York Region | ||
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Regional municipality (upper-tier) | ||
Regional Municipality of York | ||
The York Region Administrative Centre in Newmarket
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Motto: Ontario's Rising Star | ||
Map showing York Region's location in Ontario |
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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 | Wayne Emmerson | |
• Governing Body | York Regional Council | |
Area | ||
• Total | 1,762.17 km2 (680.38 sq mi) | |
Population (2016) | ||
• Total | 1,109,909 | |
• 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 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.
At a meeting in Richmond Hill on 6 May 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:
The township of Whitchurch was 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 eastern 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 some land) 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 latter 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.