About Markham
Markham – a growing suburban town with population of approximately 261,000 in 2006 – is located just North of Toronto’s Scarborough area, and in the South of York Region. Despite of its size, Markham has not been gven a city status in the Province of Ontario and is still considered a town. Markham is the largest town in York Region, and is sometimes referred to as the High-Tech Capital of Canada, due to the high number of high-tech multinationals that have they Canadian headquarters here, including IBM, Motorola, AMD, Toshiba, Sun Microsystems, Apple, and others. Markham is also the economic locomotive of York Region, having a significant portion not only of the region’s population but also of the region’s (and Greater Toronto Area’s) companies. Markham also has a diverse population, with over 50% of its residents being born outside of Canada. The Highway 7 corridor – known as Toronto’s Chinatown North --- is known for its strong East-Asian cultural influences.
According to the Vicinity Jobs Hiring Demand analysis reports, the job market in Markham accounts for about 35% of all employment opportunities advertised online in York Region, with 1000+ new jobs being posted online each month. Markham’s largest employer is IBM Canada, but many employers from other industries are also location here, including American Express Canada, Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, and others. The quality of the jobs in Markham is also relatively good, with about 90% of all new jobs located in Markham advertised online being full-time jobs (compared to about 20% in Newmarket).
Markham borders the following Richmond Hill and Vaughan to the West, Whitchurch-Stouffville to the North, the City of Toronto to the South, and Pickering in Durham Region to the East. Markham’s communities include Unionville, part of Thornhill, Buttonville, and others. Markham was designated by the Provincial Government of Ontario as one of the centres in which the province would like to focus population growth in the near future. It is located 30 km (20 miles) North of downtown Toronto, and can be reached from Toronto by car through DVP and HWY404. There is also a local commuter train and bus service between Union Station in Toronto and Newmarket, operated by Toronto’s GO Transit.