The town of Newmarket, located in the York Region of Southern Ontario and home to almost 100,000 residents, has a reputation for being one of the country’s most desirable towns in which to live and work. With a skilled and educated workforce, advanced manufacturing and technology sectors, an active arts and culture scene and a strategic location within the Greater Toronto Area, Newmarket is a thriving community.
Looking at Newmarket from a Holistic Lens
Governments have economists. Markets have economists. Communities – the third pillar of a healthy society – typically do not.
With minimal community-level data and insufficient economic interpretation, how is a community expected to build an economy that serves their place?
In recent years, Newmarket has invested in growing its local economic base – and these efforts have paid off. Local businesses have significant economic impact within town limits, and despite challenges related to limited land opportunities, the town is poised for scaling economic activity. Through an evolving partnership with the Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economies over the last year, the Town of Newmarket has focused its energy on mapping its local economy, building connections with other communities to inspire growth, and identifying ways to unlock existing assets and drive future economic opportunities.
Turning Challenges into Opportunities
Limited land is one of Newmarket’s biggest challenges.
As Elizabeth Hawkins, Director of Community and Economic Innovation at the Town of Newmarket explains, limited greenfield means that traditional economic growth in the municipality relies on business expansion or purposeful reimagining of existing buildings. Being able to grow jobs and the local economy when there is no space to build new is a constant consideration. She adds that, as a regional hub, Newmarket also attracts people for work, shopping and its hospital, so there’s also a responsibility to neighbouring communities to find new solutions.
“We’re a creative and bold community,” says Hawkins. That disposition is what first aligned the Town of Newmarket with Shorefast.
“I think of the partnership as a shared journey and an exploration of ideas about place, community, and economic development,” says Newmarket’s Mayor John Taylor. “It’s a process that puts people at the centre and is inclusive, so that everybody can participate and benefit.”
A Partnership Rooted in Economic Stewardship
These conversations were centred around the questions of: What do we know? What do we have? What do we love? What do we miss? And what can we do about it?
From “Shop local” to “Sticky Money”
Shorenet: Learning and Sharing Across Places
In 2025, The Town of Newmarket participated in the inaugural cohort of Shorenet, a national network committed to strengthening place-based economic development across Canada. By connecting with other communities, a realization emerged: Many were working through similar questions – and found in those conversations both affirmation and new perspective. “It’s thinking about economic development from a community lens, and community development from an economic lens, and how those pieces come together,” says Hawkins.
The Timing is Right
Taylor sees this as exactly the right work for this moment in our nation’s story. “If people start thinking about how they can support their neighbor’s business, that’s going to bring a certain strength to the community that might be needed in the next year, or two or three.” They need to focus on how to grow a place-based economy and bring people together. “It’s about creating resilience, creating relationships, and giving people a sense of strength and optimism through some difficult times.”
Taylor is excited about what’s next in the growing partnership. “The work with Shorefast has the potential to strengthen, solidify and build our local economy by understanding how much of it we can keep circulating here in place.”
This work was made possible by the generous support of Choice Properties.
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