Clarington (2021 population 101,427) is a lower-tier municipality in the Regional Municipality of Durham in Ontario, Canada. It was incorporated in 1973 as the town of Newcastle with the merging of the town of Bowmanville, the Village of Newcastle and the townships of Clarke and Darlington, and was established on January 1 1974. In 1993, the town was renamed Clarington, a portmanteau of the names of the two former townships. Darlington today is largely suburban, while Clarke remains largely rural. Bowmanville is the largest community in the municipality and is the home of the municipal offices.
Clarington is part of the Oshawa census metropolitan area in the eastern end of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Major employers in Clarington include the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, General Motors Canada, and several medium to large-sized manufacturing businesses. Most residents commute for work in Durham Region or Toronto.
Local government
Clarington is governed by an elected municipal council consisting of a mayor, and local councillors representing each of the municipality's four wards. In addition, two regional councillors each represent a pair of wards. The mayor and the regional councillors sit on both Clarington Council and Durham Region Council.
The current council was elected on October 24, 2022.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Clarington 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.
Ethnicity
Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.
Language
2011 Census data show that Clarington has one of the highest proportions of residents that have English as their mother tongue within the GTA (91.2%). French is the native language for 1.8% of the population of Clarington. No other language has more than 1% of native speakers (Dutch with 0.8% - 695 native speakers - tops the pack of immigrant languages).
Communities
The municipality of Clarington consists of several urban communities, including Bowmanville, Courtice, Newcastle and Orono; as well as several rural communities such as Bond Head, Brownsville, Burketon, Clarke, Cowanville, Crooked Creek, Enfield, Enniskillen, Gaud Corners, Hampton, Haydon, Kendal, Kirby, Leskard, Lovekin, Maple Grove, Mitchell Corners, New Park, Newtonville, Port Darlington, Port Granby, Salem, Solina, Starkville, Taunton (east portion; west portion split with Oshawa along Townline Road), Tyrone, West Side Beach and Wilmot Creek.
Infrastructure
Transportation
Clarington is home to several highways; three of which are 400 series highways. Highway 401 stretches through the entirety of Clarington, connecting Newtonville, Newcastle, Bowmanville, and Courtice along the route. Highway 407 is located in north Clarington. It was extended to and terminates at Highway 35/115. The 35/115, also in Clarington, begins at Highway 401 in Newcastle, and heads north to Peterborough. Highway 418, begins at Highway 401 and heads north to connect to Highway 407. The 418 opened on December 9, 2019, as a toll highway. The tolls were removed on April 5, 2022, by the Ontario government. Highway 2, once the primary east–west route across the southern portion of Ontario, runs through Clarington. Downtown Newcastle and Bowmanville are situated along Highway 2.
Bus services are offered by Durham Region Transit and GO Transit.
Freight rail is carried along the Canadian National Kingston subdivision and Canadian Pacific Belleville subdivision which pass through Clarington. The wooden bridge on Lakeshore Road in Lovekin, Ontario, which traverses the CN train line is a popular destination for rail photographers.
On June 20, 2016, it was announced that the Lakeshore East line of GO Transit would be extended to Bowmanville. Clarington gained two new stations. Darlington GO Station, in Courtice and the terminus; Bowmanville GO Station. As of the announcement, the stations are scheduled to open in 2024.
Power
Clarington is home to the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station.
The Durham-York Energy Centre is located in Clarington. It is home to a 20 MW energy-from-waste (EFW) generation unit that opened in early 2016 that takes waste (140,000 tonnes per year) from Durham and York Regions to burn to generate electricity.
Co-developed by Durham and York Region cost $295 million Canadian to build was built and operated by American-based Covanta. The unit sells and transmits electricity onto Hydro One's distribution network.