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. 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.
As of the 2021 census, York Region's population was 1,173,334, with a growth rate of 5.7% from 2016. The Government of Ontario expects its population to surpass 1.5 million residents by 2031. The three largest cities in York Region are Markham, Vaughan and Richmond Hill.

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:
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 services. Policing on the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation is provided by the Georgina Island Police.

    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

    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:
    • 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.
    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. 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.