Concord, Ontario

For other uses, see Concord (disambiguation).

Concord
Neighbourhood
The Vaughan Mills food court during Boxing Day. The Vaughan Mills food court during Boxing Day.
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Regional Municipality	York
City	Vaughan
Government
• City mayor	Maurizio Bevilacqua
Population (2001)
• Total	8,255
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Forward sortation area	L4K
Area code(s)	905 and 289

Concord is a suburban industrial neighbourhood in the City of Vaughan in York Region, located north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. According to the 2001 Census, the neighbourhood has 8,255 residents (including the community of Carrville).

It is accessed by two provincial highways: Highway 407 and Highway 400. Concord is bordered by Steeles Avenue to the south, Black Creek to the west (roughly Highway 400), the Upper West Don River to the east (roughly Dufferin Street) and Rutherford Road to the north.

Geography

• Location
  • Latitude: about 43.81 N
  • Longitude: about 79.5 W
• Area codes: 1-905, 289

Surrounding communities

• Woodbridge
• Maple
• Thornhill
• Downsview (City of Toronto)

History

Prior to the 1950s, when Highway 400 was first opened, Concord was an agricultural community, covered mostly by farmlands. Housing developments also began in the 1950s, east of Keele Street, as well as construction of a CN railway by-pass of Toronto with a 4 km freight yard. This decade also saw an industrial park added near Jane Street.

In the 1970s, the industrialization of the northern part of the Greater Toronto Area began. The area east of Keele consists of industrialized buildings and a plaza on Highway 7, with industrial buildup continuing into the 1980s. A residential area, Glen Shields, was built in the 1970s and 1980s in the southeast, west of Dufferin. 1992 also saw the commencement of the construction of Highway 407, which opened in 1997, with three Concord interchanges. Another residential section, Dufferin Hill, was built in the 2000s in the northeast, near Dufferin and Rutherford. In the early 2000s, construction of the Vaughan Mills shopping mall began, being completed in 2004.

Until the opening of Canada's Wonderland in nearby Maple, Concord had only one interchange, at Highway 7, and it had two until the early 1990s, when a partial interchange at Langstaff Road was opened. Three more interchanges were opened on the 407 Express Toll Route (ETR) in 1997. A partial interchange, connecting the 400 with Vaughan Mills, opened several years later. Today, Concord has eight interchanges, of which three connect with the toll highway, two are partial, one is a four-level stack and the other two connect to the 400. A plan for an interchange at Centre Street was proposed, but it was later discarded.

Much of Concord is industrial while empty spaces remain in the southern part, in the Black Creek and 407 area, and along the CN railway line. Mixed forests are located in the north and within Black Creek and along the Don River. One tract of forest is located to the northwest. All main roads except for Langstaff east of Creditstone Road are four-lane roadways,

Concord is an industrial hub, second only to Mississauga in size and capacity in the Province of Ontario. Many large multi-national and domestic corporations have headquarters in Concord. Its access to several major highways and the strength and skill of its workforce is a key factor in the locations of these businesses.

Future

The draft Concord GO Centre secondary plan was presented in an open house for the public on 4 November 2013. The plan is for a local centre with mixed uses and multimodal transportation access, including residential, commercial, and recreational areas, cycling trails, and connections to several transportation systems. The site is bounded by Rivermede Road on the north, the electrical power corridor to the south and east, Bowes Road on the west north of Highway 7, and the Barrie line railway tracks on the west south of Highway 7. The area to be developed consists of the land immediately adjacent to the intersection of Highway 7 and the Barrie line railway tracks.

The plan enables the location of a railway station for the Barrie line, but does not incorporate it into the design. Creation of the station and its location are the responsibility of GO Transit, which would have to complete an environmental assessment for a potential station. The plan also provides for a Vivanext station, but does not incorporate it into the design.

Education

• Glen Shields Public School
• Forest Run Public School
• Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic School