If York Region is doing so well, why are people leaving?

12 things you should know about York's economic update

Yorkregion.com
April 20, 2023
Kim Zarzour

York Region is doing better, financially, than much of Ontario, but the high cost of living and lack of affordable housing is still driving people away.

That’s according to the latest data from the region’s Growth and Economic Update presented to regional councillors Apr. 13.
York Region residents have the second highest median household income in the GTHA -- $112,000 -- just behind the Region of Halton. (At $141,000, King Township ranks highest of all municipalities across Ontario.)

Compared to other municipalities across the province, York Region residents are more highly educated and more likely to own their own home, said Paul Bottomley, manager of policy, research and forecasting.

Bottomley said York was less impacted by the pandemic compared to Canada and Ontario and recovered more quickly, mainly because employment is spread across a broad range of sectors.

Despite that good news, the region's growth rate is not so stellar. York experienced the lowest population increase across the GTHA.

Between 2016 and 2022, 18,355 people moved out of York to elsewhere in Ontario.

York’s annual Growth and Development Review provides a snapshot of York Region’s economy, reporting on key indicators such as population, economic trends, building activity and construction value.

Here are a few more key take-aways:

• Like the rest of the world, Ontario’s economy is expected to slow through 2024 due to rising cost of living, inflation, threat of recession and global uncertainty, but York Region’s diverse and resilient economy is helping it weather these forces.
• Employment in York grew by nearly 28,000 jobs between 2019 and 2022 -- with health care, real estate and manufacturing leading the way.
• As of 2022, there are more than 2,300 hectares of vacant employment land, 40 per cent of that supply in Vaughan followed by Markham and East Gwillimbury.
• Vacancy rates across Canada's downtowns are at record highs with people choosing to work from home but York has fared better than the GTA average.
• York has Canada’s largest auto parts and electronics manufacturing cluster and second-largest information technology sector.
• 73 per cent of York Region residents have post-secondary education, one of the key reasons businesses want to locate here.
• For the first time since 2001, more people are leaving the workforce than entering it, pointing to the need for immigration to replenish the labour force.
• In 2022, the GTA grew by 126,898 people, with York Region experiencing the lowest increase in the GTHA, primarily due to housing affordability issues.
• York ranked third (behind Toronto and Peel) among Ontario municipalities experiencing residents moving to other parts of the province, while Simcoe Region had the most people moving in.
• Immigration is a key driver of York’s population growth. Nearly half of residents, 48 per cent, were born outside of Canada, the second-highest in Ontario behind Peel. Residents here speak more than 120 languages.
• York Region’s total population increased by 63,455 residents between 2016 and 2021. Among this number, 53,495 or 84.3 per cent were newcomers to Canada.
• There were 13,000 house resales in the region in 2022, a 42-per-cent decline from the previous year, but prices continued to increase with the average at $1.4 million
• York Region has the highest rate of home ownership in the GTA and the lowest number of renters; 82 per cent of households were owner-occupied (compared to 68 per cent in Ontario).