Ajax (;
2021 population: 126,666) is a waterfront town in
Durham Region in
Southern Ontario, Canada, located in the eastern part of the
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...
.
The town is named for , a
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...
that served in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. It is approximately east of
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
on the shores of
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...
and is bordered by the City of
Pickering to the west and north, and the Town of
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy.
From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...
to the east.
History
The
indigenous peoples
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
were active in the watersheds of the
Duffins Creek and the
Carruthers Creek since the
Archaic period (7000-1000 BCE), although they did not build any major settlements in the area, presumably because of the poor navigability of these streams. In 1760,
French Sulpician missionaries from
Ganatsekwyagon reached the Duffins Creek area, but did not settle there.
After the
British conquest of New France in 1760, the area became part of the
Pickering Township. Mike Duffin, an Irish
fur trader, is the earliest known European to have settled in the area, in the 1770s. The conversion of the main local trail into the
Kingston Road in 1799 contributed to increased settlement in what is now Ajax. In the first half of the 19th century, the
Pickering Village, now a neighbourhood in Ajax, evolved as the major population centre of the Township, supported by a timber and agricultural boom. In 1807,
Timothy Rogers led
Quaker families to settle in the area, and built
saw and
grist mills on the banks of the Duffins Creek. The
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
increased military traffic on the Kingston Road, resulting in a better-maintained road, and leading to further development of the area.
In the mid-19th century,
Audley, a smaller community, emerged as a stopover on the route to the port of
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy.
From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...
. By the 20th century, much of the area of present-day Ajax had been converted into farmland. In 1926, James Tuckett of
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
bought lakeshore farmland, and started the development of the
Pickering Beach cottage
A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...
community, which later became a permanent settlement.
After the start of the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
in 1939, the Government of Canada
expropriated most of the farmland in what is now southern part of Ajax, to establish the
Defence Industries Limited Pickering Works munitions plant. Operated by
Defence Industries Limited (DIL), the government-owned plant employed workers from different parts of Canada. The plant site, along with the residences and the facilities established for the workers, evolved into a self-contained community, whose residents called it a "village". As part of a contest, the DIL employee Frank Holroyd suggested the name "Ajax" for the community, in honour of the British warship ''
HMS Ajax'' which had fought against the powerful
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
battleship ''
Admiral Graf Spee'' at the
Battle of the River Plate in 1939.
After the plant shut down in 1945, the site was used as a war surplus warehouse and sales outlet, a
University of Toronto campus (1946-1949), and a holding camp for war refugees from Europe (1949-1953). The government mandated the
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to develop the site and its surrounding area into a modern industrial town. George Finley, the CMHC manager of the area, planned new housing subdivisions, commercial centres, and industrial areas.
Workers assemble shells at the DIL plant (1940s)

In 1950, Ajax was incorporated as an Improvement District, a form of local administration managed by the
Lieutenant Governor's appointees. The Improvement District Board created the community's first by-laws and hired employees for the local administration. In August 1954, as a result of a campaign by the Ajax Citizens Association, the
Ontario Municipal Board declared Ajax a town, granting it full municipal status. The first town council members were elected on 11 December 1954, and assumed office on 1 January 1955. The first mayor of the town was
Benjamin de Forest Bayly, better known as Pat Bayly.
In the early 1970s, the
Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (MTRCA) acquired much of the land along the lakeshore. In the Pickering Beach area, several homes, a church, and a school were demolished to make way for a parkland.
On 1 January 1974, Ajax became a part of the newly formed
Regional Municipality of Durham, which manages functions common to multiple municipalities in the region. The boundaries of the town of Ajax were expanded to include several areas of the former Pickering Township, including Pickering Village, Pickering Beach, and Audley.
In 1995, Ajax was the first community along the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail to erect a pedestrian-only asphalt waterfront trail.
In 2018, the trail was named William Parish Waterfront Trail to honour the founding mayor of the town.
Geography

Ajax is bordered to the west and north by the City of
Pickering, to the east by the Town of
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy.
From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...
and to the south by
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...
.
Neighbourhoods
The town is made up of the following neighbourhoods:
* Applecroft
* Audley North
* Audley Road Business Area
* Audley South
* Carruthers Creek
* Carruthers Creek Business Area
* Central Employment Area
* Clover Ridge
* Deer Creek
* Discovery Bay
* Downtown
* Duffins Bay
* Duffins Crossing
* Hermitage
* Lake Vista
* Lakeside
* Meadow Ridge
* Memorial Village
* Midtown
* Nottingham
*
Pickering Beach
* Riverside
* Salem Business Area
* Salem Heights
* South Greenwood
* Southwood
* Village, better known as
Pickering Village
* Westney Heights
Downtown Ajax
Ajax Council and a private developer entered into an agreement in 2012 for the purchase and sale of of vacant town-owned land at the corner of Bayly Street and Harwood Avenue. Called "Pat Bayly Square", it will provide residential, retail and office space, as well as a civic square and civic facility. Pat Bayly Square opened in September 2018.
Local government
Ajax is governed by an elected town
Council
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
consisting of a
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
, and local
Councillor
A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...
s representing each of the town's three
wards. In addition, three Regional Councillors each represent a ward each. The Mayor and the Regional Councillors sit on both Ajax Town Council and
Durham Region Council.
The members of the council elected in the 2022 municipal election are:
Mayor: Shaun Collier
Regional Councillors:
*Ward 1: Marilyn Crawford
*Ward 2: Sterling Lee
*Ward 3: Joanne Dies
Councillors:
*Ward 1: Rob Tyler-Morin
*Ward 2: Nancy Henry
*Ward 3: Lisa Bower
In the past, Council has sat for a three-year term, but the
Ontario Legislature increased the length of municipal council terms in Ontario to four years, in 2006. In 2018, Ajax Council shifted from two regional councillors and four local councillors to three regional councillors and three local councillors.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...
, Ajax 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.
According to the 2021 Census, the median age is 38.4 years, around 3 years less than the national average of 41.6 years; 18.8% of the population is under 15 years of age while 13.1% are 65 and over.
According to the
2016 Census, among those 25 to 64 years old, the highest levels of education are as follows: 66.6% of people have a post-secondary certificate, diploma, or degree, 25.3% have a high school diploma or equivalency certificate, and 8.2% have no certificate, diploma, or degree.
As of 2021, the median value of dwellings in Ajax is $850,000 compared to the provincial median value of $700,496, and the national figure of $472,000.
As of 2021, 92% of Ajax's residents are Canadian citizens, with 42% being immigrants. 8% of the population immigrated between 2011 and 2021. The main places of birth of the immigrant population are
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
(13%),
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
(11%),
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
(10%),
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
(8%),
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
(8%),
Guyana
Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...
(6%),
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
(5%),
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
(4%),
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
(4%), and
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
(3%). Among the 5010 recent immigrants, who immigrated between 2016 and 2021, 34% were from India.
Ethnicity
According to the 2021 Census, the main self-reported ethnic and cultural origins included
English (12%),
Indian (10%), Canadian (9%),
Irish (9%),
Scottish (9%),
Jamaican (6%),
Filipino (5%),
Pakistani
Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
(5%),
Sri Lankan (4%),
Chinese (4%), and
Tamil (4%). 65% of the town's population comprises
visible minority, with the biggest of these groups being
South Asian
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
(26.2%),
Black
Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
(16.8%),
Filipino (5.3%),
Chinese (3%),
West Asian (3%),
Arab
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
(2%), and
Latin American
Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America).
Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...
(1.3%). 3% of the people identify as belonging to multiple visible minority groups. Those with only
indigenous ancestry make up 0.23% of the population, while those with mixed indigenous and non-indigenous ancestry make up 1.03% of the population.
Ajax has the highest Black population percentage of any major Canadian municipality (population above 100,000).
*Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.
Religion
According to the 2021 Census, the largest religion in Ajax is
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
(50.83%), with
Catholics making up the largest group (22.25%). The next most reported religions are
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
(14.08%) and
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
(11.62%). 20.77% of the population reported no religious affiliation.
Language
According to the 2021 census,
English is the most commonly understood language in the town, with 97.97% of the people knowing it. It is also the most common
mother tongue: 64.79% of the people consider English as their only mother tongue, plus 5.75% consider English and another language as their mother tongues. Other common languages include the following:
Economy
In 1945, with the closing of D.I.L., there was no industry within the town, but in 1949,
Dowty Aerospace started operations in Ajax. By 1969, major employers included
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...
Canada,
DuPont
Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to:
People
* Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...
, Paintplas, Ajax Textile, AEG Bayly Engineering and many others.
Shopping was virtually non-existent in the mid-1940s, but by 1970 major shopping centres such as Ajax Plaza, Harwood Place Mall and Clover Ridge Plaza were constructed. The 1980s saw an expansion of retail shopping malls to include Discovery Bay Plaza, Transit Square, Baywood Plaza, Westney Heights Plaza and most recently the Durham Centre at Harwood Avenue and Kingston Road.
The 1970s saw the beginning of many physical changes to the face of Ajax. New subdivisions spread over vacant land in central Ajax. The early 1980s brought extensive development to the southern part of Ajax with large, upscale housing units constructed along Lake Driveway.
The recession of the early 1980s did not stop residential development in Ajax. Westney Heights started north of Highway 2 and offered home buyers low interest rate mortgages while interest rates were then at an all-time high of 18% to 20%. Development north of Highway 2 stretched from Church Street in Pickering Village to Harwood Avenue, with the Millers Creek development south of the highway down to the edge of
Highway 401.
Ajax Downs
Ajax Downs is a
casino
A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
that is located on 50 Alexander's Crossing, near the intersection of
Kingston Road and Audley Road. It has been controversial since the announcement of the
Durham Live casino in 2018. The Ontario premier
Doug Ford had promised to keep the Ajax Downs open after the completion of the casino. In 2022, The Durham Live casino was completed. Although it is referred to as the
Pickering Casino, it lies on the border of the two small cities. This marks the first major casino operation in the Greater Toronto Area.
Infrastructure
Health care
The
Ajax and Pickering General Hospital first opened in 1954 with 38 adult and children's beds. It was expanded to 50 beds in 1958 and a major expansion to 127 beds took place in 1964. The emergency and outpatient services were expanded in 1975. The large growth of population in the Town has prompted a further expansion. Approval was granted in the fall of 1990 to further expand. In 1999, the Hospital merged with Centenary Health Centre in
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 ...
to become part of the
Rouge Valley Health System. Construction on a $60 million expansion began in 2007, although that has been marred by the highly controversial closure of the 3 West Mental Health ward in 2008, which was originally to be part of the expansion.
Emergency services
The
Durham Regional Police police Ajax from a station in Pickering.
Durham Region provides Ambulance/emergency medical services. Ajax Fire & Emergency Services provides firefighting services from three fire stations.
Transportation
Ajax GO Station is served by GO Transit's
Lakeshore East line, with service from Toronto and Oshawa.
In 1973, the Town of Ajax conducted a survey of potential transit ridership in Ajax. This led to the creation of
Ajax Transit with bus service beginning in 1973 under a contract with
Charterways Transportation Limited, which operated service using a fleet of school buses, with heaviest ridership between the Pickering Beach area and downtown Ajax.
In the late 1970s, the town brought the operations in house and began operations on the Elm, Duffins, and Beach routes, which exist to this day. In the early 1980s, the Harwood, Westney Heights, and Village routes began service. Service on the Puckrin route began in the late 1980s.
In 2001, Ajax Transit and the neighbouring
Pickering Transit were amalgamated into the
Ajax Pickering Transit Authority (APTA), which operated under the joint ownership and oversight of Ajax and Pickering.
In 2006, APTA was amalgamated into
Durham Region Transit along with the other municipal transit services in
Durham Region.
Road transportation in Ajax is dominated by
Highway 401, which runs east–west through the town, dividing it in half. Access to Highway 401 both east and west is available via Westney Road and Salem Road. Only four streets allow transportation from the north end of town to the south end of town by crossing over or under Highway 401. These streets are (from west to east) Church Street, Westney Road, Harwood Avenue and Salem Road. Lakeridge Road crosses the highway, but it is traditionally held to be the border between the towns of Ajax and Whitby. Notable streets that run parallel to the highway are (from north to south) Taunton Road, Rossland Road, Kingston Road (Highway 2) and Bayly Street. At Salem Road is where Highway 401 narrows to three lanes each way, causing a severe traffic bottleneck eastbound during rush hours and special holidays due to increased travel to
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
and
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
.
The closest international airport to Ajax is
Toronto Pearson International Airport, located 50 kilometres to the west in
Mississauga
Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...
.
Education
Ajax is served by the
Durham District School Board and the
Durham Catholic District School Board. There are five high schools and several elementary schools. Two of the high schools are Catholic schools:
Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School and
Archbishop Denis O'Connor Catholic High School. The other three are the public secondary schools:
Ajax High School,
J. Clarke Richardson Collegiate and
Pickering High School.
Culture
Music and dance
During 1955–1962, the Ajax Recreational Committee ran regular dances for the town's teenagers. The Saturday night dances, called "Ajax Teen Town", were held at the Ajax Community Centre, and were attended by as many as 500 teenagers at its peak. The Community Centre burnt down in 1960s, and the event attendance gradually declined, as music styles changed and as the members grew up.
For a short period beginning in the 1990s, Ajax became notable for its
punk musicians, with the ''
Maclean's'' magazine calling it the "punk-rock capital of Canada" in 2003. After the success of
Sum 41, record labels began looking for upcoming artists at the local shows in the Durham region. Several other bands and artists from Ajax achieved popularity, including
Closet Monster,
Not by Choice,
Matt Brann and
Jesse Colburn (members of
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne ( ; ; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. List of awa ...
's back-up band). According to writer
Alan Cross, punk became popular in Ajax as the local teens kept themselves busy with music, finding not much else to do in a small town. Chameleon Café (110 Dowty Road), an
auto body garage converted into a music venue, became a popular spot for local bands during the mid-to-late 1990s, with hundreds of teens gathering there on weekends. According to producer
Greig Nori, the popularity of Chameleon Café (which closed in 2001) and the proximity of Ajax to Toronto (where teens could attend major punk band concerts) helped the music scene in the town.
Sports
The members of the Ajax Aquatic Club, established in 1973, have included the Olympic medalists
Anne Ottenbrite and
Lori Melien. The Ajax Budokan Judo Club was also established in 1973, with 20 members, most of them high school students. Its members have included judokas
Jessica Klimkait,
Craig Weldon
Canada competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, held from 17 September to 2 October 1988. 328 competitors, 223 men and 105 women, took part in 193 events in 23 sports. Most Canadians remember these Olympics for Ben Johnson (Cana ...
,
Sandra Greaves, and
Kevin Doherty. The Ajax Acros Gymnastic Club was formed as a
feeder club in 1974, with 60 children.
Lori Strong, who has won multiple medals at the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...
, started her training at this club.
The ''
Ajax-Pickering Rock'' (2003-2010) was a local
box lacrosse
Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in the 1930s in Canada, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's officia ...
team that played in the Ontario Lacrosse Association Senior "B" League during 2003–2010. In 2010, it was promoted to Senior "A"
Major Series Lacrosse league, and played under the name ''Ajax Rock'' (2011-2012). The team faced challenges in attracting players and fan base because of competition from other teams in the Durham Region. In 2013, it moved from Ajax to the newly constructed Toronto Rock Athletic Centre (TRAC) in
Oakville, and re-branded itself as ''Oakville Rock''.
In 2022, the Ajax Pickering
Minor Hockey Association was formed after the merger of the Ajax Minor Hockey (Ajax Knights), Pickering Minor Hockey (Pickering Panthers), and Ajax-Pickering Raiders; the team retains the name "Raiders". ''Ajax Spartans'' Minor Baseball Association (ASMBA) is a local minor league baseball team.
Ajax Wanderers, established in 1949, is the oldest
rugby union
Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
club in Ontario. Its members have included
Dave Moonlight of Whitby.
Other sports clubs in the town include the Ajax Soccer Club, Ajax United, Ajax-Pickering Dolphins (football), Ajax Pickering Ringette Association, Ajax Cricket Club, Ajax Scuba Club, and Ajax Skating Club. ''Ajax Ice Waves'', a
synchronized skating team of the Ajax Skating Club, won several local competitions in Ontario in the 2010s.
Notable people and groups
*
Isaiah Adams,
NFL football player
*
Toya Alexis, musician, ''
Canadian Idol'' finalist
*
Charlotte Arnold, actress
*
Benjamin deForest Bayly, inventor
*
Jeff Beukeboom, retired
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
player
*
Ruby Bhatia, Indian-Canadian VJ, television show host, and actress
*
Ryan Blanchet, touring car racer
*
Boi-1da, hip hop producer
*
Matt Brann, musician
*
Brendan Canning
Brendan Canning (born 1969) is a Canadian indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used ...
, musician
*
Munro Chambers, actor
*
Nichelle Prince, women's soccer player and Olympian
*
Candace Chapman, women's soccer player
and Olympian
*
Closet Monster, punk rock band
*
Christian Corbet, painter, sculptor and forensic artist
*
Derek Cornelius, professional soccer player
*
Joe Dickson, MPP and owner of Dickson Printing
*
Janet Ecker, former Ontario Minister of Finance
*
Akeem Foster
Akeem Foster (born March 20, 1987) is a professional Canadian football wide receiver for the Kotka Eagles of the Finnish 1st Division (American football), Finnish 1st Division. Prior to that, Foster had been a member of the Edmonton Eskimos of t ...
,
CFL football player
*
Keith Godding, CFL football player
*
Glenn Healy, former NHL goaltender
*
Kyle Johnson, professional basketball player and Olympian; grew up in Ajax
*
The Johnstones, ska band
*
Sara Kaljuvee, Olympic bronze medalist for Rugby Sevens
*
Kaza Kajami-Keane, professional basketball player, and Canadian national team player
*
Rabindranath Maharaj, novelist
*
Connor McMichael, NHL player
*
Nam Nguyen, national champion figure skater
*
Not by Choice, punk rock band
*
Emmett O'Connor, professional
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
(soccer) player
*
Phan Thi Kim Phuc, subject of a famous photo from the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
*
Matt Poitras, NHL player
*
Mike Ross, broadcaster, actor, PA announcer
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...
*
John Saunders, sports journalist for
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
and
ABC
*
Corey Sevier, actor
*
Ken Shaw,
CTV Toronto news anchor
*
Nathan Shepherd, NFL football player
*
Devin Shore, current
NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...
forward
*
Rene Soetens, former Progressive Conservative MP
*
Sum 41, punk rock band
*
T-Minus, hip hop and R&B producer
*
Jessica Tyler, actress
*
Nigel Wilson, retired
MLB player
See also
*
List of municipalities in Ontario
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*''The Pictorial History of Ajax, 1941/1972'', Ajax Historical Board, 1972
*''Past Years in Pickering'', William R. Wood, Toronto, 1911
*''The Village of Pickering 1800–1970'', Corporation of the Village of Pickering, 1970
*''The Pickering Story'', William Archie McKay, 1961
External links
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Populated places on Lake Ontario in Canada
Lower-tier municipalities in Ontario
Populated places established in 1941
Towns in Ontario
1941 establishments in Canada