This is the second in a series of articles on the historical demographics of Newmarket and area, in which we will shall examine the current figures with an eye to the way we were and the direction in which we are moving. In part one, I asserted that our major growth and diversification began after Second World War, and so I shall only go back to the year 1941 in this article.
As a member of the Greater Toronto Area, Newmarket and area are part of Canada's largest and most multicultural urban area. I would argue that this diversification has contributed to our population being uniquely skilled, educated and experienced. Figures show that more than a quarter of the population have a university degree, and over half have a post-secondary degree from a college or a university.
If you have been following the news recently, you will have noticed that our population growth rate has surpassed both the rest of Ontario and Canada and is projected to continue to grow at an accelerated rate through 2026. The census results also point out that eight in 10 Newmarket homes are owned, nearly six in 10 Newmarket residents are married, and more than half of Newmarket homes have children. This continues the trend of our area being family oriented.
We also learn from Statistics Canada that in 2021 the Region of York had a population of 1,173,334, a change of 5.7 per cent from its 2016 population of 1,109,909. York Region is the third-largest census division in Ontario, following only Toronto and Peel Region and the seventh largest in Canada.
These numbers are only important to us if we have something to compare them with. I have provided some historic data from recent censuses to put the current numbers into perspective.
Let us take a quick look at the populations of Aurora, Newmarket, and East Gwillimbury. In 1945, the population of Aurora was 3,004, but by 1996 it had grown to 34,857. The census of 2011 has Aurora’s population at 53,203, and in 2021 it was 62,057.
The population of East Gwillimbury in 1945 sat at 3,164, but by 1996 it had grown to 14,644. By 2011 East Gwillimbury’s population had grown to 22,473, and our latest census, conducted in 2021, shows a population of 34,637. East Gwillimbury is now the fastest growing municipality in Canada.
If we look at Newmarket’s population numbers, we see that in 1941 Newmarket registered a population of 3,990, but by 1996, we were 57,125. Since then, we see a growth in 2011 to 79,978, and the 2021 census has us sitting at 87,942. As I mentioned in article one, this growth has resulted from immigration, as well as the changing age demographic.
One of the elements of the area’s demographic diversity that has changed since I was a child in the early 1950s is the ethnic makeup of our area. In the early 1950s most of the people around town were Caucasian and spoke English as their mother tongue. Since it was soon after the end of the war, we were beginning to see a massive influx of people from Europe. In school, we had a few children from Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and other areas of Europe.
As I indicated in my article on the War Years and the establishment of our local military camp, the presence of approximately 3,500 men every six weeks fundamentally changed the face of Newmarket and area. The world was beginning to find Newmarket, and they liked it.
While the 2021 Canadian census still indicates English as the mother tongue of 45.5 per cent of the residents of York Region, Cantonese is the mother tongue for 9.7 per cent of us, followed by Mandarin at 8.7 per cent, Italian at four per cent, Persian at 4.4 per cent and Russian at 3.1 per cent.
The most common ethnic groups constitute the Chinese (22.6 per cent), Italian (12.5 per cent), English (7.4 per cent), Canadian identifying (6.5 per cent), Irish (5.7 per cent), Scotland (5.6 per cent), East Indian (5 per cent), Iranian (3.7 per cent), Jewish (3.3 per cent), Russian (3.2 per cent), German (2.8 per cent), Filipino (2.5 per cent), French (2.4 per cent), Polish (2.1 per cent), and Ukrainian (1.8 per cent).
The 2021 census provides a breakdown of the visual and non-visibility minority population groups. Fifty-five per cent of those who responded to the 2021 census covering York Region indicated that they belonged to a visual minority. Of those, 11 per cent indicated a South Asian background, 24 per cent a Chinese background, 2.8 per cent Black, Filipino 2.4 per cent, Arab 1.2 per cent, Latin American 1.5 per cent, Southeast Asian (except Filipino) 1.3 per cent, West Asian 5.3 per cent, Korean (East Asian) 1.7 per cent, Japanese (East Asian) 0.2 per cent, multiple visible minorities 2 per cent, and finally the Indigenous 0.5 per cent.
The most identified religion among the population was Christianity (45.3 per cent), with Catholicism (25.2 per cent) making up the largest denomination. This was followed by Islam (7.8 per cent), Judaism (5.2 per cent), Hinduism (5 per cent), Buddhism (2.6 per cent) and Sikhism (1 per cent). It is interesting that 32.5 per cent of the population did not identify with any religion.
There was a time when this figure indicated an almost entirely Protestant population, with a small number of Catholics. Newmarket’s history was Orange Lodge leaning back then.
Out of a population of 84,224 (2021 census), 26,224 were below the age of 25 years, 20,170 were between the ages of 25 and 44 years, 25,750 were between 45 ad 64 years, and 11,545 were over 65 years of age. The medium age of Newmarket’s population is 40.9 years.
Twenty-eight per cent of Newmarket’s population was born outside of Canada, which has prompted my appeals for people to send me their stories about how they ended up in our community.
We can draw a few conclusions from these figures. In the 2011 census, 94 per cent of residents in York describe themselves as 'white British'; that was substantially larger than the national average. The findings suggest that York's population is much more ethnically diverse than is often supposed, with more than 78 different first languages identified.
When we talk about communities, it seems all we see are White, Asian, Black, and possibly Chinese. There are, however, more than 200 distinct ethnic groups identified in the 2006 census. Canadian descent was identified as the most common ethnic group in Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, Newmarket, and Whitchurch-Stouffville. The 2021 census breaks this down further.
The fastest-growing visible minority groups are:
- West Asian – Iranian, Afghan (grew by 144 per cent)
- Southeast Asian – Burmese, Cambodian and Indonesian (grew by 95 per cent)
- Korean (grew by 84 per cent)
- Latin American (grew by 81 per cent)
- South Asian (grew by 70 per cent)
Those who identify as Black are the largest visible minority group in Georgina and East Gwillimbury.
With this much diversity in our backyard, can you imagine the collective history that is among us? So many stories to hear, and that is why I wanted to encourage people to send some of those stories to me.
In part three of my series, I will begin to present some of the stories that you have sent to me.
Sources: York, Regional Municipality Ontario (Census division). Census Profile, Canada 2021 Census. Statistics Canada; 2016 Census Profile: York Region Census Stories; Highlights The Newmarket Era. May 13, 1970. p. 1; Population and dwelling counts: Canada and census divisions. Statistics Canada; Census Profile search". Statistics Canada; Census Profile, 2016 Census - York, Regional municipality [Census division], Ontario and Ontario [Province]". Statistics Canada; Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population Profile table". Statistics Canada; Census Profile, 2016 Census York, Regional municipality [Census division}; Newmarket Economic Development – Demographics (online); Newmarket, The Hub of York County 1961; Population by Municipality 1945 – 1965 – Department of Municipal Affairs.
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town's history in partnership with Newmarket Today, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews. [email protected]
