East Gwillimbury is the fastest growing municipality in Canada

Between 2016 and 2021, the town grew from a population of 23,991 to 34,637

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 15, 2022
Simon Martin

In the shadow of the Sharon Temple on Leslie Street, it’s tough to imagine that East Gwillimbury is the fastest-growing municipality in Canada, but that is precisely what the numbers say.

According to census numbers released Feb. 9 between 2016 and 2021, the town grew from 23,991 to 34,637, a 44.4 per cent increase.

Mayor Virginia Hackson said the increase is all part of the town plan. The town has been pegged as a key growth hub in York Region for more than a decade, but the growth in Sharon, Queensville and Holland Landing didn’t begin until 2016, when the completion of sewer works on 2nd Concession were completed. 

The road is the spine where new development occurs in the town, with houses sprouting up all around it.  Hackson said while there is a significant growth in the town, it is confined to a relatively small area with approximately 80 per cent of the land in the town protected from development.

“Our focus is on building communities with diverse and attainable housing, parks, trails, community centres, libraries and amenities while promoting environmental sustainability and protecting the town’s agricultural land,” she said.

The town is projected to grow to a population of 127,000 people by 2051.

The population surge in East Gwillimbury is not a surprise, said Roger Keil, a professor and political scientist who specializes in urban geography at York University. He said it mirrors the growth rates Vaughan and Markham experienced 20 years ago.

However, the level of expansion can be shocking to see up close, he said.

“I’ve been driving up there a couple of times lately, and it’s an exploding community; it’s mind-boggling even for someone like me who has been studying suburbanization,” said Keil.

He said lands were made available by the province in the 1990s and early 2000s, which led to the development of single-family home construction in East Gwillimbury. But that there are concerns about the climate and the impact of sprawl if proper planning is not done now to create more diverse housing.

He also said that needing cars to get around a suburb that is becoming denser will become an issue.

“Even if all the cars were electric, we would still have traffic jams and a completely unsustainable form of living. They need to urbanize and densify immediately.”

Valerie Preston, a geography professor at York University, said people are attracted to places like East Gwillimbury due to its housing being constructed in large numbers.

“By Toronto standards, it’s relatively cheap for a single-family house. People are moving out because they want a detached house,” she said.

When asked why people are choosing to move to East Gwillimbury, Mayor Virginia Hackosn echoed that sentiment.

“It’s because they want a front and back door,” she said.

While the town has massive growth forecasted for the next 30 years, chances are East Gwillimbury won’t be at the top of the list again in four years. Just as the servicing of the 2nd Concession brought growth to the town, the lengthy delay of the Upper York Sewage Solution (UYSS) raises important questions about future growth as there is no sewage capacity to facilitate large-scale development without the UYSS.

Last year, the province introduced an expert advisory panel to provide recommendations on moving forward with the project after opposition from the Chippewas of Georgina Island caused the project to stall.

The UYSS isn’t the only massive infrastructure project set to accompany enormous growth in the town. The Bradford Bypass, 16.2-kilometre Highway, which would connect Hwy. 400 to Hwy. 404 is being moved forward by the province.