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Town of Markham Council
http://www.markham.ca/ ! MPPsButtonville, Thornhill, German Mills, Milliken, Unionville
Town of Markham
Geography
Area
- Total
212.47 km²
City Hall Highway 7 and Warden Ave.
CA CA-ON
Telephone Area Codes 905,289
Regional Municipality York Region
Coordinates 43°53′N 79°15′W
Demographics
Population:
(2005 est.) 		267,400
Ethnicity 44.5% White
30% Chinese
12.7% South Asian
3.8% Black
9.1% Other.
Politics
City Council
Mayor Don Cousens
Regional Councillor Frank Scarpitti
Regional Councillor Jack Heath
Regional Councillor Jim Jones
Regional Councillor Bill O'Donnell
Ward 1 Stan Daurio
Ward 2 Erin Shapero
Ward 3 Joseph Virgilio
Ward 4 George McKelvey
Ward 5 John Webster
Ward 6 Dan Horchik
Ward 7 Khalid Usman
Ward 8 Alex Chiu
MPs
Communities

Markham is a town in York Region, directly north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With a 2005 year-end population of about 267,400, it is larger than many Canadian cities. Markham is part of the Greater Toronto Area.

Introduction

Markham was first surveyed as a township in 1793 by William Berczy (Johann Albrecht Ulrich Moll 1744-1813), first settled in 1794 and incorporated as a town in 1972. Markham is twinned with Nördlingen, Germany.

Markham is the fourth-most populous municipality in the Greater Toronto Area, and home to many cultures. It claims to be the "high-tech capital of Canada" because of many of the head offices of companies being located in Markham.

Geography

Markham is bounded by the Town of Richmond Hill and the City of Vaughan to the west, Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville to the north, City of Pickering to the east and City of Toronto to the south. It is at .

Demographics

According to the Canada 2001 Census, 56% of the population consists of visible minorities.*

Total Population (2001): 208,615

Immigration Characteristics (2001)

  • Canadian-born population: 46.4%
  • Foreign-born population: 52.9%
  • Non-Permanent Residents: 0.8%

History

See separate article on History of Markham, Ontario.

Government

The Markham Town Council consists of the Mayor, four Regional Councillors and eight Ward Councillors each representing one of the town's eight wards (The current Mayor of Markham is Donald Cousens, former PC MPP for Markham and Presbyterian church minister). The Mayor and four Regional Councillors are elected by the community to represent the Town of Markham at the regional level.

The members of council, called councillors, are elected by the municipality's voters. Council members are paid by the municipality for their services, but in many municipalities, members of council usually serve part-time and work at other jobs as well.

Municipal elections are conducted every three years, and members of council are elected by the residents to a three-year term of office. The selection of members for the offices of Mayor and Regional Councillors are made Town-wide, while Ward Councillors are elected by individual ward.

The town offices are located at the Markham Civic Centre at Highway 7 and Warden Avenue. The previous offices on Woodbine Avenue have disappeared (a funeral home is on the site), but the historic Town Hall on Markham Main Street is now a restored office building.

Also see List of mayors of Markham, Ontario.

Law and order

There are no courts in Markham, but the town is served by a court in Newmarket. Policing is provided by York Regional Police at a station near McCowan Road and Highway 7. Highway 404, Highway 407 and parts of Highway 48 is patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Town issues

Like most cities and towns in the Greater Toronto Area, Markham has a number of issues with which it must deal:

Urban growth

There is a desire by the Town to control urban sprawl by requesting higher density for new development. The town plan calls for more growth along Highway 7 and less towards the farm land to the North. A similar development in Cornell promotes the need for services to be closer to residences.

Transit plan

Linked to the concern of urban growth, Markham through York Region Transit (YRT) is developing a new transit plan called Viva to ease the strain on the region's congested roads. Viva is basically the same as YRT but is used as an express bus service with the added feature of altering the traffic lights so it will not be late. Even Highway 407 and the widening of other roads have not led to less traffic, but encourage residents to continue to drive.

Markham's neighbourhoods and communities

Markham is made up of many communities (many of which, despite being technically suburban districts today, are still signed with official 'entering community' signs on major roads) each with a distinctive character:
  • Armadale
  • Berczy
  • Box Grove
  • Buttonville
  • Cornell
  • Crosby
  • Greensborough
  • Legacy
  • Markham Village
  • Milliken Mills
  • Sherwood - Amber Glen
  • Unionville
  • Thornhill
  • Wismer

Thornhill and Unionville are popularly seen as being separate communities. Thornhill actually straddles the Markham-Vaughan town line (portions of it in both municipalities).

Parks

Here is a list of parks in Markham: List of parks in the Town of Markham

Culture

Until the 1970s, Markham was mostly farmland and marsh, which is still reflected in events like the Markham Fair. The community within Markham boasts a very diverse, multicultural population, with large Chinese and South Asian communities.

Today Markham is known for its love of performing arts, demonstrated most profoundly in the critically and audience acclaimed Markham Little Theatre *. Thriving for the past 40 years and presenting over 100 plays, Markham Little Theatre's performances draws audience members from residents and those of neighbouring communities.

Economy

In the 19th century, Markham was a vibrant, independent community with distilleries and breweries around the Highway 7 and 48 intersection. The Speight Wagon Works exported products around the world, and it was said that Markham was more active than York was early on.

Today, it is claiming to be Canada's Hi-Tech Capital with a number of key companies in the area, such as IBM, Motorola, Lucent, Apple, Microsoft, and home to the head office of graphics card producer ATI.

Markham also maintains economic and cultural cooperation agreements with the city of Laval, Quebec (which is the second largest city of the Greater Montreal Area and has a very high financial profile).

Athletics

Most sports in Markham, Ontario are amateur or recreational:

Teams

  • Markham Junior Hockey Club
  • Markham Mariners - Markham District Rep. Baseball
  • Markham Raiders - Markham Minor Football Association
  • Markham-Stouffville Stars
  • Markham Pioneers - Markham Men's Baseball
  • Markham Thunder - Markham Minor Lacrosse
  • Markham Ironheads-Ontario Junior B Lacrosse Team
  • Markham Waxers - Ontario Junior A
  • MUMBA Meteors - Markham-Unionville Minor Basketball Association Rep. Program

Leagues

  • FCCM Basketball Division
  • Markham District Baseball Association
  • Markham Men's Recreational Hockey
  • Markham Woman's Slo-Pitch League
  • Markham Unionville Minor Basketball Association (MUMBA)
  • Unionville Minor Hockey Association
  • Unionville Minor Softball Association
  • Unionville Men's Slo-Pitch League
  • Unionville Mixed Slo-Pitch League
  • Unionville Ladies Slo-Pitch Baseball

Clubs

  • Armadale Tennis Club
  • Markham Cricket Club
  • Markham Lawn Bowling Club
  • Markham Rugby Club
  • Markham Soccer Club
  • Markham Tennis Club
  • Thornhill Soccer Club
  • Unionville Curling Club
  • Unionville-Milliken Soccer Club
  • Unionville Tennis Club

Due to the large areas of undeveloped land, Markham boasts a number of golf courses:

  • Angus Glen Golf Club
  • Bayview Country Club
  • Cedar Brae Golf & Country Club (private)
  • Parkview Golf Club
  • Buttonville Fairway
  • Cresthaven Golf Club
  • Golf Dome At Markham
  • Mandarin Golf and Country Club
  • Markham Green Golf Club
  • Unionville Golf Centre Inc
  • Uplands Golf & Country Club
  • York Downs Golf & Country Club (Private)

Attractions

Markham has retained its historic past in part of the town. Here a just few places of interest:
  • Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery
  • Heintzman House - Home of Colonel Crookshank, Sam Francis and Charles Heintzman of Heintzman & Co., the piano manufacturer.
  • Markham Museum
  • Markham Museum & Historic Village
  • Markham Village
  • Reesor Farm Market
  • Thornhill village

Heritiage streets preserve the old town feeling:

There are still farms operating in the northern reaches of the town, but there are a few 'theme' farms in other parts of Markham:

  • Devonshire Stables & Country Bumpkins Pony Farm
  • Galten Farms
  • Whittamore's Farm
  • Forsythe Family Farms

Performing arts

While no match to Toronto's arts scene, Markham is home to several local oriented performing arts groups:
  • Markham Little Theatre
  • Markham Youth Theatre
  • Unionville Theatre Company
  • Markham Concert Band
  • York Symphony Orchestra

A key arts venue is the 'Markham Theatre For Performing Arts', at the Markham Civic Centre located at Hwy 7 and Warden Ave.

Annual events

Events taking place annually include:
  • Markham Youth Festival
  • Unionville Village Festival
  • Markham Village Music Festival
  • Markham Jazz Festival
  • Milliken Mills Children's Festival
  • Thornhill Village Festival
  • Markham Fair
  • Markham Festival of Lights
  • Markham Santa Claus Parade
  • Olde Tyme Christmas Unionville

Shopping

There is only one major mall in Markham, owing to the proximity of higher-profile malls in Toronto and elsewhere in York Region:

Markham is also home to a few Chinese theme malls, due in part to a sizeable Chinese community:

  • Pacific Mall
  • Market Village Mall
  • First Markham Place
  • Peachtree Centre
  • Metro Square
  • Times Square

There are also countless local businesses running independently of the malls, some of which are supported by the following website:

  • iShopLocally.ca - serving Markham, Unionville, and Cornell, a publication that promotes owner-operated local businesses through print/web advertising vehicles.

Educational institutions

Markham has no post-secondary institution but is served by satellite sites:

Local media

Notable people from Markham

Hospitals

Transportation

References

Footnotes

External links


Towns in Ontario | York Region, Ontario

Markham (Ontario) | Markham (Ontario) | Markham

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Markham, Ontario".

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