Ajax (; 2021 population: 126,666) is a waterfront town in Durham Region in Southern Ontario, Canada, located in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area.
After the plant shut down in 1945, the site was used as a war surplus warehouse and sales outlet, a University of Toronto campus (1946–1949), and a holding camp for war refugees from Europe (1949–1953). The government mandated the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to develop the site and its surrounding area into a modern industrial town. George Finley, the CMHC manager of the area, planned new housing subdivisions, commercial centres, and industrial areas.
thumb|Spink's mill in [[Pickering Village (1906), now part of Ajax]]
thumb|Farmland expropriated for the [[Defence Industries Limited Pickering Works|DIL plant (1939)]]
thumb|Workers assemble shells at the DIL plant (1940s)
thumb|[[University of Toronto Ajax Division (1946-1949)]]
In 1950, Ajax was incorporated as an Improvement District, a form of local administration managed by the Lieutenant Governor's appointees. The Improvement District Board created the community's first by-laws and hired employees for the local administration. In August 1954, as a result of a campaign by the Ajax Citizens Association, the Ontario Municipal Board declared Ajax a town, granting it full municipal status. The first town council members were elected on 11 December 1954, and assumed office on 1 January 1955. The first mayor of the town was Benjamin de Forest Bayly, better known as Pat Bayly.
In the early 1970s, the Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (MTRCA) acquired much of the land along the lakeshore. In the Pickering Beach area, several homes, a church, and a school were demolished to make way for a parkland.
On 1 January 1974, Ajax became a part of the newly formed Regional Municipality of Durham, which manages functions common to multiple municipalities in the region. The boundaries of the town of Ajax were expanded to include several areas of the former Pickering Township, including Pickering Village, Pickering Beach, and Audley.
In 1995, Ajax was the first community along the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail to erect a pedestrian-only asphalt waterfront trail.
- Applecroft
- Audley North
- Audley Road Business Area
- Audley South
- Carruthers Creek
- Carruthers Creek Business Area
- Central Employment Area
- Clover Ridge
- Deer Creek
- Discovery Bay
- Downtown
- Duffins Bay
- Duffins Crossing
- Hermitage
- Lake Vista
- Lakeside
- Meadow Ridge
- Memorial Village
- Midtown
- Nottingham
- Pickering Beach
- Riverside
- Salem Business Area
- Salem Heights
- South Greenwood
- Southwood
- Village, better known as Pickering Village
- Westney Heights
Downtown Ajax
Ajax Council and a private developer entered into an agreement in 2012 for the purchase and sale of of vacant town-owned land at the corner of Bayly Street and Harwood Avenue. Called "Pat Bayly Square", it will provide residential, retail and office space, as well as a civic square and civic facility. Pat Bayly Square opened in September 2018.
Local government
Ajax is governed by an elected town Council consisting of a Mayor, and local Councillors representing each of the town's three wards. In addition, three Regional Councillors each represent a ward each. The Mayor and the Regional Councillors sit on both Ajax Town Council and Durham Region Council.
The members of the council elected in the 2022 municipal election are:
Mayor: Shaun Collier
Regional Councillors:
- Ward 1: Marilyn Crawford
- Ward 2: Sterling Lee
- Ward 3: Joanne Dies
Councillors:
- Ward 1: Rob Tyler-Morin
- Ward 2: Nancy Henry
- Ward 3: Lisa Bower
In the past, Council has sat for a three-year term, but the Ontario Legislature increased the length of municipal council terms in Ontario to four years, in 2006. In 2018, Ajax Council shifted from two regional councillors and four local councillors to three regional councillors and three local councillors.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Ajax 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.
According to the 2021 Census, the median age is 38.4 years, around 3 years less than the national average of 41.6 years; 18.8% of the population is under 15 years of age while 13.1% are 65 and over.
According to the 2016 Census, among those 25 to 64 years old, the highest levels of education are as follows: 66.6% of people have a post-secondary certificate, diploma, or degree, 25.3% have a high school diploma or equivalency certificate, and 8.2% have no certificate, diploma, or degree.
As of 2021, the median value of dwellings in Ajax is $850,000 compared to the provincial median value of $700,496, and the national figure of $472,000.
! colspan="2" |2016
! colspan="2" |2011
! colspan="2" |2006
! colspan="2" |2001
|-
!Population (human biology)|
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
|-
| European
| 43,415
|
| 50,450
|
| 58,145
|
| 57,125
|
| 55,280
|
|-
| South Asian
| 33,055
|
| 24,895
|
| 15,025
|
| 9,735
|
| 4,035
|
|-
| African
| 21,210
|
| 19,860
|
| 17,510
|
| 11,680
|
| 7,090
|
|-
| Southeast Asian
| 7,495
|
| 6,350
|
| 5,465
|
| 3,115
|
| 1,525
|
|-
| Middle Eastern
| 6,250
|
| 4,880
|
| 2,935
|
| 1,855
|
| 1,200
|
|-
| East Asian
| 4,240
|
| 3,790
|
| 3,065
|
| 2,430
|
| 1,570
|
|-
| Latin American
| 1,695
|
| 1,670
|
| 1,065
|
| 705
|
| 415
|
|-
| Indigenous
| 1,270
|
| 1,190
|
| 1,080
|
| 705
|
| 370
|
|-
| Other
| 7,615
|
| 6,095
|
| 4,925
|
| 2,485
|
| 2,040
|
|-
! Total responses
! 126,245
!
! 119,180
!
! 109,220
!
! 89,835
!
! 73,520
!
|-
! Total population
! 126,666
!
! 119,677
!
! 109,600
!
! 90,167
!
! 73,753
!
|}
- Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.