York Region is the very definition of boom.
Our vibrant and thriving region ranked as the fastest growing in the GTA in 2003 — topping both Toronto and Peel — and as the sixth largest municipality in Canada.
It’s no surprise then that the region had the fourth highest total residential construction in the nation last year.
The region’s nine municipalities — Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham, King, Whitchurch Stouffville, Aurora, Newmarket, East Gwillimbury and Georgina — are each unique in their landscape
With its borders stretching from Lake Simcoe in the north to Steeles Avenue in the south to Simcoe County in the west and Durham Region in the east, York Region includes farmlands, wetlands and kettle lakes, the Oak Ridges Moraine and more than 2,000 acres of regional forest, as well as bustling urban centres and suburban neighbourhoods.
York Region is much more than a booming bedroom community.
While it comprises 15 per cent of the GTA’s population at 872,976 people, York can also lay claim to 15 per cent of its employment population. Employment growth continues to exceed both provincial and national averages, with full-time employment accounting for 79 per cent of jobs.
York Region’s 25,000 businesses provide more than 400,000 jobs, with 20,000 jobs added annually.
Industrial, commercial and institutional construction made up 32 per of the total construction value of $2.7 billion in 2003.
While a number of large international firms call York Region home, including Magna International, IBM Canada, Amex Canada, Royal Group Technologies, Johnson and Johnson and Motorola, it boasts a strong entrepreneurial spirit with 95 per cent of businesses employing fewer than 50 people.
Our residents are affluent and educated boomers — a younger population relative to the rest of the GTA and Canada. That age bracket, 35 to 54, makes up 35 per cent of York’s population, compared to 31.8 per cent of the GTA population and 31.6 per cent of the Canadian population.
About 44 per cent of the region’s residents are upper-income earners, with an annual average income of more than $70,000, while 46 per cent possess post-secondary education.
Seneca College’s new campus in Markham marked the first post-secondary institute to open doors in the region.
In fact, York Region residents are, on average, the wealthiest and healthiest in the province, according to data compiled by the Region of York, the province, Cancer Care Ontario and Statistics Canada in a report released last year.
Our life expectancy tops the chart at 81.83 years, compared to 80.21 in Toronto and 79.26 in Durham.
The average annual income, topping anywhere in Canada, is $74,277.
According to market research conducted for Vaughan Mills mega-mall, the first enclosed regional mall to be built in Canada in 14 years, the average household income in Vaughan is $111,208.
|
|
Community |
Income |
|
Vaughan |
$80,221 |
|
Markham |
$77,165 |
|
Richmond Hill |
$72,456 |
|
Brampton |
$69,616 |
|
Mississauga |
$67,542 |
|
Barrie |
$56,896 |
|
Oshawa |
$53,063 |
|
Toronto |
$48,346 |
|
Peterborough |
$40,898 |
|
– Source: Comminity Social Data Strategy |
Our communities, particularly in the southern portion of the region, are among the most culturally diverse in the nation. The region has particularly attracted immigrants who are Chinese and south and west Asian, presenting both challenges and huge opportunities to the business community.
The latest census revealed Markham is the only municipality in the GTA where visible minorities make up more than half the population. Fully 56 per cent of its citizens are non-white, compared to 43 per cent in Toronto. Richmond Hill closely follows at 40 per cent.
However, in the northern portion of the region, it’s a different picture, with visible minorities in King, East Gwillimbury and Georgina at about 3 per cent.
About 61 per cent of York’s residents speak English as their mother tongue, compared to 83 per cent in Halton and 88 per cent in Durham. |