Vaughan is a city in Ontario, Canada with a population of approximately 306,000 people. Vaughan is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of the city of Toronto. From 1996 through 2006, Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada, according to Statistics Canada. During that time period, the city experienced a population growth rate of 80.2%.
At one time inhabited by Huron-Wendat people, the first European to travel through Vaughan was Etienne Brule, the French explorer who traversed the Humer Trail. The township of Vaughan was created in 1792, named after Benjamin Vaughan, a British commissioner. The area was considered remote and difficult to reach on account of the lack of roads through the region. Settlers came from Pennsylvania, USA as well as England and France. By 1814 most of the newcomers were from Britain. Once primarily agriculturists, many of the newcomers were highly skilled tradespeople. The first hamlet was Thornhill, which had a saw-mill and grist mill. Others such as Maple, Teston, Pine Grove, Concord, Vellore and Woodbridge came along in subsequent years. By 1846 there were 25 saw mills and half a dozen grist mills.
Vaughan Road was constructed in 1850 to connect the former city of York (present day Toronto) with Vaughan Township. In 1971, York Region was established as a regional government and Vaughan Township merged with the Village of Woodbridge to become one town. In 1991, Vaughan was incorporated as a city.
The climate of Vaughan is much like that of the rest of the Greater Toronto Area and has four distinct seasons.
Kortright Centre for Conservation and Boyd Conservation Area are both located in the city.
The municipal government is located at Vaughan City Hall, in the community of Maple. The building is one of the first in Canada to meet LEED Gold Standard for environmentally conscious construction and operation.
York University is located just south of the border of Vaughan, in North York. Many of the 43,000 students enrolled there are originate locally in the area and commute to the campus from home. The school boards are the York Region District School Board and the York Catholic District School Board.
The city is served by Vaughan Fire and Rescue Services and policed by York Regional Police.
Vaughan is home to several amateur sports teams. The Kings, Panthers and Rangers represent the city in youth hockey. The Vikings represent the city in baseball and the Rebels in football. There is also a Panthers team that represents the city in basketball. The Vaughan Flames participate in youth women’s hockey.
Professionally, the Vaughan Azzurri, Woodbridge Strikers and York Region Shooters represent in soccer.
Notable people from Vaughan include Elizabeth Arden of cosmetic company of the same name. Local television personality Dina Pugliese and professional basketball player Andrew Wiggins also come from Vaughan.
Vaughan Citizen is a weekly newspaper with a circulation of approximately 59,000.
The Order of Vaughan was introduced in 2016 to celebrate the city’s 25th anniversary. To mark the milestone, 25 recipients were bestowed the honour that year. From 2017 onwards, up to ten new individuals would receive the award each year.
