Geography

Vaughan is bounded by Caledon, Ontario and Brampton, Ontario to the west, King, Ontario and Richmond Hill, Ontario to the north, Markham, Ontario and Richmond Hill, Ontario to the east, and Toronto, Ontario to the south. It is located at 43°50′N 79°30′W. Its located approximately 25 minutes from Downtown Toronto. The city is known for the slogan “The City Above Toronto”.

Health care

Vaughan is the largest city in Canada without a hospital within its city boundaries. The nearest full-service hospital facilities are Humber River Regional Hospital, to the south in Toronto, and Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital to the east in Richmond Hill.

Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital is the new hospital proposed along Major Mackenzie Drive (between Highway 400 and Jane Street) which would serve Vaughan and planning stage began in 2007. The provincial government of Ontario approved construction of the hospital in July 2011, and a tender for bids to construct it will be issued in 2014 or 2015. It will be part of a regional hospital system with a “single governance, administration and medical staff” managed by Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital.

Community boundaries

There are six communities that make up the city of Vaughan.

• Woodbridge: North/South – Teston/Steeles, East/West – Hwy 400/Hwy 50

• Vaughan Metropolitan Centre: North/South – Hwy 7/Steeles, East/West – Hwy 400/Jane

• Maple: North/South – King Vaughan Line/Rutherford, East/West – Bathurst/Hwy 400

• Thornhill: North/South – Hwys. 7 and 407 (approximate) /Steeles, East/West – Yonge/Hwy 400

• Concord: North/South – Rutherford/Steeles, East/West – Bathurst/Hwy 400

• Kleinburg: North/South – King Vaughan Line/Major Mac, East/West – Hwy 400/Hwy 50

Demographics

Vaughan is one of southern Ontario’s fastest growing cities. According to Statistics Canada, the population grew 37.3[21] percent in a mere four-year period (more than 9.3% annually), and also has a younger age profile than the Canadian average as 22.3 percent is under the age of 14, while those over 65 constitute 8.15%, one of the lowest in Ontario resulting in an average age of 34.1.

Vaughan is reputably known as having some of the highest concentrations of southern Europeans (notably Italians), Eastern Europeans (chiefly Russians and Poles) and Jewish people in Ontario, as well as a growing Hindu and Muslim communities, while those who are of British and/or Irish origin form a smaller proportion than in many other southern Ontario cities.

Visible minorities make up 26.6% of the population.[22] Vaughan has small but growing Indian, Pakistani, Hispanic, Jamaican, Vietnamese and Chinese populations.

Residents of Vaughan are fairly religious; the city has the lowest number of non-affiliates in Ontario. Some 67.42% of the population adheres to Christianity, mostly Catholicism (55.80%). Those who practice non-Christian religions adhere to, in order of size, Judaism (18.20%), Hinduism (2.47%), Islam (2.43%), and Buddhism (0.56%).

According to the 2011 Census, English is the mother tongue of 45.9% of the residents of Vaughan. Italian is the mother tongue for 14.1% of the population, followed by Russian (6.5%) and Spanish (2.6%). Each of Panjabi (Punjabi), Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino), Hebrew, Persian (Farsi), Chinese, not othewise specified, Urdu, Cantonese, and Vietnamese has a percentage ranging from 1.7% down to 1.4%, signifying Vaughan’s high linguistic diversity.

Attractions

• Boyd Conservation Area, park located between Woodbridge and Kleinburg

• Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum

• Canada’s Wonderland, Canada’s largest amusement park, located in Maple

• Kortright Centre for Conservation, located in Woodbridge

• McMichael Canadian Art Collection, located in Kleinburg.

• Vaughan Mills, a large shopping mall opened in 2004

• Reptilia Zoo, a 25,000 sq ft Reptile Zoo and Education Centre located near Vaughan Mills and Canada’s Wonderland

• J.E.H. MacDonald House

• Baitul Islam Mosque, Maple headquarters of the Canadian Ahmadiyya Muslim community

Education

York University in North York, Ontario lies on the Toronto side of the Toronto-Vaughan border. It is a major comprehensive university, with more than 43,000 students enrolled through ten different faculties. There are also a number of Elementary and High Schools in Vaughan which operate under the York Region District School Board and the York Catholic District School Board. There are also some private schools, the largest of which is the Anne & Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto (TanenbaumCHAT), a Jewish day school serving over 600 high school students. There is also a Waldorf school, the Toronto Waldorf School, which offers early childhood, elementary and accredited high school programs.

Sports

• Vaughan is home to the Ontario Soccer Association. The OSA is the largest sports organization in Canada, with over 500,000 registered players. It is also home to the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum.

• Woodbridge Softball Association

• Italia Shooters – Canadian Soccer League 2006 Champions

• Toronto Canada Moose – a Tier II Junior “A” ice hockey team based out of the community of Thornhill (Vaughan/Markham), Ontario. They are a part of the Greater Metro Junior ‘A’ Hockey League.

• Vaughan Vipers – a Tier II Junior “A” ice hockey team. They are a part of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League.

• Vaughan Flames – a top level women’s ice hockey team. They are members of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League.

• Vaughan Panthers – GTHL hockey team

• Vaughan Rangers – member organization of the GTHL, operates junior hockey programs.

• Vaughan Kings – GTHL hockey team

• Vaughan Azzuri – OSA soccer (football) team

• Vaughan Vikings – YSBA baseball team

• Vaughan Rebels – AAA football team

• CVHA – City of Vaughan Hockey Association

• VWSSL- World Series Slo-Pitch League vwssl.com

In film

Kleinburg is home to the Cinespace Film Studios, a centre for television and motion picture production. Several famous movie stars are often spotted around Kleinburg, making it a popular tourist/gawker attraction. The popular children’s TV show The Forest Rangers, starring Gordon Pinsent, was filmed here between 1963-1965. In 2006, the movie The Sentinel was filmed at the McMichael Art Gallery.

All information about Vaughan courtesy of Wikipedia.