Markham () is a city in the

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 M ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. It is approximately 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 The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...

(GTA), and 16th largest in Canada. The city gained its name from the first

Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada The following is a list of lieutenant governors of Ontario and the lieutenant governors of the former colony of Upper Canada. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was created in 1867, when the Province of Ontario was created upon Confed ...

John Graves Simcoe John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the Drainage basin, watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. ...

(in office 1791–1796), who named the area after his friend, William Markham, the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

from 1776 to 1807. Indigenous people lived in the area of present-day Markham for thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the area. The first European settlement in Markham occurred when

William Berczy William von Moll Berczy (December 10, 1744 – February 5, 1813) was a German-born Upper Canada pioneer and painter. He is considered one of the co-founders of the Town of York, Upper Canada, now Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Biography Berczy was ...

, a German artist and developer, led a group of approximately sixty-four German families to North America. While they planned to settle in New York, disputes over finances and land tenure led Berczy to negotiate with Simcoe for in what would later become Markham Township in 1794. Since the 1970s, Markham rapidly shifted from being an agricultural community to an industrialized municipality due to

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

from neighbouring

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Markham changed its status from town to city on July 1, 2012."Markham to change from town to city"
.

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, May 30, 2012. , tertiary industry mainly drives Markham. , "business services" employed the largest proportion of workers in Markham – nearly 22% of its labour force. The city also has over 1,000 technology and life-sciences companies, with IBM as the city's largest employer. Several multinational companies have their Canadian headquarters in Markham, including: Honda Canada,

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

, Advanced Micro Devices,

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, Avaya, IBM,

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure system ...

Toyota Financial Services The business known as Toyota Financial Services covers more than 30 countries and regions, including Japan. Financial services operations are coordinated by a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Toyota Financial Services ...

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various smar ...

Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...

and

Scholastic Canada Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

History

Old Town Hall-96 Main-Markham-Ontario-HPC15343-20201017 (1)

Indigenous people lived in the area of present-day Markham since the end of the last Ice Age and the city is situated on the traditional territory of the

Haudenosaunee The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Indigenous confederations in North America, confederacy of First Nations in Canada, First Natio ...

(

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

), Huron Wendat, Petun and Neutral people. In the early 1600s, when explorers from France arrived, they encountered the Huron-Wendat First Nation. The southwest corner of Markham is included in Treaty 13, known as the

Toronto Purchase The Toronto Purchase was the sale of lands in the Toronto area from the Mississaugas of New Credit to the British crown. An initial, disputed, agreement was made in 1787, in exchange for various items. The agreement was revisited in 1805, intend ...

of 1787, which transferred roughly 250,800 acres of land from the Mississauga people to the British Crown for 10 shillings and fishing rights on the Etobicoke river. The remainder of Markham's land (roughly east of Woodbine Avenue/Highway 404) is covered by the Johnson-Butler Purchase of 1787-88 (aka Gunshot Treaty) and formally by the Williams Treaties, signed in 1923. Farmers lined up to sell cream at Albert Reesor's Locust Hill Creamery - Markham, Ontario, Canada

Farmers lined up to sell cream at Albert Reesor's Locust Hill Creamery - Markham, Ontario, Canada

Objects recovered by local mill-owners, the Milne family, in the 1870s give evidence of a village within the boundaries of the present Milne Conservation Area. The

John Graves Simcoe John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He founded Yor ...

(in office 1791–1796), named the

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

of Markham, north of the town of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

(now

), after his friend William Markham, then

first surveyed Markham as a township in 1793, and in 1794 led 75 German families (including the Ramers, Reesors, Wheters, Burkholders, Bunkers, Wicks and Lewis) from

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

to an area of Markham now known as

German Mills German Mills is a community within the city of Markham in Ontario, Canada. The easternmost community in the historic town of Thornhill, German Mills was named for the early German settlers in the area. History German Mills is closely associate ...

. Each family was granted of land; however the lack of roads in the region led many to settle in

(present-day Toronto) and

Niagara Niagara may refer to: Geography Niagara Falls and nearby places In both the United States and Canada *Niagara Falls, the famous waterfalls in the Niagara River *Niagara River, part of the U.S.–Canada border *Niagara Escarpment, the cliff ov ...

. German Mills later became a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

. Between 1803 and 1812 another attempt at settling the region was made. The largest group of settlers were

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ), also known as Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They emigrated primarily from German-spe ...

, most of them

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

s. These highly skilled craftsmen and knowledgeable farmers settled the region and founded Reesorville, named after the Mennonite settler Joseph Reesor. In 1825 Reesorville was renamed to Markham, having taken the name of the unincorporated

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

(see

Markham Village, Ontario Markham Village ( 2006 population 6,090) is the historic town centre of Markham, Ontario, Canada. Originally settled in 1825, the village -- originally named "Reesorville" (reference to the Reesors settlers) sometime after 1804 and also known as ...

). By 1830 many Irish,

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

families began immigrating to

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...

and settling in Markham. Markham's early years blended the rigours of the

frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts o ...

with the development of agriculture-based industries. The township's many rivers and streams soon supported water-powered saws and

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

s and later wooden mills. With improved transportation routes, such as the construction of Yonge Street in the 1800s, along with the growing population, urbanization increased. In 1842 the township population had reached 5,698; were under cultivation (second highest in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

), and the township had eleven gristmills and twenty-four sawmills. In 1846 Smith's ''Canadian Gazetteer'' indicated a population of about 300, mostly Canadians, Pennsylvanian Dutch (actually Pennsylvania Deitsch or German), other Germans, Americans, Irish and a few from Britain. There were two churches with a third being built. There were tradesmen of various types, a grist mill, an oatmill mill, five stores, a distillery and a threshing-machine maker. There were eleven grist and twenty-four saw mills in the surrounding township. In 1850 the first form of structured municipal government formed in Markham. By 1857 most of the township had been cleared of timber and was under cultivation. Villages like Thornhill, Unionville and Markham greatly expanded. In 1851 Markham Village "was a considerable village, containing between eight and nine hundred inhabitants, pleasantly situated on the Rouge River. It contains two grist mills ... a woollen factory, oatmeal mill, barley mill and distillery, foundry, two tanneries, brewery, etc., a temperance hall and four churches... ." In 1871, with a township population of 8,152, the

Toronto and Nipissing Railway The Toronto and Nipissing Railway (T&N) was the first public narrow-gauge railway in North America. It chartered in 1868 to build from Toronto to Lake Nipissing in Ontario, Canada, via York, Ontario, and Victoria counties. At Nipissing it would me ...

built the first rail line to Markham Village and Unionville, which is still used today by the

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven millio ...

commuter services. In 1971 Markham was incorporated as a town, as its population skyrocketed due to

from Toronto. In 1976 Markham's population was approximately 56,000. Since that time, the population has more than quintupled, with explosive growth in new subdivisions. Much of Markham's

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

has disappeared, but some still remains north of Major Mackenzie Drive. Controversy over the development of the environmentally-sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine will likely curb development north of Major Mackenzie Drive and by Rouge National Urban Park east of Reesor Road between Major Mackenzie Drive to Steeles Avenue East to the south. Since the 1980s Markham has been recognized as a suburb of Toronto. the city comprises six major communities:

Berczy Village Berczy Village is a residential neighbourhood in Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded to the north by Major Mackenzie Drive, to the east by McCowan Road, to the south by 16th Avenue, and to the west by Kennedy Road. This area is nor ...

Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, Markham Village, Milliken, Thornhill and Unionville. Many high-tech companies have established

head office Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...

s in Markham, attracted by the relative abundance of land, low tax-rates and good transportation routes. Broadcom Canada, ATI Technologies (now known as AMD Graphics Product Group), IBM Canada, Motorola Canada, Honeywell Canada and many other well-known companies have chosen Markham as their home in Canada. The city has accordingly started branding itself as Canada's "High-Tech Capital". The province of Ontario has erected a historical plaque in front of the Markham Museum to commemorate the founding of Markham's role in Ontario's heritage. Town council voted on May 29, 2012, to change Markham's legal designation from "town" to "city"; according to Councillor Alex Chiu, who introduced the motion, the change of designation merely reflects the fact that many people already think of Markham as a city. Some residents objected to the change because it will involve unknown costs without any demonstrated benefits. The designation officially took effect on July 1.

Geography

Markham covers and Markham's city centre is at . It is bounded by five municipalities; in the west is Vaughan with the boundary along Yonge Street between Steeles Avenue and Highway 7 and Richmond Hill with the boundary along Highway 7 from Yonge Street to

Highway 404 The following highways are numbered 404: Australia - Victoria Canada * Manitoba Provincial Road 404 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 404 * Ontario Highway 404 Costa Rica * National Route 404 Israel * Route 404 (Israel) Japan * Japan N ...

and at Highway 404 from Highway 7 to 19th Avenue and Stouffville Road. In the south, it borders Toronto with the boundary along Steeles Avenue. In the north it borders

Whitchurch–Stouffville Whitchurch-Stouffville ( 2021 population 49,864) is a town in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada, approximately north of downtown Toronto, and north-east of Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is in area, and located in the ...

with the boundary from Highway 404 to York-Durham Line between 19th Avenue and Stouffville Road. In the east it borders

Pickering Pickering may refer to: Places Antarctica * Pickering Nunataks, Alexander Island Australia * Pickering, South Australia, the original name (1872–1940) of the town of Wool Bay * Pickering Brook, Western Australia, Australia Canada * Pic ...

along York-Durham Line.

Topography

Markham's average altitude is at and in general consists of gently rolling hills. The city is intersected by two rivers; the Don River and Rouge River, as well as their tributaries. To the north is the Oak Ridges Moraine, which further elevates the elevation towards the north.

Climate

Markham borders and shares the same climate as Toronto. On an average day, Markham is generally cooler than in downtown Toronto. It has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Dfb'') and features warm, humid summers with rainfall occurring from May to October and cold, snowy winters. The highest temperature recorded was on August 8, 2001 during the eastern North America heat wave and the lowest temperature recorded was on January 16, 1994, during the

1994 North American cold wave The 1994 North American cold wave occurred over the midwestern and Eastern United States, eastern regions of the United States and southern Canada in January 1994, which caused over 100 deaths in the United States alone. Two notable cold air event ...

Neighbourhoods

Markham is made up of many original 19th-century communities, each with a distinctive character. Many of these, despite being technically suburban districts today, are still signed with official "city limits" signs on major roads: * Almira *

Angus Glen Angus Glen ''(Census Tract No. 5350403.05)'' ( 2006 Population 2,596) is a community in the city of Markham, just north of the community and former municipality of Unionville, Ontario, Canada. The area was originally farmland, but as Unionville ...

* Armadale * Bayview Glen *

* Box Grove * Brown's Corners * Bullock * Buttonville * Cachet * Cashel * Cathedraltown * Cedar Grove * Cedarwood *

* Crosby * Dollar * Downtown Markham * Dickson's Hill *

* Greensborough * Hagerman's Corners * Langstaff * Legacy * Locust Hill *

Markham Village Markham Village ( 2006 population 6,090) is the historic town centre of Markham, Ontario, Canada. Originally settled in 1825, the village -- originally named "Reesorville" (reference to the Reesors settlers) sometime after 1804 and also known as ...

* Middlefield * Milliken Mills * Milnesville *

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

* Mount Joy * Quantztown *

Raymerville – Markville East Raymerville - Markville East ( 2006 population 10,562) ''(Census Tract No. 5350400.03 and 5350400.12)'' is a community in Markham, Ontario, Canada. The name "Raymerville" came from the community's major collector road, Raymerville Drive. The name ...

* Rouge Fairways * Sherwood – Amber Glen *

South Unionville South Unionville is a neighbourhood located in, Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded to the north by Regional Highway 7, south by 407, east by McCowan Road and west by Kennedy Road. The community is named after its geographical location nea ...

* Thornhill * Underwood, Ontario * Unionville * Uptown Markham * Victoria Square *

Vinegar Hill Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to ...

* Wismer Commons Thornhill and Unionville are popularly seen as being separate communities. Thornhill straddles the Markham-Vaughan municipal boundary (portions of it in both municipalities). Unionville is a single community with three sub-communities: * Original Unionville is along Highway 7 and Kennedy Road * South Unionville is a newer residential community (beginning from the 1990s onwards) south of Highway 7 to Highway 407 and from McCowan to Kennedy Road * Upper Unionville is a new residential development built on the northeast corner of 16th Avenue and Kennedy Road

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Markham had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2021 census, the most reported ethnocultural background was

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

(47.9%), followed by

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

(17.7%),

South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...

(17.6%),

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

(3.1%),

West Asian Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes An ...

(2.9%),

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

(2.7%), Korean (1.3%),

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

(1.0%),

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

(0.8%), and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

n (0.7%). The most common ethnic or cultural origins as per the 2021 census are as follows: Chinese (43.3%), Indian (7.0%), Canadian (4.0%), English (3.8%), Hong Konger (3.7%), Sri Lankan (3.3%), Tamil (3.1%), Irish (3.1%), Scottish (3.1%), Filipino (2.9%), Italian (2.8%), Pakistani (2.1%), and Iranian (2.0%). In 2021, 40.8% of the population did not identify with a particular religion. The most reported religions were

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

(35.1%),

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

(9.2%),

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

(7.9%),

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

(4.0%),

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

(1.4%), and

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

(1.1%).

Government

City Council

Markham City Council The Markham City Council is the governing body of the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It consists of the mayor, eight councillors who each represent one of the city's eight wards, and four regional councillors who, along with the mayor, are electe ...

consists of

Frank Scarpitti Frank Scarpitti is the mayor of the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. Early life Scarpitti was born in Ontario in 1960. He is the son of Italian immigrants, Lucia and Antonio. He is married to Nancy Scarpitti, and has three children. He ran f ...

as mayor, four regional councillors and eight ward councillors each representing one of the city's eight wards. Scarpitti replaced

Don Cousens W. Donald Cousens (20 July 1938 – 23 February 2017) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1994, and briefly served as a cabinet minister in the gove ...

, a former Progressive Conservative MPP for

Markham Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

and a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

church minister. The community elects the mayor and four regional councillors to represent the City of Markham at the regional level. The municipality pays the Councillors for their services, but in many municipalities, members of council usually serve part-time and work at other jobs. Residents elected the current members of council to a four-year term of office, in accordance with standards set by the province. The selection of members for the offices of mayor and regional councillors are made town-wide, while ward councillors are elected by individual ward.

Markham Civic Centre

The city council is at the Markham Civic Centre at the intersection of York Regional Road 7 and Warden Avenue. The site of the previous offices on

Woodbine Avenue Woodbine Avenue consists of three north–south road sections in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada: # The southern section in Toronto begins near Ashbridges Bay on the shore of Lake Ontario, at Lake Shore Boulevard.The southern terminus ...

has been redeveloped for commercial uses. The historic town hall on Main Street is now a restored office building. The Mayor's Youth Task Force was created to discuss issues facing young people in the city and to plan and publicize events. Its primary purpose is to encourage youth participation within the community.

Elections

Municipal elections are held every four years in Ontario. The most recent election took place in October, 2018, and the next is scheduled for October, 2022. The links listed below provide the results of recent election results: *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

By-laws

The city is permitted to create and enforce by-laws upon residents on various matters affecting the town. The by-laws are generally enforced by City By-Law enforcement officers, but they may involve

York Regional Police The York Regional Police (YRP) are a law enforcement organization that serves over 1.1 million residents in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, York Region of Ontario, Canada, located north of Toronto. YRP was formed in 1971 from the poli ...

if violations are deemed too dangerous for the officers to handle. In addition the by-laws can be linked to various provincial acts and enforced by the town. Violation of by-laws is subject to fines of up to $20,000 CAD. The by-laws of Markham include: ToogoodPond3

* Animal Control (see Dog Owners' Liability Act of Ontario) * Construction Permits * Cannabis * Driveway Extensions * Fencing and Swimming Pools * Heritage Conservation (see

Ontario Heritage Act The ''Ontario Heritage Act'', (the ''Act'') first enacted on March 5, 1975, allows municipalities and the provincial government to designate individual properties and districts in the Province of Ontario, Canada, as being of cultural heritage ...

) * Home-Based Businesses * Noise * Parking * Property Standards * Registration of Basement Apartments and Second Suites * Sewers * Site Alteration * Waste Collection * Water Use

City services

Courts and police

There are no courts in Markham, but the city is served by an

Ontario Court of Justice The Ontario Court of Justice is the provincial court of record for the Canadian province of Ontario. The court sits at more than 200 locations across the province and oversees matters relating to family law, criminal law, and provincial offences. ...

in Newmarket, as well as an Ontario Small Claims court in Richmond Hill. There are also served by a Provincial Offence Court in Richmond Hill. The

Ontario Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...

is in Toronto, while the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

is in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Ontario. Policing is provided by

at a station (5 District) at the corner of

McCowan Road McCowan can refer to the following: * McCowan Baronets, British baronetcy *Millar McCowan, Scottish confectionery company *McCowan (surname) *McCowan Road, a major thoroughfare in Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ** A local name for York Regi ...

and Carlton Road and Highway 7. Highway 404,

Highway 407 The following highways are numbered 407: Canada * Manitoba Provincial Road 407 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 407 * Ontario Highway 407 Costa Rica * National Route 407 Iceland * Route 407 (Iceland) Italy * State road 407 Japan * Japa ...

and parts of Highway 48 are patrolled by the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorpo ...

. Toronto Police Service is responsible for patrol on Steeles from Yonge Street to the York—Durham Line.

Fire

Markham Fire and Emergency Services was established in 1970 as Markham Fire Department and replaced various local volunteer fire units. Nine fire stations serve Markham.

Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport Buttonville Municipal Airport or Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport is a medium-sized airport in the neighbourhood of Buttonville in Markham, Ontario, Canada, north of Toronto. It is operated by Torontair. Due to its proximity to Toronto's ...

is also served by Markham's Fire service.

Hospitals

Markham Stouffville Hospital in the city's far eastern end is Markham's main healthcare facility, located at the intersection of Highway 7 and 9th Line (407 and Donald Cousens Parkway). Markham is also home to Shouldice Hospital, one of the world's premier facilities for people suffering from

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...

s. For those living near Steeles, they sometimes will be able to receive treatment at The Scarborough Hospital Birchmount Campus in Toronto/

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

North York General Hospital North York General Hospital (NYGH) is a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Primarily serving the North York district, as well as southern York Region, it offers acute care, ambulatory and long-term services at multiple sites. It is one ...

also serves for 24/7 care, serving

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

and the lower

area.

Garbage collection

Garbage collection Waste collection is a part of the process of waste management. It is the transfer of solid waste from the point of use and disposal to the point of treatment or landfill. Waste collection also includes the curbside collection of recyclable m ...

is provided by Miller Waste Systems since the company's founding in 1961. Different areas of the city are assigned different garbage collection days.

Recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

is collected weekly, while household trash and yard waste is collected every other week. The last week of May is "Bulk Collection", where residents can put out as much waste as needed without limits. To promote recycling, Markham mandated the use of clear garbage bags in 2013 to let Miller Waste staff see the contents of trash bags. Bags containing high amounts of recycling mixed with regular trash will not be collected.

Winter operations

Winter operations are conducted on all City-owned roads according to the following criteria: * Primary roads plowed and salted 24/7 when snow reaches 5 cm * Secondary roads plowed between the hours of 7am and 6pm when snow reaches 5 cm * Local roads, cul-de-sacs, and private lanes plowed when snow reaches at least 7.5 cm * Salting is done when roads are found to be slippery Plowing of all roads takes around 16 hours to complete after the end of a snowfall, which exceeds provincial standards. Winter operations are conducted on all City-owned sidewalks according to the following criteria: * Plowed and sanded when snow reaches 5 cm Plowing of all sidewalks takes around 17 hours to complete after the end of a snowfall. Parking is only permitted on the odd numbered side of a street from November 15 to April 15 and parking is banned when snow is falling.

Education

Post-secondary

Seneca College has a campus in Markham, at Highway 7 and the 404 near Woodbine Avenue/Leslie Street, in the York Region business district. This location opened in 2005, offering full and part-time programs in business, marketing and tourism, and also the college's departments of Finance, Human Resources and Information Technology Services. Since 2011 the campus has also housed the Confucius Institute.

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

has plans to open a new campus in Downtown Markham on Enterprise Dr and Kennedy Rd (near Markham YMCA). It will serve the entirety of York Region and upper

Primary and secondary schools

Markham has a number of both

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

and Catholic

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s. All have consistently scored high on standardized tests and have some of the highest rate of graduates attending universities. The York Region District School Board operates secular English public schools. The York Catholic District School Board operates English Catholic schools. The '' Conseil scolaire Viamonde'' operates secular French schools, and the '' Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir'' operates Catholic French schools. * York Region District School Board **

Bill Crothers Secondary School Bill Crothers Secondary School is an athletic based High school in the community of Unionville in Markham, Ontario, Canada. It was the newest secondary school in the York Region District School Board for a number of years, since 2008. Named for ...

Bill Hogarth Secondary School Bill Hogarth Secondary School is a public high school in Markham, Ontario, Canada operated by the York Region District School Board. It opened in November 2017 for students in grades 9 and 10, some of whom were transferred from Pierre Elliott Trud ...

** Bur Oak Secondary School **

Markham District High School Markham District High School (or MDHS) is a public high school in the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is one of 32 high schools in the York Region District School Board. Until the 2016–17 academic year, it was the only publicly funded sc ...

Markville Secondary School Markville Secondary School (commonly known as MSS or Markville) is a public high school located in the community of Unionville within the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is one of 32 high schools administered by the York Region District Scho ...

Middlefield Collegiate Institute Middlefield Collegiate Institute (MCI) is a semestered, public high school in the neighbourhood of East Milliken in the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the York Region District School Board. It is located in southeast Markham, bord ...

Milliken Mills High School Milliken Mills High School is a high school in the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is one of 33 high schools in the York Region District School Board. The high school's construction was not scheduled to finish until January 1989 because of ...

Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School Pierre Elliott Trudeau High School (french: École secondaire Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau, commonly known as PETHS, PET, or Trudeau) is a public, bilingual English and French-immersion secondary school in Markham, Ontario. It was named in honour o ...

Thornhill Secondary School Thornhill Secondary School (TSS) is a secondary school in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1955, the school is administered by the York Region District School Board system. History Originally it served as an elementary school, but in 1956 ...

Thornlea Secondary School Thornlea Secondary School is a public high school, in the Regional Municipality of York, that opened in 1968 and is located in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada, on the northeast corner of Bayview Avenue and Willowbrook Road, just south of Highway 407. ...

** Unionville High School * York Catholic District School Board **

St. Brother André Catholic High School St. Brother André Catholic High School is a Catholic secondary school in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Grades 9 to 12 are taught, with religious studies included in the curriculum. It is named after Saint André Bessette (also known as Brother André ...

** St. Augustine Catholic High School **

St. Robert Catholic High School St. Robert Catholic High School is a secondary school in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. History St. Robert CHS was opened by the York Catholic District School Board in 1975, and it celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2015. It is named after its pa ...

** Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy

Economy

In the 19th century Markham had a vibrant, independent community with mills, distilleries and breweries around the intersection of Highway 7 and Markham Road. The

Thomas Speight Wagon Works Thomas Speight Wagon Works was a Canadian carriage builder based in Markham, Ontario and was the biggest supplier of horsecars for the Toronto Street Railways, but took orders as far west as Winnipeg, Manitoba. History In 1830, Thomas Speight of ...

exported products (wagons, horsecars) around the world, and Markham had a reputation as being more active than York (the former name for Toronto) early on. Most of these industries disappeared leaving farming as the main source of business. Light industries and businesses began to move into Markham in the 1980s attracted by land and lower taxes. Today, it claims to be "Canada's Hi-Tech Capital" with a number of key companies in the area, such as IBM, Motorola, Toshiba,

, Apple, Genesis Microchip, and is home to the head office of graphics card producer ATI Technologies (in 2006 merged with AMD). Over 1,100 technology and life science companies have offices in Markham, employing over one fifth of the total workforce. In 2014, the top five employers in the city in order are IBM Canada, the City of Markham, TD Waterhouse Inc., Markham Stouffville Hospital and AMD Technologies Inc.

Yogen Früz Yogen Früz is a Canadian chain of frozen yogurt and smoothie stores that also serves healthy alternative food products. The chain is run through company-owned, franchised, and non-traditional partnerships. The chain operates worldwide and has bee ...

has its headquarters in Markham. General Motors Canada Canadian Technical Centre has been located in Markham since 2017, in the building which was formerly the Canadian head office of

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

from 1985–2015.

Performing arts

Markham is home to several locally oriented performing arts groups: * Kindred Spirits Orchestra * Markham Little Theatre * Markham Youth Theatre * Unionville Theatre Company * Markham Concert Band A key arts venue is the 'Markham Theatre For Performing Arts', at the Markham Civic Centre at Highway 7 and Warden Avenue. The facility is owned by the City of Markham and operates under the city's Culture Department.

Culture

Until the 1970s, Markham was mostly farmland and marsh, as reflected in events like the

Markham Fair Markham Fair is one of Canada's oldest country fairs, an annual event established in 1844 and hosted by the Markham, Ontario and East York agricultural society. With over 700 volunteers working on more than 70 committees, Markham Fair is the larges ...

. Markham has several theatres, Markham Little Theatre at the Markham Museum, the ''Markham Youth Theatre'', and the

Markham Theatre The Flato Markham Theatre is a public arts complex located at 171 Town Centre Boulevard in the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. The theatre initially opened in 1985 for local and school based productions. The theatre is best known for its perfor ...

The

Varley Art Gallery Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery, or the Varley Art Gallery of Markham, is an art museum in Markham, Ontario, Canada. The museum is situated in a building on Main Street Unionville. The gallery was named after Frederick Varley, an artist from ...

is the city of Markham's art museum. The gallery hosts rotating exhibits, public events, art camps and art classes, among other opportunities for citizens to get involved in the community and learn about local and Canadian art. The

Markham Public Library Markham Public Library (MPL) is a library system operated by the municipal government of the City of Markham in Canada. There are eight branches in the city, serving about 250,000 residents in Markham. The libraries are managed by the Administrati ...

system has eight branches. Some branches offer unique digital tools such as a

Digital Media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ' ...

lab with

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

s software, a recording studio with video editing / audio editing software and a green screen, and a maker space with

3D printer 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...

, and

laser cutters Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to vaporize materials, resulting in a cut edge. While typically used for industrial manufacturing applications, it is now used by schools, small businesses, architecture, and hobbyists. Laser cutt ...

. With a library card, user can take free

online courses Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and Education sciences, educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edt ...

, borrow household tools and equipment and educational toys.

Sports

Community centres and recreational facilities

Recreation Department runs programs in these facilities and maintained by the city's Operations Department: * Aaniin Community Centre – library, indoor pool, multi-purpose rooms * Angus Glen Community Centre – library, tennis courts, indoor pool * Armadale Community Centre – multi-purpose rooms, outdoor tennis courts * Centennial Community Centre – multi-purpose rooms, indoor ice rink, indoor pool, squash courts, gym *

Cornell Community Centre Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach a ...

– library, indoor pool, multi-purpose rooms, gym, indoor track, fitness centre * Crosby Community Centre – indoor ice rink, multi-purpose rooms * Markham Pan Am Centre – indoor pools, gym, fitness centre * Markham Village Community Centre – library, indoor ice rink * Milliken Mills Community Centre – library, indoor pool, multi-purpose rooms, indoor ice rink * Mount Joy Community Centre – outdoor soccer pitches, indoor ice rink, multi-purpose rooms * R.J. Clatworthy Community Centre – indoor ice rink, multi-purpose rooms * Rouge River Community Centre – multi-purpose rooms, outdoor pool * Thornhill Community Centre – indoor ice rink, multi-purpose rooms, indoor track, library, squash court, gym

Parks and pathways

Markham has scenic pathways running over 22 km over its region. These pathways include 12 bridges allowing walkers, joggers, and cyclists to make use and enjoy the sights it has to offer. Markham's green space includes woodlots, ravines, and valleys that are not only enjoyable to its residents, but are important for the continued growth of the region's plants and animals. These natural spaces are the habitats for rare plant and insect species, offering food and homes essential for the survival of different native insects and birds. Parks and pathways are maintained by the City's Operations Department. Berczy village markham park

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 George Crookshank, Sam Francis and Charles Heintzman of Heintzman & Co., the piano manufacturer. * Markham Museum * Markham Village * Markham Heritage Estates – a unique, specially designed heritage subdivision owned by the City of Markham
Reesor Farm Market
*

Cathedral of the Transfiguration Transfiguration Cathedral or Cathedral of the Transfiguration may refer to: Canada * Cathedral of the Transfiguration (Markham), Markham, Ontario, Canada Lithuania * Transfiguration Cathedral, Kaišiadorys Romania * Transfiguration Cathedral, C ...

* Thornhill village Heritage streets preserve the old town feeling: * Main Street Markham (Markham Road/Highway 48) * Main Street Unionville ( Kennedy Road/Highway 7) There are still farms operating in the northern reaches of the town, but there are a few 'theme' farms in other parts of Markham: * Galten Farms * Forsythe Family Farms * Adventure Valley Markham's heritage railway stations are either an active station or converted to other uses: *

Markham GO Station Markham GO Station is a railway station on the GO Transit Stouffville line network located on Markham Main Street North in Markham, Ontario in Canada. History The station was built in 1871 by the Toronto and Nipissing Railway, which was taken ...

– built in 1871 by

and last used by CN Rail in the 1990s and restored in 2000 as active GO station and community use * Locust Hill Station – built in 1936 in Locust Hill, Ontario and last used by the CPR in 1969; relocated in 1983 to the grounds of the Markham Museum; replaced earlier station built in the late 19th century for the

Ontario and Quebec Railway The Ontario and Quebec Railway (O&Q) was a railway located in southern and eastern Ontario, Canada. It was initially chartered in March 1881 by managers of the Canadian Pacific Railway to run between Toronto and Perth, where it would connect, via ...

and burned down in 1935. * Unionville Station – built in 1871 by the

, later by Via Rail and by

from 1982 to 1991; it was sold to the city in 1989 and restored as a community centre within the historic Unionville Main Street area. The building features classic Canadian Railway Style found in Markham and (old) Unionville Stations.

Annual events

Events taking place annually include the Night It Up! Night Market, Taste of Asia Festival, Tony Roman Memorial Hockey Tournament, Markham Youth Week, Unionville Festival, Markham Village Music Festival, Markham Jazz Festival, Milliken Mills Children's Festival, Markham Ribfest & Music Festival, Doors Open Markham, Thornhill Village Festival,

, Olde Tyme Christmas Unionville, Markham Santa Claus Parade and Markham Festival of Lights.

Shopping

Markham is home to several large malls of 100+ stores. These include: *

CF Markville CF Markville, also known as Markville Shopping Centre in the Cadillac Fairview chain of malls, is a shopping mall of over 140 stores in Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Highway 7 East and McCowan Road. Its anchors ar ...

(160+ stores) * First Markham Place (180 stores) and Woodside Power Centre * King Square Shopping Mall (500+ mini-shops) * Langham Square (700 stores) * Pacific Mall (450 mini-shops) There are also a lot of higher-profile malls in nearby Toronto, and elsewhere in York Region.

East Asian businesses

Many shopping centres in Markham are also ethnically Chinese and East Asian-oriented. This is a reflection of Markham's large

East Asian East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea a ...

, particularly

Chinese Canadian , native_name = , native_name_lang = , image = Chinese Canadian population by province.svg , image_caption = Chinese Canadians as percent of population by province / territory , pop = 1,715,7704.63% of the ...

, population making it an important Chinese community in the GTA. They carry a wide variety of traditional Chinese products, apparel, and foods. On Highway 7, between Woodbine and Warden Avenues, is First Markham Place, containing numerous shops and restaurants; this is several kilometres east of Richmond Hill's Chinese malls. Further east along Highway 7 is an older plaza is at the southwest quadrant with the intersection with Kennedy Road. Pacific Mall is the most well-known Chinese mall in Markham, at Kennedy Road and Steeles Avenue East, which, combined with neighbouring Market Village (now closed) and Splendid China Mall, formed the second largest Chinese shopping area in North America, after the

Golden Village Golden Village is a cinema operator based in Singapore, fully owned by Orange Sky Golden Harvest of Hong Kong. It was initially set up as a 50:50 joint venture between Golden Harvest (predecessor of Orange Sky Golden Harvest) and Village Ro ...

in Richmond, British Columbia. In close proximity, at Steeles Avenue and Warden Avenue, there is the New Century Plaza mall and a half-block away there is a plaza of Chinese shops anchored by a

T & T Supermarket T&T Supermarket () is a Canadian supermarket chain that sells primarily Asian foods. The company is headquartered in Richmond, British Columbia. In 1993, the first T&T was opened in Burnaby's Metropolis at Metrotown, a shopping centre in the Me ...

. There are also some smaller shopping centres in Markham, such as: * Albion Mall * Alderland Centre * Denison Centre * J-Town * Markham Town Square * Metro Square * Peachtree Centre * New Kennedy Square * The Shops on Steeles and 404 * Thornhill Square Shopping Centre

Local media

* ''Markham Review'' – local monthly newspaper * ''TLM The Local Magazine'' – local satire & lifestyle magazine * ''

Markham Economist and Sun The ''Markham Economist & Sun'' is a local newspaper published once per week (Thursday) serving the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. ''The Economist & Sun'' is one of several York Region Media Group newspapers, a division of Metroland Media Grou ...

'' – community paper owned by Metroland Media Group * ''The Liberal'' – serving Thornhill and Richmond Hill – community paper owned by Metroland Media Group * ''The York Region Business Times'' – business news * ''York Region Media Group'' – Online news which includes some Metroland Media papers * ''North of the City'' – magazine for York Region * Rogers Cable 10 – community TV station for York Region, owned by

Rogers Media Rogers Media Inc., operating as Rogers Sports & Media, is a Canadian subsidiary of Rogers Communications that owns the company's mass media and sports properties, such as the Citytv and Omni Television terrestrial television stations, Sportsnet, ...

* ''Markham News24' – Hyper-local, video-based news website focusing on municipal politics, crime, lifestyle and business features * ''Sing Tao Daily'' – an ethnic Chinese newspaper that serves the

Transportation

Roads

Road network

Markham's road network is based on the concession system. In 1801, Markham was divided into 10 concessions, with a north–south road separating each one. The concessions were further divided by a number of east–west sideroads. This formed a

grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogona ...

road network, with an intersection occurring approximately every two kilometers. Even though some of these roads have been realigned, Markham's present road network for the most part still follows the original grid plan. Markham's concession (north–south) arterial roads are listed below, ordered from west to east (former numbers in parenthesis): * Yonge Street (boundary with the City of Vaughan) *

Bayview Avenue Bayview Avenue is a major north–south route in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario. North of Toronto, in York Region, Bayview is designated as York Regional Road 34. History Bayview Avenue follows the first concession line, laid east of Yong ...

* Leslie Street *

* Warden Avenue (5th Concession Road) * Kennedy Road (6th Concession Road) * McCowan Road (7th Concession Road) * Markham Road (8th Concession Road) Highway 48 north of Major Mackenzie Drive * Ninth Line (9th Concession Road) * Reesor Road (10th Concession Road) * Eleventh Line (11th Concession Road) * York-Durham Line (boundary with the City of Pickering) Reesor Road and Eleventh Line are the only north-south roads to not be regional roads. These two roads are rural routes with very few homes and minimal traffic and Eleventh Line ends just south of Highway 407 with road rerouted (old section fenced off with partial gravel bed) to intersect with York-Durham Line. Markham's sideroad (east–west) arterials are listed below, ordered from south to north (former numbers in parenthesis): * Steeles Avenue (original Scarborough Townline, boundary with the

City of Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

) * 14th Avenue * Regional Road 7 (formerly Highway 7 and originally 15th Avenue) * 16th Avenue * Major Mackenzie Drive East (17th Avenue) * Elgin Mills Road East (18th Avenue) * 19th Avenue (boundary with the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville) Most of Elgin Mills Road in Markham (east of Woodbine) is not be regional road. East of Donald Cousens Boulevard serves new residential developments and east is named rural and/or agricultural.

Important thoroughfares

Major highways that pass through Markham include King's Highway 404 (from Toronto to just south of Lake Simcoe), which marks Markham's boundary with the

City of Richmond Hill Richmond Hill ( 2021 population: 202,022) is a city in south-central York Region, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Greater Toronto Area, it is the York Region's third most populous municipality and the 27th most populous municipality in Canada. Richm ...

, and the

407 ETR King's Highway 407, commonly referred to as Highway 407 and colloquially as the "four-oh-seven", is a tolled 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Comprising a privately leased segment as well as a publicly owned segment, the r ...

(more commonly known as Highway 407), a privately owned toll highway that passes north of Toronto and connects Markham with

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

and

Oshawa Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...

. Highway 404 is one of the most important routes used for travel to and from the City of Toronto. Highway 407 primarily serves Markham from Yonge Street to York-Durham Line. The highway connects Markham with

Clarington Clarington (2021 population 101,427) is a lower-tier municipality in the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. It was incorporated in 1973 as the town of Newcastle with the merging of the town of Bowmanville, the Village of Newcastl ...

to the east, and

to the west. One of the most heavily travelled arterial roads in Markham is Regional Road 7, a major east–west artery. This road is more commonly referred to as Highway 7, a name which comes from the time when it used to be a provincial highway. The road is still officially Highway 7 east of Reesor Road. Other major east–west routes include 16th Avenue, Major MacKenzie Drive, the combination of John Street/Esna Park Drive/14th Avenue, and Steeles Avenue which forms Markham's southern boundary with Toronto.

Rail

The

Stouffville line The Stouffville line is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. Its southern terminus is Union Station in Toronto, and its northern terminus is (formerly "Lincolnville") in Whitchurch ...

, a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

line stretching from Lincolnville to downtown Toronto, provides passenger rail service in Markham. It operates only at rush hour and uses tracks owned by

Metrolinx Metrolinx is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario that manages and integrates road and public transport in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), which comprises much of Ontario's Golden Horseshoe region. Headquartered at Union Sta ...

, the provincial transit agency. Five stations on the

serve Markham, of which 4 are within the municipal borders. In 2015, Metrolinx announced that the Stouffville Line would get an expansion in service, bringing all day both directional trains from Union Station to

Unionville GO Station Unionville GO Station is a train and bus station in the GO Transit network located in Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is a stop on the Stouffville line. The station is also served by Highway 407 East Express buses, which run westbound to Highway 4 ...

. Markham's section of this GO line also came under the spotlight in 2015 as

Mayor John Tory's announced SMART Track plan for rapid transit expansion in Toronto includes the rail spur between Union Station and the Unionville GO. On April 8, 2019, GO Transit added ten midday train trips to

Mount Joy GO Station Mount Joy GO Station is a railway station and bus station in the GO Transit network located in the City of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the community of Mount Joy, north of the old town of Markham, at the intersection of Markham R ...

, replacing the need for passengers to change to buses at Unionville GO.

Public transit

York Region Transit (YRT) connects Markham with surrounding municipalities in York Region, and was created in 2001 from the merger of Markham Transit,

Richmond Hill Transit Richmond Hill Transit was created in 1960 to provide public transit service in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. It was initially operated by Trailways of Canada Limited, then Travelways starting in 1976 and Laidlaw in the 1980s. Services merged w ...

Newmarket Transit Newmarket Transit was a transit system in York Region, Ontario, Canada. While Newmarket was considerably smaller than any of the three cities in the southern part of the York region, it had a quality transit service. Service on some of the routes w ...

and Vaughan Transit. YRT to connects to the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway system by way of

Viva Viva may refer to: Companies and organisations * Viva (network operator), a Dominican mobile network operator * Viva Air, a Spanish airline taken over by flag carrier Iberia * Viva Air Dominicana * VIVA Bahrain, a telecommunication company * ...

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

from Finch station along Yonge Street, and Don Mills station through Unionville and on to Markville Mall. YRT has two major terminals in Markham: Unionville GO Terminal and the new

Cornell Terminal Cornell Terminal is a York Region Transit bus terminus on a site immediately south of Markham Stouffville Hospital in Markham, Ontario, Canada. The station opened in September 2022 and includes a passenger pick-up and drop-off area, a public pl ...

, replacing Markham Stouffville Hospital Bus Terminal. The TTC also provides service in Markham on several north–south routes, such as Warden Avenue, Birchmount Road,

and

Markham Road Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

. These routes charge riders a double fare if they are travelling across the Steeles border.

provides train service on the old trackbed of the

, which connects Markham with downtown Toronto on the

Stouffville Stouffville () is the primary urban area within the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville in York Region, Ontario, Canada. It is situated within the Greater Toronto Area and the inner ring of the Golden Horseshoe. The urban area is centred at the inter ...

commuter rail service. The line has stops at several stations in Markham, namely

, Centennial GO Station,

, and

. The Richmond Hill commuter rail line provides service to the

Langstaff GO Station Langstaff GO Station is a train and bus station in the GO Transit network located in Richmond Hill, Ontario in Canada. It is a stop on the Richmond Hill line train service. In May 2005, construction of a new and more modern station building was ...

, which straddles Markham and Richmond Hill but is used primarily by residents of west-central Markham and southern Richmond Hill.

Air

, Canada's 11th busiest airport (Ontario's 4th busiest). The airport permits

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

and business commuter traffic to Ottawa and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec. The airport is slated to close for development, but it has been delayed until at least 2023. Markham Airport or Toronto/Markham Airport, (TC LID: CNU8), is a private airport operating 2.6 nautical miles (4.8 km; 3.0 mi) north of Markham, north of Elgin Mills Road. The airport is owned and operated by Markham Airport Inc. and owned by a numbered Ontario company owned by the Thomson family of Toronto. The airport is not part of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA). The airport has a 2,013 ft (614 m) runway for small and private aircraft only (with night flying capabilities). The Royal Canadian Air Cadets Gliding Program formerly used the airport for glider operations in the spring and fall.

Notable people

Partner Cities

Cultural collaboration cities

Eabametoong First Nation Eabametoong, also known as Fort Hope or Eabamet Lake by Canada Post, is an Ojibwe First Nations band government in Kenora District, Ontario, Canada. Located on the shore of Eabamet Lake in the Albany River system, the community is located approxi ...

, Kenora District,

Sister cities

Source: * Cary,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, United States *

Nördlingen Nördlingen (; Swabian: ''Nearle'' or ''Nearleng'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 20,674. It is located approximately east of Stuttgart, and northwest of Munich. It was bui ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Germany *

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

, China

Friendship cities

Foshan Foshan (, ), alternately romanized as Fatshan, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the ...

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, China *

Jiangmen Jiangmen (), alternately romanized in Cantonese as Kongmoon, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong Province in southern China. As of the 2020 census, its three urban districts, plus Heshan City being conurbated, with 2,657,662 inhabitants ar ...

, China * Meizhou,

, China * Huadu,

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, China *

Nanhai Nanhai () may refer to: *''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea, one of the Four Seas *Nanhai Commandery, the former Chinese administration over Liangguang *''Nanhai'', the Chinese name for the South China Sea Islands *The '' Nanhai I ...

, China *

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

, China *

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...

, China *

Ganzhou Ganzhou (), alternately romanized as Kanchow, is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jiangxi province, China, bordering Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, and Hunan to the west. Its administrative seat is at Zhanggong District. Hist ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

, China *

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

, China * Zibo,

, China * Mullaitivu, Northern Province, Sri Lanka

References

* *

Notes

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in Ontario Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario Populated places established in 1794 1794 establishments in the British Empire

History

Geography

Topography

Climate

Neighbourhoods

Demographics

Government

City Council

Markham Civic Centre

Elections

By-laws

City services

Courts and police

Fire

Hospitals

Garbage collection

Winter operations

Education

Post-secondary

Primary and secondary schools

Economy

Performing arts

Culture

Sports

Community centres and recreational facilities

Parks and pathways

Attractions

Annual events

Shopping

East Asian businesses

Local media

Transportation

Roads

Road network

Important thoroughfares

Rail

Public transit

Air

Notable people

Partner Cities

Cultural collaboration cities

Sister cities

Friendship cities

See also

References

Notes

External links