York U campus competition heats up as confidential report on a site goes to Vaughan council

Yorkregion.com
April 8, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

The competition among York Region municipalities seeking to host a new university campus is really heating up.

Vaughan council is receiving a confidential report from city staff this afternoon about a recommended site to house a satellite campus of York University.

That report comes just more than a month after Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua made a pitch to York University president Mamdouh Shoukri to consider Vaughan as a potential host city should the school get approval from the province to expand into York Region.

But Vaughan is facing some stiff competition.

Markham has also made it known that it is quite keen to see York University set up shop within its borders.

Councillors in that city discussed the matter at yesterday’s general committee meeting before going behind closed doors to talk about potential locations in Markham that would be a good fit for a university campus.

East Gwillimbury, meanwhile, has been working on a university attraction business plan for more than two years and the town has had a university in its sights for more than two decades.

Newmarket and Aurora are also developing plans to attract a university.

Local municipalities interested in partnering with York University are slated to make their pitches to the school’s expansion steering committee this month.

York University plans to announce its preferred partner municipality in May.

The province expects to receive expansion proposals from interested universities — for final review, selection and approval — in September.