Oak Ridges—Markham was a federal

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, that was represented in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

from 2004 to 2015. Its population in 2006 was 169,645., with 136,755 electors, the highest of any riding in Canada. By 2011, the riding's population had risen to 228,997, the largest population of all ridings in Canada. The district covered part of the suburbs north 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 ...

. It included the town of

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 ...

, most of the township of

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

(excepting extreme northeast) the northern portions of the town of Richmond Hill (including all of Oak Ridges), and the northern and eastern portions of the city of

Markham Markham may refer to: Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * Markham's grass mouse (''Abrothrix olivaceus markhami''), a rodent subspecies found on Wellington Island and the ne ...

. The electoral district was created in 2004 52.5% from Oak Ridges, 30% from

, 13% from Vaughan—King—Aurora, and 4.5% from

York North York North was a federal riding in Ontario, Canada, that was in the House of Commons of Canada from Confederation in 1867 until 2004. The federal riding was eliminated in 2003 when it was redistributed between two new ridings of Newmarket� ...

riding. Following the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution, the district was split between King—Vaughan, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill,

Markham—Unionville Markham—Unionville could refer to: *Markham—Unionville (federal electoral district) Markham—Unionville is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Common ...

, and

Markham—Stouffville Markham—Stouffville could refer to: * Markham—Stouffville (federal electoral district) *Markham—Stouffville (provincial electoral district) Markham—Stouffville is a provincial electoral district in Ontario. It encompasses a portion of Ont ...

Demographics

Communities in Oak Ridges—Markham are the destination for many

immigrants to Canada According to the 2021 Canadian census, immigrants in Canada number 8.3 million persons and make up approximately 23 percent of Canada's total population. This represents the eighth-largest immigrant population in the world, while the propor ...

, composing about 41.6% of the population, or about 70,000 of its residents. For 72,440 residents, neither English nor French, the

official languages of Canada The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada," according to Canada's constitution. "Offici ...

, is their mother tongue, though most have knowledge of English (148,975), French (160), or both (12,885). Most immigrants become citizens, as 11,155 immigrants were not Canadian citizens as of the

Canada 2006 Census The 2006 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The following census was the 2011 census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897. This count was lower ...

. The primarily urban district has a low proportion of Aboriginal residents compared to other parts of Canada, with just 625 people identifying themselves of such descent. It is also home to 70,070 residents who identify themselves as

visible minorities In Canada, a visible minority () is defined by the Government of Canada as "persons, other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". The term is used primarily as a demographic category by Statistics Canada ...

, more than half of which are

Chinese Canadian Chinese Canadians are Canadians of full or partial Chinese people, Chinese ancestry, which includes both naturalized Chinese immigrants and Canadian-born Chinese. They comprise a subgroup of East Asian Canadians which is a further subgroup of ...

s and about 20% are

Black Canadians Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

. At the 2006 census, the

participation rate In macroeconomics, the workforce or labour force is the sum of people either working (i.e., the employed) or looking for work (i.e., the unemployed): \text = \text + \text Those neither working in the marketplace nor looking for work are out ...

of residents in the work force was 71.3%, and the electoral district

unemployment rate Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work d ...

was 5%, below the national average of 6.3%. The district was the second-largest

in Canada by population, next to Brampton West which had 170,422 residents at the 2006 census. It was the 64th largest in 2001, with a population of 111,276, but had the greatest population growth from 2001 to 2006, about 52.5%.

Boundaries

According to Elections Canada, Oak Ridges—Markham consisted of that part of the Regional Municipality of York composed of: (a) the Town of

; (b) the part of the Township of

south of Highway No. 9; (c) the part of the Town of Richmond Hill lying north and east of a line drawn from the western town limit east along Gamble Road, south along Yonge Street and east along Elgin Mills Road East to the eastern town limit; and (d) the part of the City of

lying north and east of a line drawn from the western town limit east along 16th Avenue, south along McCowan Road, east along Highway No. 7, and south along 9th Line to the southern town limit.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of the

Election results

, - bgcolor="white" , align="left" colspan=2, Liberal hold , align="right", Swing , align="right", -4.82 , align="right", , - bgcolor="white" , align="left" colspan=2, Liberal hold , align="right", Swing , align="right", +3.88 , align="right", 2004 change is based on redistributed results. Conservative change is compared to a combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative votes.

Redistribution

Because Oak-Ridges Markham had a population 115.60% over the Ontario quota (Canada's most populous riding) it was substantially affected by the 2012 electoral district redistribution. The district was renamed King—Vaughan, which consists of the Township of

south of Highway 9, along with the part of the City of

Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

north of

Major Mackenzie Drive Major Mackenzie Drive, often shortened to Major Mac, is a major east-west arterial road in southern York Region, Ontario, Canada, just north of Toronto. It is a York regional road, numbered as York Regional Road 25, and passes through the three ...

, west of Highway 400, and north of

Rutherford Road York Region, located in southcentral Ontario, Canada, assigned approximately 50 regional roads, each with a number ranging from 1 to 99. All expenses for York Regional Roads (i.e: maintenance, traffic lights, and snow clearing) are funded by the ...

east of Hwy 400. The part that is the town of

and in the City of

east of

Ontario Highway 48 King's Highway 48, also known as Highway 48, is a provincially maintained highway in southern Ontario that extends from Major Mackenzie Drive in Markham, through Whitchurch-Stouffville and East Gwillimbury, to Highway 12 south-east of Be ...

/ Main Street Markham/ York Regional Road 68 was incorporated into the new

riding. The part in the town of Richmond Hill is part of the new Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill riding. Finally, the part in the city of

west of the above-mentioned roads is part of the new

riding,Markham—Unionville – Proposed Boundaries
/ref> which is different from the previous riding of the same name.

References

*
Oak Ridges—Markham
constituency profile at the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

2011 results from Elections CanadaElectoral district profile Oak Ridges--Markham (Ontario)Campaign expense data from Elections Canada

External links

Oak Ridges—Markham
at Parliament of Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Oak Ridges-Markham Former federal electoral districts of Ontario Politics of King, Ontario Politics of Markham, Ontario Politics of Richmond Hill, Ontario Whitchurch-Stouffville