | 146,965 | 80.93% |
South Asian | 35,890 | 11.17% | 30,610 | 10.06% | 27,725 | 9.68% | 20,370 | 8.56% | 10,665 | 5.87% |
East Asian [lower-alpha 2] | 33,855 | 10.54% | 26,420 | 8.69% | 18,035 | 6.3% | 13,070 | 5.49% | 8,550 | 4.71% |
Middle Eastern [lower-alpha 3] | 17,625 | 5.49% | 12,975 | 4.27% | 9,000 | 3.14% | 5,825 | 2.45% | 2,250 | 1.24% |
Southeast Asian [lower-alpha 4] | 16,920 | 5.27% | 15,525 | 5.1% | 16,320 | 5.7% | 9,655 | 4.06% | 4,725 | 2.6% |
African | 10,510 | 3.27% | 8,325 | 2.74% | 7,765 | 2.71% | 6,110 | 2.57% | 3,580 | 1.97% |
Latin American | 8,320 | 2.59% | 7,360 | 2.42% | 6,055 | 2.11% | 4,810 | 2.02% | 2,165 | 1.19% |
Indigenous | 675 | 0.21% | 630 | 0.21% | 555 | 0.19% | 320 | 0.13% | 180 | 0.1% |
Other [lower-alpha 5] | 9,540 | 2.97% | 6,465 | 2.13% | 5,080 | 1.77% | 3,355 | 1.41% | 2,515 | 1.38% |
Total responses | 321,315 | 99.45% | 304,145 | 99.32% | 286,300 | 99.31% | 238,005 | 99.64% | 181,600 | 99.77% |
Total population | 323,103 | 100% | 306,233 | 100% | 288,301 | 100% | 238,866 | 100% | 182,022 | 100% |
The total crime against persons in 2017 was 619.43 per 100,000 population, with 1.49 per 100,000 being violations causing death. [40] Organized crime also has a notable presence in Vaughan. [41] Notable incidents include mob shootings outside the Terrace Banquet Hall in July 2013 resulting in two deaths, one of which was mobster Salvatore Calautti [42] and the Regina Sports Café in April 2014 resulting in the death of Carmine Verduci, [43] as well as the Woodbridge Cafe shooting at Islington Avenue and Highway 7 in June 2015. [44] Three killings in March 2017; on March 14, a 28-year-old Vaughan woman was shot as she sat in a car parked outside of a lighting business on Caster Avenue, on March 23, a shooting of a 26-year-old Ajax man at Jane Street and Highway 7, [45] and on March 30, a private social club shooting near Martin Grove Road and Highway 7. [46] In April 2017, Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua spoke after the third March murder, stating people "should not live in fear". [47] [48]
On July 18, 2019, the York Regional Police announced the largest organized crime bust in Ontario, part of an 18-month long operation called Project Sindicato that was also coordinated with the Italian State Police. [49] York Regional Police had arrested 15 people in Canada and seized $35 million worth of homes, sports cars and cash in a major trans-Atlantic probe targeting the most prominent wing of the 'Ndrangheta in Canada (the Siderno Group), allegedly headed by Angelo Figliomeni of Vaughan. On July 14 and 15, approximately 500 officers raided 48 homes and businesses across the GTA, seizing 27 homes worth $24 million, 23 cars, including five Ferraris, and $2 million in cash and jewelry. [50] The charges laid included tax evasion, money laundering, defrauding the government and participating in a criminal organization. [51] The investigation was motivated by a series of violent incidents in Vaughan in 2017 according to CBC News, "including an attempted murder, drive-by shootings and arsons". The charges laid included tax evasion, money laundering, defrauding the government and participating in a criminal organization. [52] [53] [54]
Vaughan is home to many amateur sports teams for a variety of sports, with an organization running a league for each of the four major sports. There are also rep and select levels of these sports where the Vaughan Rangers, Vaughan Panthers, and Vaughan Kings represent the city in youth hockey, [56] [57] the Vaughan Vikings represent the city in baseball, [58] the Vaughan Rebels represent the city in football, [59] and the Vaughan Panthers represent the city in basketball. [60] Vaughan also has a high softball following, with the Vaughan Vikings and Woodbridge Warriors offering house league and rep opportunities, as well as and adult World Series Slo Pitch league. [61] The city also hosts the Vaughan Flames, a youth organization exclusively for woman's hockey. [62] The name also belonged to the former CWHL hockey team that folded in 2010. Additionally, the Vaughan Vipers formerly played in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League. In 2012, the Vipers were decommissioned and withdrew from their league. [63]
The city is also home to numerous golf and country clubs. These include The National Golf Club of Canada, one of Canada's highest ranking golf clubs. [64]
Sport | Team | League | Years | Stadium | League Championships |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Soccer | Toronto FC II | USL | 2015-2017 | Ontario Soccer Centre | 0 |
Vaughan Azzurri | L1O | 2014–present | North Maple Regional Park | 2 | |
Woodbridge Strikers | L1O | 2014–present | Vaughan Grove 1 | 0 | |
York Region Shooters | CSL | 1998–present | St. Joan of Arc Turf Field | 3 | |
Hockey | Vaughan Flames | CWHL | 1999-2010 | Vaughan Sports Village | 0 |
Vaughan SC, Woodbridge SC and Kleinburg Nobleton SC offer house league and rep programs for youth soccer, as players for Vaughan Azzurri Woodbridge Strikers KNSC Lions respectively. These team names are also used for the city's two League1 Ontario teams. Additionally, Vaughan is home to the Ontario Soccer Association, the largest sports organization in Canada. [65] The OSA has over 400,000 registered players, and runs leagues across the entire province. [66] Vaughan is also home to the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum. [67] Vaughan is also home to the semi-professional York Region Shooters from the Canadian Soccer League.
Prior to 2018, Vaughan also played home to Toronto FC II, the United Soccer League affiliate team for Toronto FC. [68] Because the stadium's expansion to include more seating fell through, the team announced it would be moving to play in BMO Field/Lamport Stadium for the 2018 season. [69]
Vaughan's weekly newspaper the Vaughan Citizen was first published in 2001 and has a circulation of roughly 59,000. The neighbourhood of Thornhill has its own weekly paper, the Thornhill Liberal. From 1878 to 2000 Vaughan's news was covered by The Liberal published in Richmond Hill. [70]
Lo Specchio is an Italian-language newspaper published in Vaughan since 1984. [71]
City Life is a Vaughan-specific lifestyle magazine published bi-monthly by Dolce Publishing since 2003. [72]
Kleinburg was once home to the Cinespace Film Studios, a centre for television and motion picture production. The popular children's TV show The Forest Rangers , starring Gordon Pinsent, was filmed here between 1963 and 1965. In 2006, the movie The Sentinel was filmed at the McMichael Art Gallery.
More recently, Vaughan City Hall has served as a film location, when it was used as the new Red Center (the Rachel and Leah Center) in season 2 of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale. It also served as the United Federation of Planets building and Office of the President in the season 1 finale of Star Trek: Discovery .
York University in North York, Ontario lies on the Toronto side of the Toronto-Vaughan border. It is a major comprehensive university, with more than 43,000 students enrolled through 10 different faculties.
There are also a number of elementary and high schools in Vaughan, which operate under the York Region District School Board, the York Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir (French-language Catholic schools) and Conseil scolaire Viamonde (French-language public schools). There is also a Waldorf school, the Toronto Waldorf School, which offers early childhood, elementary and accredited high school programs.
The American private Catholic Niagara University runs a branch campus in Vaughan, its first university in the city. [73] The Ontario branch of Niagara University opened a 12,000 square foot facility at Expo City in downtown Vaughan. This campus will offer Master of Science in Education and Bachelor of Professional Studies in Education programs.
Within the Greater Toronto Area, Vaughan is the third-largest employment center, after Toronto and Mississauga. With a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $20.6 billion in 2018, it is the largest contributor (35%) to York Region's economy.
In 2018, the city was home to 12,105 businesses employing more than 222,000 people. Between 2008 and 2018, Vaughan's average annual employment growth was 3.2% and its business growth was 2.9%, exceeding provincial and national rates.
Manufacturing continues to dominate the local economy, accounting for 22% of total employment, followed by Construction (13%), Retail Trade (12%), Wholesale Trade (10%) and Transportation and Warehousing (6%). Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees account for 81% of all business establishments.
In 2018, the Accommodation and Food Services industry accounted for $295 million of Vaughan's real gross domestic product. Vaughan currently has 12 hotels and four motels with a total of 1,845 rooms. Development applications have been submitted that have the potential to add another 1,200 rooms to current supply in the coming years. Major tourism operators include Canada's Wonderland, Vaughan Mills, the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, the Kortright Centre for Conservation, LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, Reptilia, the mainstreet and village cores of Kleinburg, Thornhill, and Woodbridge.
Construction activity, as measured by value of building permits, has exceeded the $1 billion mark in eight of the last ten years.
As of 2018, the largest employers in Vaughan are:
Vaughan is home to 184 Canadian or regional headquarters, including:
The Seed-Barker archaeological site is a 16th-century Iroquois village on the Humber River in Vaughan. It has been used as a summer school field trip site since 1976 by the Boyd archaeological field summer school for high school students. The school is sponsored by the York Region district school board in co-operation with the Royal Ontario Museum and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). In 1895, a local farmer began finding Iroquoian artifacts in the area. In 1895, Roland Orr recognized the classic ecological features favoured by the Iroquoian people for their villages: floodplains along a river, an easily defensible plateau and nearby forests. The Iroquois used the floodplains to plant maize, beans and squash,: 1 known as the three sisters. In the 1950s, University of Toronto professor Norman Emerson and the students excavated artifacts from the Seed-Baker site. Since 1975, more than a million artifacts were discovered and nineteen longhouses were excavated revealing that the village was occupied by the Iroquois from c. 1500 - 1550 AD. [74]
In 2016, to celebrate the city's 25th anniversary, Mayor Bevilacqua introduced the Order of Vaughan. This award is meant to be the highest honour bestowed by the city. [75] Initially, 25 recipients were given the award as a reflection of the anniversary; however, the city announced in 2017 that up to ten new individuals would receive the award each year thereafter. [76] [77] The award is meant to recognize people in the categories of: accessibility, arts and entertainment, athletics, business, education, environment and spirituality, equity and diversity, health and wellness, media and communications, not-for-profit, philanthropy, public service, and science and technology. [78]
Markham is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately 30 km (19 mi) northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and 16th largest in Canada.
The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional Municipality of York, in 1970. 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 Golden Horseshoe is a secondary region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. The region is the most densely populated and industrialized in Canada. Based on the 2021 census, with a population of 7,759,635 people in its core and 9,765,188 in its greater area, the Golden Horseshoe accounts for over 20 percent of the population of Canada and more than 54 percent of Ontario's population. It is part of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, itself part of the Great Lakes megalopolis.
Thornhill is a suburban district in the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canada, split between the City of Vaughan and the City of Markham, with Yonge Street forming the municipal boundary. Thornhill is situated along the northern border of Toronto, centred on Yonge, and is also immediately south of the City of Richmond Hill. Once a police village, Thornhill is still a postal designation. As of 2016, its total population, including both its Vaughan and Markham sections, was 112,719.
Woodbridge is a very large suburban community in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, along the city's border with Toronto. It occupies the city's entire southwest quadrant, west of Highway 400, east of Highway 50, north of Steeles Avenue, and generally south of Major Mackenzie Drive. It was once an independent town before being amalgamated with nearby communities to form the city in 1971. Its traditional downtown core is the Woodbridge Avenue stretch between Islington Avenue and Kipling Avenue north of Highway 7.
Kleinburg is an unincorporated village in the city of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, an art gallery with a focus on the Group of Seven, and the Kortright Centre for Conservation. In 2001, the village and its surrounding communities had a population of 4,595; the village itself has 282 dwellings, with a population of 952. Kleinburg comprises a narrow section of hilly landscape situated between two branches of the Humber River. The historic village is bounded by Highway 27 on the west and Stegman’s Mill Road to the east. Kleinburg has subsumed the nearby hamlet of Nashville, but it has not itself been fully subsumed into the main urban area of Vaughan.
Susan R. Kadis is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was the Liberal Member of Parliament for Thornhill in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004-08.
Concord is a suburban industrial district in the City of Vaughan in York Region, located north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. According to the 2001 Census, Concord has 8,255 residents.
Maple is a neighbourhood in Vaughan, York Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located northwest of Toronto. Maple was founded as the village of Maple, located at the intersection of Major Mackenzie Drive and Keele Street.
Thornhill is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. It covers its namesake Thornhill neighbourhood, which is split between the Cities of Vaughan and Markham. The Vaughan portion also includes parts of the city east of Highway 400 and south of Rutherford Road, including the largely industrial district of Concord and Vaughan's planned downtown; Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. The part in the City of Markham is restricted its portion of Thornhill itself west of Bayview Avenue. The riding was created in 1996 and the east end of the riding was split off into other ridings in 2012.
The York Region District School Board (YRDSB), until 1999, English-language Public District School Board No. 16 is the English-language public school board for the Regional Municipality of York in Ontario, Canada. The York Region District School Board is the province's third-largest school board after Toronto's TDSB and Peel's PDSB, with an enrollment of over 122,000 students. It is in the fastest-growing census division in Ontario and the third-fastest growing in Canada.
Lorna Jackson was a local politician in Vaughan for 28 years. During her career, she served as both a local and a regional councillor, as well as serving as the Mayor of Vaughan for 20 years. She died while in office in 2002.
Michael Di Biase is a Canadian politician who formerly part of the regional council of the city of Vaughan, Ontario as the deputy mayor and mayor. He was first elected to the city's council in 1986. Following the death of Mayor Lorna Jackson in 2002, Di Biase was appointed acting mayor by virtue of his position as senior regional councillor. In the 2003 municipal election, Di Biase won his first official term as mayor.
The City of Vaughan 2006 Municipal Election took place on November 13, 2006. One mayor, three regional councillors and five local councillors were elected for the city of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. In addition, local school trustees were elected to the York Region District School Board, York Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest and Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud. These elections were held in conjunction with all other municipalities across Ontario, which for the first time elected politicians to four year terms, rather than three years as had previously been the case..
Linda D. Jackson is a Canadian politician and former mayor of Vaughan, Ontario. Jackson was elected mayor on November 14, 2006. Jackson won the election by 90 votes, displacing incumbent Michael Di Biase. She was later defeated by Maurizio Bevilacqua in the 2010 Vaughan municipal election.
Promenade, officially Promenade Shopping Centre or Promenade Mall, is a major shopping centre located in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. The mall has over 150 tenants, and is anchored by T&T Supermarket and Imagine Cinemas.
Steven Alfonso Del Duca is a Canadian politician who has been serving as the 5th mayor of Vaughan since 2022. Del Duca previously served as the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2020 to 2022 and was an Ontario cabinet minister from 2014 to 2018, first as the minister of transportation and then as the minister of economic development. He represented the riding of Vaughan in the Ontario Legislative Assembly from 2012 to 2018. On October 24, 2022, he was elected the mayor of Vaughan, taking office on November 15.
Elections in the Regional Municipality of York of Ontario, Canada were held on October 27, 2014 in conjunction with municipal elections across the province.
Toronto has a large Italian Canadian community, with 30.3 per cent of the ethnic Italians in Canada living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) as of 2021. Toronto is home to the fourth largest population of people of Italian descent after São Paulo, Buenos Aires and New York City, respectively. As of the Canada 2021 Census, there were 468,970 Italian Canadians located in the Greater Toronto Area, with 444,755 located within the Toronto CMA.
The Highway 7 Rapidway in York Region, Ontario, Canada, is a bus rapid transit right-of-way that runs from Bruce Street in Vaughan to Birchmount Road in Markham. There are plans to extend it west to Highway 50 and east to Cornell Terminal. It is served by Viva Purple, Viva Pink, Viva Orange and Viva Green bus routes.