Vaughan

For other uses, see Vaughan (disambiguation).
Vaughan
City (lower-tier)
City of Vaughan

Vaughan as viewed from Canada's Wonderland

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Vaughan
Coordinates: 43°50′N 79°30′W / 43.833°N 79.500°W / 43.833; -79.500Coordinates: 43°50′N 79°30′W / 43.833°N 79.500°W / 43.833; -79.500
Country Canada
Province Ontario
Regional Municipality York
Communities
Settled 1792
Incorporated 1850 (Township)
Incorporated 1991 (City)
Government
 • Type Municipal (City)
 • Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua
 • Regional Councillor Gino Rosati
Michael Di Biase
Deb Schulte
 • City Manager Steve Kanellakos
 • Councillors
 • MPs, and MPPs
Area[1]
 • Land 273.52 km2 (105.61 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 288,301
 • Density 1,054.0/km2 (2,730/sq mi)
 • Total Private Dwellings 71,265
  Population ranked 17th nationally
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Area code(s) 905 and 289
Website www.vaughan.ca
Vaughan within York Region

Vaughan (/vɔːn/ VAWN; 2011 population 288,301) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is within the region of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006, achieving a population growth rate of 80.2% according to Statistics Canada[2] having nearly doubled in population since 1991. It is the fifth-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area, and the 17th largest city in Canada.

History

In the late pre-contact period, the Huron-Wendat people populated what is today Vaughan. The Skandatut ancestral Huron village overlooked the east branch of the Humber River (Pinevalley Drive) and was once home to approximately 2000 Huron in the sixteenth century.[3] The site is located close to a Huron ossuary (mass grave) uncovered in Kleinburg in 1970, and one kilometre north of the Seed-Barker Huron site[4]

The first European to pass through Vaughan was the French explorer Étienne Brûlé, who traversed the Humber Trail in 1615. However, it was not until the townships were created in 1792 that Vaughan began to see any settlements, as it was considered to be extremely remote and the lack of roads through the region made travel difficult. The township was named after Benjamin Vaughan, a British commissioner who signed a peace treaty with the United States in 1783.

Despite the hardships of pioneer life, settlers came to Vaughan in considerable numbers. The population grew from 19 men, 5 women, and 30 children in 1800 to 4,300 in 1840. The first people to arrive were mainly Pennsylvania Germans, with a smaller number of families of English descent and a group of French Royalists being represented. This migration from the United States was by 1814 superseded by an influx of immigrants from Britain. While many of their predecessors had been agriculturalists, the newer immigrants proved to be highly skilled tradespeople, which would prove useful for a growing community.

Around the facilities established by this group arose a number of hamlets, the oldest of which was Thornhill, which witnessed the construction of a saw-mill in 1801, a grist mill in 1815, and boasted a population of 300 by 1836. Other such enclaves included Kleinburg, Coleraine, Maple, Richmond Hill, Teston, Claireville, Pine Grove, Carrville, Patterson, Burlington, Concord, Edgeley, Fisherville, Elder's Mills, Elgin Mills, Jefferson, Nashville, Purpleville, Richvale, Sherwood, Langstaff, Vellore, and Burwick (Woodbridge).

Vaughan changed relatively little in its early history, from the 1840s when the number of inhabitants stood at 4,300 to 1935 when it had 4,873 residents. However, World War II sparked an influx of immigration, and by 1960, the population stood at 15,957. As well, the ethno-cultural composition of the area began to change with the arrival of different groups such as Italians, Jews and Eastern Europeans.

Incorporated in 1850 as Vaughan Township, a municipal government was established. Vaughan Road was a rural road constructed in 1850 that linked Vaughan Township with Toronto, though this street's current alignment is much shorter and serves only much of the eastern half of the former city of York.[5] In 1971, the new regional government of York Region was established, acquiring policing and welfare services from the communities it served; simultaneously, the township merged with the Village of Woodbridge to form the Town of Vaughan. In 1991, it officially changed its legal status to City of Vaughan.[6]

An F2 tornado tore through the city of Vaughan during the Southern Ontario Tornado Outbreak on August 20, 2009. Premier Dalton McGuinty and Mayor Linda Jackson toured the destruction the next day and reported 200 homes in critical shape and as many as 600 additional homes likely to be demolished. The tornado also ripped up trees, flipped cars, and left thousands of people without power. Vaughan declared a state of emergency because of the widespread damage.[7][8] One man injured in the storm suffered a heart attack the following morning.[9]

Mayor and Councillors

Vaughan City Hall

Vaughan City Council has nine members: the mayor, three regional councillors, and five local councillors. The mayor, elected at large, is the head of Vaughan council and a representative on York Region Council. The three regional councillors are elected to represent Vaughan at both local and regional levels of government. Five local councillors are also elected, one from each of Vaughan's five wards, to represent those wards on Vaughan Council. City councillors meet at the Civic Centre, located in the community of Maple. The City's new City Hall was opened on September 25, 2011. The building is named in memory of late Mayor Lorna Jackson. The new Civic Centre is one of the first in Canada to conform to a LEED Gold Standard, the second highest environmental classification available.[10]

Vaughan is the first municipality in Ontario to have a Youth City Councillor. The youth city councillor is appointed as a non-voting member of Council every six months to represent the youth of Vaughan. Vaughan council originally rejected the proposal of a youth councillor but, after the Vaughan Youth Cabinet amended its proposal, Council accepted the recommendation.[11]

Recent mayors

Following the death of Mayor Lorna Jackson in 2002, Michael Di Biase was appointed mayor by Vaughan council by virtue of his position as one of two regional councillors representing Vaughan, Joyce Frustaglio was the other regional councillor. Gino Rosati, a Vaughan local councillor, was subsequently appointed by Vaughan Council to fill Di Biase’s position as regional councillor and a by-election was held to fill Rosati’s local councillor’s position which was won by Linda Jackson, the daughter of Mayor Jackson. Di Biase first became involved in the city's politics in 1985, when he was elected as a local councillor in 1985. Di Biase retained the mayorship in the 2003 municipal clection, defeating challenger Robert Craig.

In the municipal election on November 13, 2006, Di Biase was narrowly defeated by Linda Jackson, who was sworn in as mayor on December 4, 2006. On June 18, 2008, an audit of Jackson's 2006 campaign finances found that the politician exceeded her legal spending limit of $120,419 by at least $12,356, or 10 per cent. The auditors, LECG Canada Ltd., say that amount could almost double if what they believed to be unreported contributions in kind at various election events – but couldn't prove – are later verified.[12]

They also found other apparent contraventions of the Canada Elections Act, including at least five instances where associated companies made donations that exceeded the normal $750 donation limit per company.

On June 24, 2008, Vaughan Council voted unanimously to hire a special prosecutor to consider laying charges against Mayor Linda Jackson under the Municipal Elections Act in reaction to the auditors' report. Council hired Timothy Wilkin, "an expert in municipal law" to decide what (if any) charges are to be laid.[13] If Jackson is charged and found guilty, she would face punishments ranging from fines to removal from office.

Subsequently, an audit was conducted on former Mayor Di Biase's 2006 election campaign funds. This exposed 27 contraventions under the Elections Act, along with a $155,000 anonymous cash payment made to his lawyer to cover his legal fees. Di Biase has refused to disclose who made this payment.[14]

On 25 October 2010, longtime MP Maurizio Bevilacqua was elected mayor and he assumed office in December 2010.

Geography

Vaughan is bounded by Caledon and Brampton to the west, King and Richmond Hill to the north, Markham and Richmond Hill to the east, and Toronto, to the south. It is located approximately 25 minutes from Downtown Toronto.

Climate

Health care

Vaughan is the largest city in Canada without a hospital within its city boundaries.[16] The nearest full-service hospital facilities are Humber River Regional Hospital, to the south in Toronto, Brampton Civic Hospital, to the west in Brampton, and Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital to the east in Richmond Hill.

Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital is under construction along Major Mackenzie Drive (between Highway 400 and Jane Street)[17] which would serve Vaughan. Its planning stage began in 2007.[18] The provincial government of Ontario approved construction of the hospital in July 2011, and a tender for bids to construct it will be issued in 2014 or 2015.[19] Land preparation for construction began in the summer of 2014.[20] The expected date of completion is 2019.[21] It will be part of a regional hospital system with a "single governance, administration and medical staff"[19] managed by Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital.

Communities

There are six major communities that make up the city. They are commonly seen today to extend to areas far beyond their original sites that encompass lesser-known communities in turn. Most residents (and even non-residents) identify more with them then they do with the city as a whole.

Even though Vaughan is a city, it is not listed in the phone book. Instead, Bell Canada still uses the original community exchanges and still lists them separately, resulting in local calling areas being different throughout the city.

Transportation

Demographics

Ethnic Origin (2011)[23] Population Percent
Italian 94,970 33.2
Jewish 33,745 11.8
Canadian 22,300 7.8
Russian 19,385 6.8
Indian 18,715 6.5
Chinese 16,660 5.8
Polish 14,485 5.1
English 12,045 4.2
Portuguese 9,535 3.3
Filipino 8,800 3.1
Irish 7,370 2.6
Vietnamese 7,145 2.5
Historical populations
YearPop.±%
197115,873—    
198129,674+86.9%
1991111,359+275.3%
1996132,549+19.0%
2001182,022+37.3%
2006238,866+31.2%
2011288,301+20.7%

Vaughan is one of southern Ontario's fastest growing cities. According to Statistics Canada, the population grew 20.7 percent from 2006 to 2011.[24] Median age as of 2011 was 37.9, lower than the Ontario median age of 39.3.[24]

Vaughan is known as having some of the highest concentrations of southern Europeans (notably Italians), Eastern Europeans (chiefly Russians) and Jewish people in Ontario, while those who are of British and/or Irish origin form a smaller proportion than in many other southern Ontario cities.

Visible minorities make up 26.6% of the population.[25] Vaughan has small but growing Indian, Pakistani, Hispanic, Jamaican, Vietnamese and Chinese populations.

Residents of Vaughan are fairly religious; the city has the lowest number of non-affiliates in Ontario. Some 67.42% of the population adheres to Christianity, mostly Catholicism (55.80%). Those who practice non-Christian religions adhere to, in order of size, Judaism (18.20%), Hinduism (2.47%), Islam (2.43%), and Buddhism (0.56%).

According to the 2011 Census, English is the mother tongue of 45.9% of the residents of Vaughan. Italian is the mother tongue for 14.1% of the population, followed by Russian (6.5%) and Spanish (2.6%). Each of Panjabi (Punjabi), Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino), Hebrew, Persian, Chinese, not otherwise specified, Urdu, Cantonese, and Vietnamese has a percentage ranging from 1.7% down to 1.4%, signifying Vaughan's high linguistic diversity.

Religions in Vaughan
Religion Percent
Christians
  
 60.6%
Jews
  
 15.2%
Muslims
  
 4.9%
Hindus
  
 4.5%
Buddhists
  
 2.5%
Others/Irreligious
  
 8.9%
Distribution of religions (2011 NHS)

Attractions

Education

York University in North York, Ontario lies on the Toronto side of the Toronto-Vaughan border. It is a major comprehensive university, with more than 43,000 students enrolled through 10 different faculties. There are also a number of elementary and high schools in Vaughan, which operate under the York Region District School Board and the York Catholic District School Board. There are also some private schools, the largest of which is the Anne & Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto (TanenbaumCHAT), a Jewish day school serving over 600 high school students. There is also a Waldorf school, the Toronto Waldorf School, which offers early childhood, elementary and accredited high school programs.

Archaeology

Seed-Barker site
Seed-Barker site 16th century Iroquoian village, Vaughan, ON

The Seed-Barker archaeological site is a 16th-century Iroquois village on the Humber River in Vaughan. It has been used as a summer school field trip site since 1976 by the Boyd archaeological field summer school for high school students. The school is sponsored by the York Region district school board in co-operation with the Royal Ontario Museum and the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). In 1895, a local farmer began finding Iroquoian artifacts in the area. In 1895, Roland Orr recognized the classic ecological features favoured by the Iroquoian people for their villages: floodplains along a river, an easily defensible plateau and nearby forests. The Iroquois used the floodplains to plant maize, beans and squash,:1 known as the three sisters. In the 1950s, University of Toronto professor Norman Emerson and the students excavated artifacts from the Seed-Baker site. Since 1975, more that a million artifacts were discovered and nineteen longhouses were excavated revealing that the village was occupied by the Iroquois from c. 1500 - 1550 AD.[26]

Notable people

Twin cities

[27]

Sports

In film

Kleinburg is home to the Cinespace Film Studios, a centre for television and motion picture production. Several famous movie stars are often spotted around Kleinburg, making it a popular tourist/gawker attraction. The popular children's TV show The Forest Rangers, starring Gordon Pinsent, was filmed here between 1963 and 1965. In 2006, the movie The Sentinel was filmed at the McMichael Art Gallery.

Media

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Statistics Canada
  2. ↑ "Changes in population at the community level". A profile of the Canadian population: where we live. Statistics Canada. 2003-01-20. Retrieved 2006-10-29.
  3. ↑ Salvage excavations of nationally significant Huron sites in Vaughan continue into 2010. Cf., Gail Swainson, Toronto Star, First Nations want say in the preservation of important archaeological sites in Ontario, Aug. 29, 2010; U of T basements hold thousands of remains, Sept. 3, 2010; First Nation battles for history in court, Sept. 10, 2010. See also Archaeological Services, Inc., "Stage 4 Salvage Excavation of the Baker Site, June 2006.
  4. ↑ University of Toronto, Anthropology Dept., Seed-Barker Site.
  5. ↑ "History of Vaughan Road". The Tollkeepers Cottage and Early Roads such as Vaughan Road. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  6. ↑ Bulletin #4: Settlement, Education, Social and Political History. City of Vaughan Archives, Cultural Services Division. 1992.
  7. ↑ "'Miracle no one killed' by Vaughan tornado, mayor says". Vaughan Citizen. 2009-08-20. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  8. ↑ "Relief and disbelief in Vaughan". Cnews.canoe.ca. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
  9. ↑ Roberts, Rob (2009-08-21). "Vaughan man suffers heart attack after tornado injuries; McGuinty visits damaged neighbourhood". National Post. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
  10. ↑ "Vaughan Highlights Environmental Partnerships at 2006 Smog Summit". 2006-06-07. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  11. ↑ "Youth in Politics Article" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-01-02.
  12. ↑ Vaughan mayor to face election-financing charges CBC News 25 June 2008
  13. ↑ Vaughan mayor faces charges over election Phinjo Gombu, Toronto Star 25 June 2008.
  14. ↑ Former Vaughan mayor Di Biase faces 27 election-related charges Caroline Grech, Yorkregion.com 17 Sept 2009
  15. ↑ "Woodbridge, Ontario". Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010. Environment Canada. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Ontario starts planning for new hospital in Vaughan". Canhealth.com. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
  17. ↑ Archived October 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ http://www.city.vaughan.on.ca/vaughan/council/ward_5/pdf/newsletter%20special%20edition%20-%20hosptial%20announcement%20April%2027%202007.pdf
  19. 1 2 "York Central Hospital Receives Approval to Build New Hospital in Vaughan". Vaughan: CNW Group Ltd. Canada NewsWire. 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
  20. ↑ http://mackenziehealth.ca/about_news_story.php?id=568
  21. ↑ http://mackenziehealth.ca/about_development.php
  22. ↑ http://www.elections.ca/res/cir/maps2/mapprov.asp?map=35111
  23. ↑ "NHS Profile, Vaughan, CY, Ontario, 2011". Statistics Canada. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  24. 1 2 "Census Profile: Vaughan". Canada 2011 Census. Statistics Canada. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  25. ↑ "Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada — Data table". 2.statcan.ca. 2010-06-10. Retrieved 2012-01-02.
  26. ↑ Burgar & Crinnion 2005.
  27. ↑ City of Vaughan International Partnerships Accessed 18 November 2010

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