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Durham Region covers an area of over 2,500 square kilometres and is conveniently located to the East of Downtown Toronto. Another Region with a diverse landscape, Durham has everything from the large lakeshore communities of Pickering and Oshawa to the farmlands and recreational areas in the north. Durham Region has a well educated population of over 570,000 that are employed by a wide variety of Businesses. These employers range from the High Tech like Siemens and Corning controls through agriculture and automotive manufacturing – GM Motors, Volkswagen Canada and BMW Canada all have facilities in the Region.

Durham Region administers its Healthcare and Education following the Provincial guidelines. The responsibility for the day to day operations of the education belongs to the Durham District School Board and the Durham Catholic District School Board – all the schools in the area are governed by these boards.

One essential piece of research you need to do BEFORE you purchase/rent a house is to find the school(s) you want your child(ren) to attend. This is vital as the schools are dedicated to particular residential area’s so where you live decides where they go to school.

The Region has excellent transportation links including Pearson International airport, Oshawa airport and the Harbour at Oshawa which give tremendous access to North America. This is coupled with easy access to recreational opportunities in the outdoors and everything that a Major metropolitan area like the GTA has to offer!

Each section below is only an overview so please use the links to the main website below for more detail. For job research definitely use the Chamber of Commerce websites for each location for great information on the local businesses.

Durham’s Municipalities

The Town Of Ajax – In 2005 Ajax will celebrate its 50th anniversary as a town and has many events planned to recognise this. A small town in the South of Durham Region on the shore of Lake Ontario, it was named after the World War two British Warship The Ajax.

With a population in excess of 80,000 the Town covers an area of over 65 square km. The unemployment rate was 5.4% (2001) with an average family income of around $80,000 a year. The average price of a house was in the region of $215,000 making Ajax one of the cheaper areas in the GTA. Transport is provided by the Ajax/Pickering Transit that also links in with GO Transit and the Greyhound Bus.

There are two recreation centres in the Town that offer a full range of activities and sports. There are skateboard parks for the kids as well as summer camps for various activities during the school holidays. The Lake provides great recreation for the residents during both the summer and winter months. All education and healthcare are administered by the Durham Region and can be accessed via the Region website.

The Municipality of Clarington – A collection of several smaller communities, the municipality now has around 75,000 residents and occupies just over 600 square Kilometres of the Lake Ontario shoreline in the south of Durham Region. The main settlements are Darlington, Newcastle and Bowmanville/Courtice. The area is growing quickly with a 10 year population growth average of 4% per year.

The main businesses are agriculture (and the services), aggregate excavation and cement works, tourism, manufacturing, retail and construction. There is an average unemployment rate of only 4.9% as the area is very business friendly, with the average household income around $74,000. There are great transportation links with 3 major highways, docks, rail links, a regional airport with 2 runways and of course – Pearson International. The Clarington Transit connects with Whitby and Oshawa Transit and you can even use the same tickets on each system.

There are good facilities with a modern hospital that continues to expand, plenty of schools and the newly built University of Ontario Institute of Technology. There are 5 golf courses, 2 marina’s, 2 indoor and 2 outdoor swimming pools, 5 arena’s with 7 ice surfaces, extensive parks and 7 conservation areas that have downhill and cross country skiing. Last but not least – Bowmanville even has its own Zoo!

The City Of Pickering – Ideally situated between Downtown Toronto to the West and Port Whitby Marina to the East, the 94,200 population of the City of Pickering enjoy life on the shores of Lake Ontario. With the Waterfront Trail extending along the shores and the “environmentally significant” wetlands of Frenchmen’s Bay residents are provided with some great scenery and recreation opportunities. On top of that the impressive leisure centre has fantastic modern facilities that any community would be proud of. For those with interest in the History of the region, a visit to the Pickering Museum Village should not be missed.

Business in Pickering is also well catered for and the City unemployment rate of 4.9% is well below the Canadian average. The main employers are the Ontario Power Generation plant that can be found on the waterfront and includes a massive wind turbine, Manufacturing and Construction, Business services and Retail. As with all the municipalities in Durham Region, for employment research go through the City’s Business Directory for some idea of who is in the area and how to contact them.
Public Transport is administered by the joint Ajax/Pickering Transit Authority who also link into the Toronto Transit Commission, GO Transit, Whitby Transit and Oshawa Transit to maintain a comprehensive network. Schools and Healthcare are administered by the Durham Region school boards and Health service.

The City is young with 79% of the population under age 45 giving a median age of only 35. The average household income is over $80,000 with an average price of a home around $235,000.

The City Of Oshawa – After starting off as a French fur Trading Post in 1750, The City of Oshawa has come a long way. Now, it is renowned as the eastern Gateway to the Greater Toronto Area and has become the economic centre of Durham Region. Its rapidly expanding population of over 146,000 also marks it as the largest residential community as well.

General Motors Canada are based here in North Americas largest automobile production facility that produces over 1 million vehicles per year and are the City’s leading employer. Minacs Call Centre has arrived and along with many different manufacturers, research and development companies, advanced manufacturing of transportation equipment, Healthcare, Printing and Publishing the city has a truly diverse Business base. The City has an unemployment rate of around 6%.

Being well located on the shores of Lake Ontario in the South of Durham region, the City has excellent transportation links that include a deep water port. Two major highways pass through the city and it has its own regional airport with close proximity to Pearson International. The Transit system links in with GO Transit, Toronto transit Commission and several other local community networks. Via rail provide the rail network to give the City every possible transportation option.

There is also plenty to do in the area – with the big city close by and easily accessible. For outdoor pursuits, the Kawartha and Haliburton tourism areas are close along with numerous parks and conservation areas that provide hiking, skiing and cycling. Over $60 million is being invested in the City’s recreational infrastructure in the next 2 years. This includes many renovations and improvements of existing facilities and a large new recreation centre for the city.

Many new residential and business developments are being constructed in the north of the city as it continues to grow. The cost of housing is cheaper than Toronto with an average home costing around $160,000 in 2001. The median income for each household was in the region of $60,000.

The Township Of Scugog – In the Northeast of the Durham Region, the Township of Scugog is located on and around the shores of Lake Scugog and occupies around 470 square km. Once the separate Towns of Port Perry (now Municipal Government HQ), The Island of Scugog, Cartwright and Reach, all have now amalgamated into the single municipality to reduce the administration costs.

The area is well set up for Tourism and the major employer is a Casino. After that, retail and manufacturing provide employment to the approximately 20,000 residents of the Township. There are 5 Marinas, 2 ice rinks, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a Theatre and 4 golf courses. The average household income is around $70,000 with an unemployment rate of 5%. It will cost an average of $220,000 to buy a single family home in the area. Police, Healthcare and Schools are administered by the Durham Region Government.

The Township Of Uxbridge – The Township of Uxbridge has a relatively small population of around 18,000 spread throughout various village sized communities in the Northwest of Durham Region. Located about 40 miles North of Toronto in the picturesque OakRidge Moraines, the Town of Uxbridge is the centre piece of the Township. A pleasant community that is close enough to the big City for all its amenities, Uxbridge has its own leisure centre, swimming pool and two ice arena’s. The Town also has the Northern terminus for the York – Durham Heritage Railway in the form of a fully restored station.

The Township’s main industries are the Construction and Manufacturing, Business Services and Retail. These provide plenty of employment with a low unemployment rate of 4.1% (2001). The average household income is around $75,000 with the cost of a home coming in around $270,000.

The Town Of Whitby – Conveniently located just 15 miles to the East of Toronto, the Town of Whitby is an industrial town. The rapidly expanding population is now over 100,000 and the towns businesses are also expanding at a fast rate as it aims to be the business centre of Durham Region. With 4 major highways, close proximity to the Oshawa harbour (and its own smaller harbour)and Pearson International airport, extensive rail network and an enviable Transit system the Town is thoroughly “connected”.

The automobile industry has a large presence, though the town has a truly diverse base of companies. The services range from plastics and steel work through to telecommunications and pharmaceuticals. The two main downtown area’s (Whitby and Brooklin) are both historical “heritage” areas with an old world charm. The Town has an unemployment rate of just 4.9% and an average household income of $80,000 taken from the 2001 figures.

For recreation, there is a multi million dollar leisure centre (Iroquois Park Sports Centre) with fantastic facilities. Golf courses, parks, a marina, yacht club, Whitby Shores waterfront trail, indoor soccer and all the other facilities you would expect to find in a modern Canadian urban centre. There are plenty of schools that are administered by the Durham Region school boards and close proximity to several Universities and Colleges. Healthcare is administered by the Durham Region and is provided through several clinics and the main Lakeridge Health Centre, Whitby.

The author moved to canada in 2003 with his family and after settling successfully has developed an outstanding information resource for Canada and Canadian Immigration – http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com All you need for Immigration, relocation, research or travel, onestopimmigration-canada.com has over 150 pages packed with great information with more content added regularly.

York Region has a population of over 870,000 people and covers an area of over 1,750 square kilometres. Sitting between Peel Region in the West and Durham region in the east, York Region consists of the Cities of Markham and Vaughan, with the townships of Aurora, East Gwillimbury, King, Newmarket, Richmond Hill and Whitchurch-Stouffville.

The two main population centers are the Cities of Markham and Vaughan. Both Cities have average populations with Markham being the largest in the Region with over 220,000. Markham is renowned for being the Hi Tech capital of Canada with several high profile corporate head offices making the city their home. The city is modern with excellent healthcare and schooling. Vaughan has one particular claim to fame in being directly north of Toronto, making them “above” the main city. This too is a rapidly expanding city with great facilities and plenty of new communities springing up.

The York Region is host to over 25,000 businesses which provide 400,000 jobs – a number that is growing by approximately 20,000 per year at current rates. With close proximity to the Pearson International airport and a young, well educated workforce, York Region is one of the fastest growing regions of the GTA and is very popular with Immigrants. The York Region Transit system connects most communities within the Region to each other and the Toronto GO Transit system to give a very effective public transport network.

The Region administers the Healthcare and Education following the Provincial guidelines. The York Region District School Board and the York Region Catholic District School Board are responsible for the day to day operations of the Region’s schools – all of which can be contacted via these sites.

The Town Of Aurora – With a population of over 43,000, the Town of Aurora is another rapidly expanding town. The population is young and has a high average income (compared to most Canadian towns) of around $110,000 per household. The housing is fairly expensive though with an average price of a single family detached home being over $370,000 two years ago!

There is a large variety of employers in the town and it is also commutable to the Toronto downtown core. This gives a low unemployment level of 4% in 2001 with the majority of employment in management/business, finance and sciences/technology. Manufacturing and retail are the other big areas of employment.

The schools and healthcare are administered by the York Region so for more details check out the links above. The town itself is a historical place with plenty of old buildings with lots of character. With close proximity to both the big city of Toronto and the rural areas, Aurora provides excellent recreational opportunities to its residents. This ranges from parks, playgrounds and pedestrian trails to championship golf courses, fine dining and theatre. A full recreational program is offered in the Town which will soon be augmented by a new state of the art Recreation Centre.

The Town Of East Gwillimbury is a semi rural area located only half an hours drive from Toronto. Another historic area with settlement dating back to the 1700’s, the population is now over 20,000 and growing.

Again, East Gwillimbury has an excellent array of recreational facilities including arena’s, trails, play parks and over 135 acres of parkland. There are ice rinks, outdoor sports pitches, the usual golf courses and for the less active a 16 screen movie theatre.

There are a wide variety of employers in the town providing ample employment and the new GO Transit station gives good access to the city. The population also enjoys an above average household income. For the latest business directory to see which companies are in the area, see the town website.

The Town Of Georgina is the most northerly area of the York Region and is made up of several smaller communities. Situated on the South eastern shores of Lake Simcoe, the communities of Georgina have plenty of beaches and open space – especially with the area being known as “Getaway Country”.

The lake offers up year round recreation including swimming, boating, canoeing, fishing and ice fishing to name a few. On top of this the great outdoors is all around and the communities have good facilities. Some of the more prominent communities are Keswick, Sutton, Udora, Jacksons Point and Port Bolster.

Most employment seems to be in the local services and tourism sector though full research can be carried out through the chamber of commerce website.

The Township Of King is home to around 20,000 people and is a fairly rural area. Famous for the Holland Marsh – a fertile area that produces most of the Provinces fresh vegetables – most industry is based upon the support of agriculture. There are a lot of Horse breeders in the area along with livestock and dairy farms. There is some light industry and the Seneca College campus is located on the former Easton estate.

As with most Canadian towns, King has good sporting and leisure facilities including golf courses, trails, parks and 3 arena’s. Most facilities are pay as you use – more details can be found on the township website. The Township has a rich history dating back to the aboriginal peoples and then the western settlers in the late 1600’s. A museum is now dedicated to the area’s history and will be well worth a visit.

There are excellent transport links to Toronto and it’s only around 40 minutes to drive to Pearson International airport (south). A prosperous town, the average income back in 1996 was over 97,000 with an unemployment rate of 5%. In the 8 years since I can only see that the average income would rise to over $100,000 per household.

The Town Of Newmarket is another large town with a population of over 73,000 that is growing fairly quickly. Over 70% of the population are under 45 years old. With all the amenities you would expect for a big town, Newmarket is home to the York Region Administrative Headquarters, the Provincial Court and the District 1 Police HQ.

The Southlake regional health centre is a fully equipped modern hospital with plans for expansion. These combine to make local government the highest employer in the area. On top of this, the local business community is growing at over 3.5% each year with retail stores and manufacturing companies having a large presence. Use the links on the town site to go to the Chamber of Commerce site for the full listing of businesses.

For recreation purposes there is a full program of sports and activities with the new Ray Twinney Rec. centre having two arena’s and an indoor pool. There are several other arena’s, pools and rinks in the town as well as a youth centre with a fully equipped skatepark. All the usual outdoor activities are available in the area including hiking, cross country skiing and golf. For the less energetic, the Upper Canada Mall is an impressive 1 million square feet of shops which should pacify even the most hardy shopper!

House prices are reasonable for Ontario with the average in 2001 being $242,000 for a single family detached home. Being located close to Toronto brings obvious benefits with great transport links including the GTA GO Transit system. The York Region Transit system also operates in the town. Highway 404 will direct you to the downtown area of Toronto in around 30 minutes and Pearson International airport is only an hour away. Buttonville airport in nearby Markham is useful for lighter regional aircraft.

The Town Of Richmond Hill is one of the fastest growing large municipalities in Canada and has a population of over 158,000. Situated directly North of Toronto, (between Markham and Vaughan), Richmond Hill is ideally located for commuting and access to the city for recreation or onward travel. As with the other municipalities, Richmond Hill has the York Transit, Toronto Transit Commission and the GTA GO Transit networks providing great options for transport.

Richmond Hill is renowned for its world class high tech manufacturing and research companies with the lowest R&D taxes in the G7 group of countries. Major international IT companies like Lexmark and Compaq are headquartered here along with MGI software and Shaw Communications. The young population provide a well educated workforce and with the average cost of housing lower than most other areas of the GTA is a popular place to settle.

Recreational opportunities are plentiful with Lake Wilcox providing aqautic fun along with the Lois Hancy Wave Pool and over a hundred parks for jogging, cycling and hiking. Golfers are well catered for and there are movie theatres, the enormous central Library and the David Dunlop Observatory for the less active.

The Town Of Whitchurch-Stouffville is a collection of smaller communities and rural areas and was established in 1792. Located some 24 Km North of Toronto it is on the Eastern/Central side of York Region. There is a population of around 24,000 who enjoy pleasant countryside with farms and equestrian facilities along with the small urban centres.
The area has good transportation links with the York Region Transit and the GTA GO Transit networks. Only 30 minutes from Pearson and 15 to Buttonville airports means you can soon be on your travels.

The major employers are in the Business and personal services sector with the area experiencing a healthy 8.5% growth rate. Only 3% of the population remains unemployed.

A modern Hospital opened in 1990 and with good schools, a library and Museum there are plenty of facilities. The York-Durham heritage railway runs through the area with several stops and there are plenty of golf courses and recreational programs.

For more detailed information and great links please go to http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com/york_region.html

Dave Lympany emigrated to Canada in 2003 and has developed a free information resource for Canadian Immigration and life in Canada – http://www.onestopimmigration-canada.com

It was a beautiful evening for a stroll tonight, so I went down to one of my favourite places: Toronto’s waterfront. Listening to the melee of languages, observing the broad mixture of people, I was thinking about upcoming travel plans, business issues, articles to write for the website, and many other things. I liken this feeling to a hamster on a wheel who’s constantly spinning and moving. My brain was working overtime, which happens a lot when I think about the website and all the ideas and topics I’d like to write about.

So I am strolling by the sailboat harbour at Ashbridges Bay, a particularly serene place with a quiet little inlet surrounded by willow trees on the east side, on the north side there is a private marina where hundreds of sailboats are docked, on the south side there is a little peninsula with just a few places where a variety of boats can anchor at the municipal docks.

So I am walking, enjoying the reflections of the evening sunshine playing on the water, listening to the joyful songs of the birds, observing bikers, walkers, rollerbladers, watching the boats……… and then I had an idea – I might as well interview on of these boaters and find out a bit more about their lifestyle and travel adventures.

I approached a houseboat and I saw that the captain was sitting on the bridge. I knocked on the glass door and asked if I could do an interview with him. The man, a white-haired bearded man in his 60s, was very welcoming and invited me in. He actually asked me to sit in the captain’s chair and I shyly accepted.

He introduced himself as Ron, “Captain Ron”, a name by which he is well known in the Lake Ontario boating community. Ron is a former corporate sales manager, now comfortably retired, with an active lifestyle. Ron still has a house in Whitby, just outside of Toronto, but he spends a lot of his time on the houseboat, and many of his friends live full-time on a houseboat.

His particular boat is an Intracoastal houseboat, meaning it has a hull and is more seaworthy than pontoon houseboats. It was made in 1970, and cost $17,000 when it was new. Ron has had it for 18 years and he regularly gets offers from people who want to buy it. Recently someone offered him $50,000 in cash for the houseboat. But since Ron loves the lifestyle, and a new boat would probably cost $150,000 to $200,000, it makes no sense for him to sell his beloved house on the water. He politely declined the offer.

The boat has an elevated bridge which not only houses the “steering wheel” (is that proper marine terminology?), but also accommodates a fold-out double bed. A few steps down is the galley on the left, and a bathroom with a combined toilet, sink and shower on the right. Beside the bathroom is a small door leading down to the cabin that has 4 bunk beds. Behind the kitchen is the living room area with an eating nook and another double fold out bed.

In theory the houseboat can sleep 8 people, but Ron said that you would not want to cram that many people on board with just one small bathroom. Makes a lot of sense… Ron seems to be travelling mostly by himself, judging by the lone deck chair that was located on the boat’s top deck from where I had a perfect view of the serene harbour setting. Ron says Ashbridges Bay is one of his favourite spots and he was sitting there quietly, enjoying the evening, when I approached him for the interview.

Ron uses the boat about 6 months of the year, he puts it in the water in mid April and takes it out in mid October and he mostly cruises Lake Ontario with it. From the 1000 Islands in the east near Kingston, a city that he loves (me too…), to Toronto with its islands, and St. Catharines with its Port Dalhousie harbour, he actively cruises the north shore of Lake Ontario.

He commented that the harbours on the US side of Lake Ontario are not as clean and unfortunately since 911, the American Coastguard has become overly protective, he said even paranoid, and the minute they see him, they figure he must be a drug smuggler and they put him through the third degree. So he prefers to cruise the Canadian side of the lake.

Many of Ron’s friends actually live on a houseboat full-time. They sail northern waters in the summer and then connect through the Ohio River – Mississippi waterway system down into Gulf of Mexico from where they sail down to southern Florida. On the way back in the spring they take the Intracoastal Waterway (the “Ditch”) to come back up north for the summer.

Ron also has a lot of friends who have ocean-going sailboats who spend much of their time in the Caribbean. As a matter of fact, one of his friends has a unique type of sailboat that was recently commandeered by the producers of the sequel for “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

Naturally I asked Ron about the cost of houseboating. Apart from the purchase costs, which he estimated at $150,000 to $200,000 for a new boat, there are dockage costs, fuel, insurance, repairs. He said he spends about $1000 on fuel, and about $5,000 a year for dockage and other operating costs. According to Ron, the people that do the Canada-Florida run usually spend anywhere from about $10,000 to $30,000 for the round-trip which could take a whole year. The cost at the lower end means that you are using the on-board kitchen (or rather, galley) facilities, you are staying at town docks rather than private marinas, using the boat’s shower, rather than the marina’s expensive facilities. Since Ron is a good cook, he practically always uses his boat’s kitchen to make his meals, a huge savings.

Captain Ron has really figured out a perfect retirement lifestyle for himself. He houseboats in the summer, goes deer hunting in the fall, heads out of Ontario to Florida or British Columbia in the winter, where he either stays with friends and family, or rents a reasonably priced apartment inland from the coast. Or, if he sees a good offer in the newspaper, he might just hop on a plane to Mexico for a quick getaway. And he loves to spend the summers in Ontario, where he cruises Lake Ontario and spends some time on beautiful Georgian Bay where his brothers live.

According to Ron, the key thing in retirement is health, and he works hard to stay healthy. He plays tennis, rides his bike, he loves to swim and he works out. He said, particularly if you want to travel to the US as a retiree, being healthy is critical. His brother had a heart attack in Florida, and his health insurance wouldn’t cover his treatment costs, and he ended up a with a $150,000 bill at the end. No wonder Captain Ron considers good health a key factor for travelling….

Captain Ron gave me a glimpse into his unique lifestyle, and I couldn’t help but envy him a little. He seemed so peaceful, so relaxed, enjoying the evening sun looking out over the water. I realized that he’s figured it all out, and he’s created his perfect little niche for himself…

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions(http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest(http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

“Life is a Journey