Population growth in Stouffville due to affordable housing, proximity to Toronto

The town's population grew 21.8 per cent from 2011 to 2016

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 15, 2017
By Ali Raza

Whitchurch-Stouffville is home to 45,837 residents.

Those are the results of the 2016 census, released earlier this month. The town’s population grew from 37,628 in 2011 to 45,837 in 2016 - an increase of 21.8 per cent.

It’s one of the highest increases in population of municipalities in York Region. Most of that growth is confined within the community of Stouffville that has seen explosive expansion since 2006.

One of the town’s planners, John Duncan, shed some light on Stouffville’s massive population growth. He said the town’s proximity to Toronto - a major employment area - and the affordability of newer, denser housing are major attractive factors.

“One big change we’ve seen in the last five years is going from a community where it was mainly detached housing to townhouses being a huge proportion of the housing we’re building here,” Duncan said.

The town is receiving applications for stacked townhouses, mid-rise apartments and other denser types of developments.

“In the 1990s and early 2000s, Stouffville basically didn’t have any water or sewer servicing available to the town,” Duncan explained. This meant new developments could not connect to existing municipal water and sewage systems, hindering growth.

From 2006 on, after the York-Durham sanitary sewer system was upgraded and the town was given servicing allocations, the “floodgates opened”, Duncan added.

“If you look at the 2006 to 2011 numbers, there’s even more growth, around 55 per cent,” he said.

That growth continues today with accordance to provincial targets. Duncan says the town’s population will level off to the mid-60,000 range around 2031-2035.

With rapid population growth come the challenges of providing services to more and more residents. Duncan suggested having a look at leisure services, the library and other “soft” services to better accommodate the town’s growth.

Town spokesperson Glenn Jackson added the majority of new residents are new families with young children. The town’s operating budget accounts for this demographic growth, he added.

Whitchurch-Stouffville’s total land area is 206.22 square kilometres, with the majority of residents in the community of Stouffville.