Centres Corridors and Subways

Planning for York's Centres and Corridors

York Region aims to balance the growth of communities with the needs of residents and the environment. To achieve this goal, York Region is focusing development into a system of Regional Centres and Corridors that reach from East Gwillimbury to Richmond Hill, and from Vaughan to Markham. These Centres and Corridors focus where the Region's homes, workplaces, shops, and transit services will grow, moving development away from valuable farmland and environmentally important lands.

The Centres, Corridors + Subways Program is York Region's comprehensive and forward-looking way to build the Regional Centres and Corridors. Centres, Corridors + Subways is an integrated approach that combines the planning of communities and land with the construction of new rapid transit lines and stations, with the goal of creating places that locate homes, workplaces, shops, and transit within walking distances of each other and fit in with the surrounding neighbourhoods and natural areas.

The York Region Official Plan and the Growth Plan

York's system of Regional Centres and Corridors is defined by the York Region Official Plan. The Plan is a set of goals and policies that were adopted by the Regional Council to guide economic, environmental, and community-building decisions affecting how land is used. The Plan is supported by other Regional strategies and guidelines, like the Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines, which help to shape decision-making.

The Centres and Corridors contribute to the Government of Ontario's vision for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. This vision, as laid out in Ontario's Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe, proposes a number of places (called urban growth centres and intensification corridors) where cities will grow and mature into compact, vibrant, and complete communities. The Regional Centres and Corridors are York Region's urban growth centres and intensification corridors, respectively.

York Region is working with its local municipalities to build and evolve the Centres and Corridors. The Centres and Corridors are defined and supported in each of the local official plans, documents created by the local municipalities to guide their planning and decision-making processes. The official plans are used by the local municipalities to review proposals to build new communities and places.

Regional Centres

The Regional Centres are places that are planned to become York's "downtowns". The Centres will be close-knit, traditional-style places with a mix of homes, offices, shops, and meeting places. Easy walking, cycling, and rapid transit connections will link each Centre to nearby neighbourhoods and across the Region.

There are four Regional Centres in York. They are:

Markham Centre, located near Highway 7 East and Warden Avenue;

Newmarket Centre, located around Yonge Street and Davis Drive;

Richmond Hill/Langstaff Gateway, located near Yonge Street and Highway 7 East; and,

Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, located around Highway 7 West and Jane Street.

Regional Corridors

Like traditional main streets, the Regional Corridors are not just streets that link neighbourhoods and the Regional Centres together, but will also become places to meet neighbours and friends at the doorsteps of close-knit homes, offices, and shops. The Corridors are served by rapid transit, including Viva's new Rapidways, the Spadina Subway Extension, and the proposed Yonge Subway Extension, with well-designed neighbourhoods, referred to in the York Region Official Plan as Key Development Areas, located at key intersections and transit station areas.

There are four Regional Corridors:

Yonge Street, through East Gwillimbury, Newmarket and Aurora, Richmond Hill, and Thornhill;
Highway 7, through Woodbridge, Concord, the Beaver Creek employment area, and Markham;
Davis Drive, from Yonge Street to Southlake Regional Health Centre; and,
Green Lane East, connecting Yonge Street to the East Gwillimbury GO station.

Reports and Guidelines

Reports:

Criteria for Enhanced Centres and Corridors Policies - Regional Official Plan Update (April 2009)
Taking York Region Centres and Corridors Planning to the Next Level of Innovation and Implementation (December 2008)
Making It Happen: The York Region Centres + Corridors Study (November 2002)

Guidelines:

Transit-Oriented Development Guidelines (September 2006)

Contacts

Sean Hertel, MCIP RPP

Senior Planner - Centres, Corridors + Subways

(905) 830-4444 ex. 1556

sean.hertel@york.ca