Oak Ridges—Markham

Oak Ridges—Markham is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004. Its population in 2006 was 169,645.,^[1] with 136,755 electors, the highest of any riding in Canada. It is the fastest growing riding in the country, having experienced a 52.5% increase in population from 2001 to 2006.

The district covers part of the suburbs north of Toronto. It includes the town of Whitchurch–Stouffville, most of the township of King (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 town of Markham.

The electoral district was created in 2004 52.5% from Oak Ridges, 30% from Markham, 13% from Vaughan—King—Aurora, and 4.5% from York North riding.

Demographics

Communities in Oak Ridges—Markham are the destination for many immigrants to Canada, composing about 41.6% of the population, or about 70,000 of its residents.^[1] For 72,440 residents, neither English nor French, the official languages of Canada, is their mother tongue,^[1] though most have knowledge of English (148,975), French (160), or both (12,885).^[1] Most immigrants become citizens, as 11,155 immigrants were not Canadian citizens as of the Canada 2006 Census.^[1]

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.^[1] It is also home to 70,070 residents who identify themselves as visible minorities, more than half of which are Chinese Canadians^[1] and about 20% are Black Canadians.^[1]

At the 2006 census, the participation rate of residents in the work force was 71.3%, and the electoral district unemployment rate was 5%,^[1] below the national average of 6.3%.^[2]

The district is the second-largest electoral district in Canada by population, next to Brampton West which had 170,422 residents at the 2006 census.^[3] It was the 64th largest in 2001, with a population of 111,276,^[4] but had the greatest population growth from 2001 to 2006, about 52.5%.^[5]

Boundaries

According to Elections Canada, Oak Ridges—Markham consists of that part of the Regional Municipality of York composed of:

(a) the Town of Whitchurch–Stouffville;

(b) the part of the Township of King 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 Town of Markham 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 member of the Canadian House of Commons:

Election results

2004 change is based on redistributed results. Conservative change is compared to a combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative votes.

References

Sources

• Oak Ridges—Markham constituency profile at the Parliament of Canada
• 2011 results from Elections Canada
• Electoral district profile Oak Ridges--Markham (Ontario)
• Campaign expense data from Elections Canada