Aurora (2021 population: 62,057) is a town in central York Region, in the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It is located 48 km (29 mi) from Downtown Toronto, north of Richmond Hill partially situated on the Oak Ridges Moraine, and surrounded by the Greenbelt. In the 2021 Census, the municipal population of Aurora was the 92nd largest in Canada, compared to 95th for the 2016 Census and 97th for the 2006 Census.
History
Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe gave the order for Yonge Street to be extended to Holland Landing in 1793, the first step toward the establishment of a community where Aurora now stands. Yonge Street opened between 1794 and 1796. In 1795, the first house in Aurora was built at Yonge Street and Catherine Avenue. The government began granting deeds to land in 1797. There were two lots each on the east (in Whitchurch) and west (in King) side of Yonge Street at first. By 1801 there were fourteen homes.
Establishing a village In 1804, Richard Machell became the first merchant at the crossroads of Yonge and Wellington and the hamlet soon became known as Machell's Corners. Charles Doan was another early businessman at Machell's Corners and became the first postmaster and later the first reeve. The post office was originally known as "Whitchurch". As postmaster, he was influential in renaming the village Aurora, after the goddess Aurora from Roman mythology. Machell proposed to rename the town "Match-Ville", ostensibly for the match factory in the town, but the name Aurora was more popular and ultimately chosen as the town's name. Flour and grist mills were built around 1827. With the coming of the railway in 1853, Aurora emerged as an important centre north of Toronto. The new name of Aurora was adopted on 1 January 1854. The Fleury plough works foundry opened in 1859, making agricultural implements. The community incorporated as a village on 4 July 1862, and as a town in 1880. By the late 1860s, the weekly newspaper The Banner was in publication.
The community was first known as Machell's Corners and had only 100 residents in 1851. The population of Aurora in 1863 was 700, and by 1869 it had grown to 1,200.
Becoming a town The settlement was incorporated as a village in 1862 with Charles Doan as the first reeve. Records from 1885 describe Aurora as the "largest village in the county" an "enterprising and stirring business community" with several factories and mills, five churches, a school house with 210 students, and two weekly newspapers. The population in 1881 was 1540. The population reached 2,107 by 1888.
By the turn of the century, many industries moved out of Aurora and as a result, the town suffered a downturn and reverted to its agricultural roots. From then on the town experienced slow growth until the rise of suburbia after the end of the Second World War, when Aurora was rejuvenated and experienced a boom in development due to its proximity to Toronto.
Aurora was the childhood home of Lester B. Pearson, Prime Minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968, when his father, Rev. Edwin Pearson, was the Methodist minister.
Recent developments For most of the 20th century, development in Aurora centred primarily around its historic downtown core at Yonge and Wellington Streets, bounded on the east by Industrial Parkway. In the 1960s, the dearth of housing in a rapidly growing Toronto led to population booms in neighbouring communites, and Aurora's population more than double in that time from about 5,000 residents to 11,000.
Starting in the early 21st century, the town has expanded eastward beyond Industrial Parkway to Highway 404. Since then, Aurora has grown considerably, with new developments stretching the built boundary of the town to be contiguous with Newmarket in the north and Highway 404 in the east. New developments have pulled the economic focal point within the town increasingly eastward towards Highway 404. Aurora's downtown has suffered economically over the years as a result of recent developments.
Aurora is noted for preserving its historical built form in the older parts of town and in 2008 was awarded The Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership.Town of Aurora In 2009, the town received the Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Community Leadership in heritage conservation and promotion.Ontario Heritage Trust media release Northeast Old Aurora was designated in 2006 as a provincial Heritage Conservation District.
On April 8, 2010, the town reopened the historic and fully renovated Church Street School as the Aurora Cultural Centre.
Geography
It is situated roughly halfway in between Toronto and Barrie, making it a convenient suburb for professionals working in either of the two cities. Located north of the Oak Ridges Moraine, it borders Newmarket in the north, Richmond Hill in the south, King City in the west and Stouffville in the east.
Communities and neighbourhoods
Cherry Cherry is a residential area found at the western end of Ridge Road located northwest of Bloomington Road and Yonge Street.
Aurora Village The town main strip is located on Yonge Street at Wellington Street began as Machell's Corners and Whitchurch as post office name.
Hills of St. Andrew A residential area around Bathurst Street and St. John Sideroad developed in the 1980s and alongside St. Andrew's College.
Petchville A former community centred along Wellington Street and Leslie Street. Settled by Jonathan Petch in 1818 on clergy reserve and was not acquired by Petch as their farm until 1840. The growth was shifted to neighbouring Wesley Corner at the eastside of Petch's farm at Woodbine Avenue. The current community's southside remains less developed when compared to the north which is now a residential subdivision of Aurora North. The community hosts a retail complex (Smart Centre Aurora North), Stronach Aurora Recreational Complex and Magna Golf Course.
White Rose White Rose is found near Lebovic Golf Club on Leslie Street north of Bloomington Road and was formerly located within what is now Whitchurch-Stouffville. The former community appeared around 1837 and centred on Samuel Wilton Jr. farm. The Wilton farm had a grist mill producing 999White Rose flour and for which the area was named after. The farm disappeared by the late 19th century due to poor conditions and remained agricultural.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Aurora had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. The 2021 Census reported that average household income in Aurora was $161,800 in 2020, making it one of Canada's most affluent towns.
Language As of the 2021 census, English was the mother tongue of 58.8% of Aurora residents. The next most common first languages were Chinese languages (13.4% including 8.1% Mandarin and 5.0% Cantonese), Persian (6.0%), Russian (2.8%), Italian (1.9%) and French (1.0%). 3.3% listed both English and a non-official language as mother tongues, while 0.4% listed both English and French.
Ethnicity In 2021, 60.4% of Aurora's population was white/European, 38.9% were visible minorities, and 0.7% were Indigenous. The largest visible minority groups were Chinese (17.7%), West Asian (7.1%), South Asian (4.0%), Black (1.9%), and Filipino (1.6%).
The most common ethnic origins in Aurora were Chinese (16.7%), English (16.0%), Irish (12.9%), Scottish (12.3%), Italian (10.3%), Canadian (8.9%), German (5.3%), Iranian (5.2%), French n.o.s (4.3%), British Isles, n.o.s. (3.8%), Russian (3.1%), and Polish (3.0%). + Panethnic groups in the Town of Aurora (2001−2021)Panethnic group20212016201120062001 European 37,055 39,605 42,715 40,585 36,815 East Asian 11,815 6,350 3,430 1,925 925 Middle Eastern 5,020 2,440 1,580 880 195 South Asian 2,485 1,850 1,280 975 470 Southeast Asian 1,295 1,220 970 850 355 African 1,195 1,205 1,165 880 420 Latin American 860 660 555 325 230 Indigenous 445 405 295 285 220 Other/multiracial 1,235 985 400 240 190 Total responses 61,395 54,705 52,385 47,035 39,815 Total population 62,057 55,445 53,203 47,629 40,167
Religion 50.7% of residents were Christian, down from 67.6% in 2011. 24.5% were Catholic, 12.0% were Protestant, 7.3% were Christian n.o.s, 5.2% were Christian Orthodox and 1.8% belonged to other Christian denominations or Christian-related traditions. 37.3% were non-religious or secular, up from 25.2% in 2011. 11.9% believed in other religions, up from 7.2% in 2011. The largest non-Christian religions in Aurora were Islam (5.8%), Judaism (2.4%), Buddhism (1.3%), and Hinduism (1.3%).
Government The Town of Aurora municipal government is composed of a mayor and six councillors. As of the 2022 election, the deputy mayor role rotates between councillors and may proxy for the mayor. The mayor is a member of York Regional Council. In the municipal elections of 2022, Tom Mrakas was re-elected mayor. Starting with the 2022 municipal election, the switched to a ward-based system with six wards, electing one mayor and six councillors (one per ward).
+Aurora federal election results Year Liberal Conservative New Democratic Green 2021 43% 11,995 42% 11,526 9% 2,598 1% 243 2019 43% 12,865 40% 12,033 9% 2,613 6% 1,845
+Aurora provincial election results Year PC Liberal New Democratic Green 2022 48% 9,751 32% 6,542 10%2,055 5% 1,086 2018 50% 12,562 23% 5,876 21%5,374 4% 930
The town is part of the federal ridings of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill and Newmarket—Aurora. Most of the town is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by Costas Menegakis, a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, who won Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill in the 2025 federal election. In that election saw another Conservative MP, Sandra Cobena was also elected from Newmarket—Aurora.
Aurora is also part of the provincial ridings of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill and Newmarket—Aurora. The members of Provincial Parliament are Michael Parsa and Dawn Gallagher Murphy. both belong to the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, they were first elected in 2018 and 2022, respectively.
Emergency services Local police services are provided by the York Regional Police, who are currently headquartered within the town and serve all of the municipalities of the region. Fire protection services are provided by Central York Fire Services, a shared arrangement with the town of Newmarket.
Public health services are managed by York Region. There is currently no hospital within Aurora's boundaries; the nearest is Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket.
Education
Aurora is served by schools from three publicly funded school boards: the York Region District School Board (the English Public Board), the York Catholic District School Board (the English Catholic Board), and Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir (the French-language Catholic Board). The Conseil scolaire Viamonde (the secular French-language board) also has Aurora in its territory.
Both publicly funded English boards maintain head offices in Aurora. The York Region District School Board is located at 60 Wellington Street West, just west of the historical downtown area, and the York Catholic District School Board is located at 320 Bloomington Road West. Both boards operate a number of elementary schools in Aurora. Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir operates one elementary school and one secondary school in Aurora.
The York Region District School Board operates ten public elementary schools within the Town of Aurora: Aurora Heights Public School. Aurora Grove Public School. Wellington Public School. Regency Acres Public School. Northern Lights Public School. Highview Public School. Hartman Public School. Devins Drive Public School. Rick Hansen Public School. Lester B. Pearson Public School.
The York Region District School Board operates two high schools in Aurora: