Markham City Council is the governing body of the city of Markham, Ontario, Canada. It consists of the mayor, eight councillors who each represent one of the city's eight wards, and four regional councillors who, along with the mayor, are elected via double direct election to represent the city at York Regional Council.
Council meets in the chambers of the Markham Civic Centre at the corner of Warden Avenue and Highway 7.
The most recent municipal election was held in 2022.
History Markham Village was incorporated as a township in 1850, establishing a council with one reeve, one deputy reeve, and three councillors. This system was used until 1 January 1971, when municipalities in York County were reorganized into the Regional Municipality of York, and Markham was newly incorporated as a town when Markham Village merged with Unionville and Thornhill east of Yonge Street. An electoral system based on six wards was established, and this numeric ward system remains mostly unchanged since its creation. Two wards were added, one in 1976 (Ward 7), and another in 1984 (Ward 8).
Minor boundary changes have taken place (1978, 1982, 1997 and 2006) with no impact on the numbering.
Most ward changes require approval by the Ontario Municipal Board (in the case of 1976 and 1997) with only the 2006 changes not requiring prior approval.
Changes were made to the boundaries for all 8 wards for 2014 elections with Thornhill assigned to Ward 1 to replace the former Ward 1 and 2 split.
The changes also take into consideration existing neighbourhoods, natural boundaries, better representation by population, effective representation and accommodation for future growth of Markham.
Then still under town status, the mayor, town councillors and regional councillors were elected by the residents of Markham every 3 years until 2006. Provincial legislation extended the election period to 4 years.
Town Council (2006-2010) CouncillorWardCommunities representedNotes Frank Scarpitti Mayor ex officio Council Chair and CEO Valerie Burke 1 Thornhill Erin Shapero 2 Thornlea Don Hamilton 3 Unionville, Markville, Quanztown, Downtown Markham Carolina Moretti 4 Dickson Hill, Mount Joy, Wismer Commons John Webster 5 Cornell, Mount Joy, Unionville's Berczy Village, Vinegar Hill, Greensborough Dan Horchik 6 West Unionville, and the surrounding Unionville neighbourhoods including Cachet, Victoria Square, Cashel, Angus Glen, Cathedraltown Logan Kanapathi 7 Box Grove, Armadale, Legacy First elected politician in Canada from the Canadian-Tamil community Alex Chiu 8 Milliken Mills Former Ward 7 councillor
Regional Councillors
Regional councillors are elected at-large to represent the city at York Regional Council. By default the mayor is also a member of the Regional Council.
Councillor Ward Notes Jack Heath Markham Deputy Mayor Jim Jones Markham former Progressive Conservative MP for Markham; former Regional Councillor Joseph Virgilio Markham Appointed in September 2009 after the death of Tony Wong.;Town of Markham: Ward 3 By-election Called by Markham Council former Ward 3 town councillor Gordon Landon Markham Conservative candidates for the federal riding of Markham in next federal elections
Town Council (2010-2012) and City Council (2012-2014)
The council elected in the 2010 municipal election took office on December 1, 2010. The town council members became city council members on July 1, 2012, when Markham changed from a town to a city.
CouncillorWardCommunities representedNotes Frank Scarpitti Mayor ex officio Council Chair and CEO Valerie Burke 1 Thornhill, Langstaff, Steeles Corner Howard Shore 2 Thornlea, German Mills Chair of Communications and Information Technology Sub-Committee, vice-chair of Community & Fire Services Don Hamilton 3 Unionville, Downtown Markham Carolina Moretti 4 Dickson Hill, Mount Joy, Wismer Commons, Ramerville Chair of Canada Day Committee and Economic Development Committee Colin Campbell 5 Cornell (Grand Cornell, Upper Corner), Mount Joy, Berczy Village, Vinegar Hill, Quantztown, Greensborough, Locust Hill, Markham Village former Toronto Fire Services captain Alan Ho 6 Buttonville, Brown's Corner, Cachet, Victoria Square, Cashel, Angus Glen, Cathedraltown Logan Kanapathi 7 Box Grove, Armadale, Legacy, Cedar Grove Alex Chiu 8 Milliken Mills, Hagerman's Corner former Ward 7 councillor and owner of retail store at Market Village Mall
Regional Councillors
Regional councillors are elected at-large to represent the city at York Regional Council. By default the mayor is also a member of the Regional Council.
Councillor Ward Notes Jack Heath Markham Deputy Mayor Jim Jones Markham former Progressive Conservative MP for Markham (1997–2000); former Regional Councillor (1988–1997); Toronto Liaison Committee Chair Gordon Landon Markham Conservative candidates for the federal riding of Markham in next federal elections; Development Services Committee - Chair of Transportation Joe Li Markham former Progressive Conservative/Conservative candidate during past federal elections - Scarborough—Rouge River (1997 federal elections) and Markham—Unionville (2004 and 2006)
City Council (2014-2018)
The council elected in the 2014 municipal election took office on December 1, 2014. Wards boundaries were changed with former Ward 1 and 2 combined as one (with portions moved to other wards), former Ward 6 became Ward 2.
CouncillorWardCommunities representedNotes Frank Scarpitti Mayor ex officio Council Chair and CEO Valerie Burke 1 Thornhill, Langstaff, Steeles Corner, German Mills, Thornlea Defeated former Ward 2 councillor Howard Shore in the new Ward 1 Alan Ho 2 Buttonville, Brown's Corner, Cachet, Victoria Square, Cashel, Cathedraltown Elected to the new Ward 2, formerly Ward 6 Don Hamilton 3 Unionville, Downtown Markham Karen Rea 4 Mount Joy, Wismer Commons (South of Bur Oak), Markham Village, Ramerville newly elected defeating incumbent Carolina Moretti Colin Campbell 5 Cornell (Grand Cornell, Upper Corner), Vinegar Hill, Quantztown, Locust Hill, Dickson Hill (East of Markham Road) former Toronto Fire Services captain Amanda Yeung Collucci 6 Angus Glen, Berczy Village, Wismer Commons (North of Bur Oak), Dickson Hill (West of Markham Road) This is a newly created Ward 6 taking some parts of Ward 2 & 4 Logan Kanapathi (until June 7, 2018) Khalid Usman (from June 27, 2018) 7 Box Grove, Armadale, Legacy, Cedar Grove Alex Chiu 8 Milliken Mills, Hagerman's Corner former Ward 7 councillor and owner of retail store at Market Village Mall
Regional Councillors
Regional councillors are elected at-large to represent the city at York Regional Council. By default the mayor is also a member of the Regional Council.
Councillor Ward Notes Jack Heath Markham Deputy Mayor Jim Jones Markham former Progressive Conservative MP for Markham (1997–2000); former Regional Councillor (1988–1997); Toronto Liaison Committee Chair Nirmala Armstrong Markham local lawyer and elected to replace Gordon Landon Joe Li Markham former Progressive Conservative/Conservative candidate during past federal elections - Scarborough—Rouge River (1997 federal elections) and Markham—Unionville (2004 and 2006)
City Council (2018-2022) The following councillors were elected in the 2018 municipal election. CouncillorWardCommunities representedNotes Frank Scarpitti Mayor ex officio Council Chair and CEO Keith Irish 1 Thornhill, Langstaff, Steeles Corner, German Mills, Thornlea Alan Ho 2 Buttonville, Brown's Corner, Cachet, Victoria Square, Cashel, Cathedraltown Reid McAlpine 3 Unionville, Downtown Markham Karen Rea 4 Mount Joy, Wismer Commons (South of Bur Oak), Markham Village, Ramerville Andrew Keyes 5 Cornell (Grand Cornell, Upper Corner), Vinegar Hill, Quantztown, Locust Hill, Dickson Hill (East of Markham Road) Amanda Yeung Collucci 6 Angus Glen, Berczy Village, Wismer Commons (North of Bur Oak), Dickson Hill (West of Markham Road) Khalid Usman 7 Box Grove, Armadale, Legacy, Cedar Grove Isa Lee 8 Milliken Mills, Hagerman's Corner 33-year council veteran and incumbent Alex Chiu did not run
Regional Councillors
Regional councillors are elected at-large to represent the city at York Regional Council. By default the mayor is also a member of the Regional Council.
Councillor Ward Notes Jack Heath Markham Jim Jones Markham former Progressive Conservative MP for Markham (1997–2000); former Regional Councillor (1988–1997); Toronto Liaison Committee Chair Don Hamilton Markham Deputy Mayor (2018–2022), former Ward 3 councillor (2009–2018) Joe Li Markham former Progressive Conservative/Conservative candidate during past federal elections - Scarborough—Rouge River (1997 federal elections) and Markham—Unionville (2004 and 2006)
City Council (2022-present) The following councillors were elected in the 2022 municipal election. CouncillorWardCommunities represented Frank Scarpitti Mayor At-Large Keith Irish 1 Thornhill, Langstaff, Steeles Corner, German Mills, Thornlea Ritch Lau 2 Buttonville, Brown's Corner, Cachet, Victoria Square, Cashel, Cathedraltown Reid McAlpine 3 Unionville, Downtown Markham Karen Rea 4 Greensborough, Mount Joy, Wismer Commons (South of Bur Oak), Markham Village, Ramerville Andrew Keyes 5 Cornell (Grand Cornell, Upper Corner), Vinegar Hill, Quantztown, Locust Hill, Dickson Hill (East of Markham Road) Amanda Yeung Collucci 6 Angus Glen, Berczy Village, Wismer Commons (North of Bur Oak), Dickson Hill (West of Markham Road) Juanita Nathan (until May 14, 2025) Nimisha Patel (from September 29, 2025) 7 Box Grove, Armadale, Legacy, Cedar Grove Isa Lee 8 Milliken Mills, Hagerman's Corner
Regional Councillors
Regional councillors are elected at-large to represent the city at York Regional Council. By default the mayor is also a member of the Regional Council.
Councillor Notes Michael Chan Deputy Mayor, former Liberal MPP for Markham–Unionville and provincial Cabinet Minister Jim Jones former Progressive Conservative MP for Markham Joe Li Alan Ho former City Councillor for Ward 2
Vacancies
City council vacancies are filled by a by-election, as in the case in 2009 when then Ward 3 councillor Joseph Virgilio resigned to become Regional Councillor and Don Hamilton elected as the new Ward 3 councillor.
Prior to the Ward 3 by-election Joseph Virgilio was appointed to fill the vacancy left by the death of Regional Councillor Tony Wong.
Committees Committees are created and chair and represented by city councillors to deal with issues and by-laws that impact the city. The chair and vice-chairs are elected selected by the mayor.
STANDING COMMITTEES Development Services Committee General Committee Committee of the Whole
OTHER COMMITTEES Cornell Hub Langstaff Implementation Licensing Parking Advisory Environmental Issues Thornhill Toronto Liaison Green Print Steering Public Realm Advisory Storm Water Management Liaison School Board Liaison Seniors Hall of Fame Awards Stiver Mill Preservation
ADVISORY COMMITTEES Committee of Adjustment Heritage Markham Committee Achievement & Civic Recognition Awards (ACRA) Agricultural Advisory Committee Pandemic Readiness Emergency Plan (PREP) Steering Public Art Advisory Seniors' Hall of Fame Awards Environmental Advisory Race Relations Advisory Committee on Accessibility Animal Care Environmental Issues Cycling & Pedestrian Advisory
SUB-COMMITTEES Communications Committee and Information Technology Budget Licensing Milliken Mills Parking Advisory Southeast Community Centre & Library Design
References
City of Markham