About Durham Region

The Region of Durham is situated in the highly developed and populated economic centre of Ontario, known as the Golden Horseshoe, that stretches from Oshawa to Niagara Falls. Durham Region lies immediately to the east of the City of Toronto within the Greater Toronto Area and encompasses an area of approximately 2,590 square kilometres (1,000 square miles). The area is characterized by a variety of landscapes and communities. A series of major lakeshore urban communities contrast with a variety of small towns, villages, hamlets and farms which lie immediately inland. The relatively flat lakeshore area marked by the bluffs, wooded creeks and ancient shoreline, features contrasts with the hummocky topography of the Oak Ridges Moraine running parallel to the shoreline only 15 miles to the north. This diverse landscape of woods, headwaters, ridges and hollows gives way to rolling farmlands and lakes to the north. Here the Municipality spreads into the prime recreational lakelands of Simcoe, Scugog and the Kawarthas.

The Region lies along a continuous urbanized lakeshore and shares prime access to the Great Lakes and northeastern markets of the continent, encompassing some 120 million persons. The area is well known for the strength of its manufacturing sector which is continually undergoing rapid diversification. Durham is endowed with a young, skilled labour force. It has all the utilities, transportation and social infrastructure associated with modern metropolitan communities. The single most significant economic factor for the Region has been the dramatic increase in residential development.

Population

A recent report by the Planning Department estimates that the population of the Region of Durham was 531,000 in May 2001. A target of 760,000 people has been estimated for the number of people living in the Region by the year 2011, and a target of 970,000 people by the year 2021 - more than double the 1991 population.

(Source: Regional Municipality of Durham, www.region.durham.on.ca)

Municipalities

• The City of Pickering
• The Town of Ajax
• The Town of Whitby
• The City of Oshawa
• The Municipality of Clarington
• The Township of Uxbridge
• The Township of Scugog
• The Township of Brock

Education

The Durham District School Board and Durham Catholic District School Board combined serve approximately 64,000 elementary and 34,000 secondary school students.

Post-secondary institutions in Durham Region include the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Durham College, and Trent University.