Oshawa

Oshawa is a city of approximately 150,000 people and is the dominant population and economic centre of the Regional Municipality of Durham. First settled as a French trading post in 1750, Oshawa grew steadily and was incorporated as a city in 1924. In 1876, Col. R. S. McLaughlin relocated the McLaughlin Carriage Company to Oshawa which became the forerunner of General Motors of Canada Limited. GM is the city's and region's largest employer.

Oshawa is well known as Canada's "Automotive City" and for good reason. It is the Canadian headquarters for General Motors of Canada Limited, Autoplex and GM's Regional Engineering Centre. But Oshawa is also quickly becoming a centre for research and development, technology based companies and customer relationship management businesses.

Oshawa has over 1,200 acres of parkland, plus numerous other facilities such as arenas, recreation complexes, athletic fields, beaches, jogging and walking paths, playgrounds and pools. The Oshawa Trails and the 9-km Waterfront Trail along Lake Ontario provide year-round activities. Five conservation areas provide picnic grounds, fitness trails and interpretive nature programs. The Oshawa Valley Botanical Garden boasts one of the largest collection of peonies in North America. In addition to the municipal facilities, Oshawa is home to the Durham Region YMCA and the privately owned ice rink complex, Ice Sports Oshawa.

Starting in 2004, Oshawa will invest $70 million dollars in renovations to existing sports and recreational facilities and in constructing new state-of-the-art recreation complexes to meet the needs of the growing population.