Agincourt, Toronto

Agincourt
Agincourt
Neighbourhood
	Aerial view of Agincourt in 2023
	Vicinity
	Location within Toronto
	Coordinates: 43°47′33″N 79°17′02″W / 43.79250°N 79.28389°W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
City	Toronto
Municipality established	1850 Scarborough Township
Postal village	1858
Joined	1953 Metropolitan Toronto
Government
• MP	Shaun Chen (L) (Scarborough North); Jean Yip (L) (Scarborough—Agincourt)
• MPP	Raymond Cho (PC) (Scarborough North); Aris Babikian (PC) (Scarborough—Agincourt)
• Councillor	Nick Mantas (Ward 22 Scarborough—Agincourt); Jamaal Myers (Ward 23 Scarborough North)

Agincourt (/ˈeɪ.dʒɪn.kɔːrt/) is a neighbourhood and former village in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Agincourt is located in northeast Toronto, along Sheppard Avenue between Kennedy and Markham Roads (north-south includes lands between Highway 401 and Finch Avenue). Before the creation of the "megacity" of Toronto in 1998, the area was part of Scarborough. It is officially recognized by the City of Toronto as occupying the neighbourhoods of Agincourt South–Malvern West and Agincourt North.

The name Agincourt is often used to refer to a larger area of northwest Scarborough rather than just the officially recognized neighbourhood. The area to the west of Agincourt, officially named Tam O'Shanter–Sullivan is often included as part of Agincourt, and the Agincourt Mall is located in Tam O'Shanter.

The section of Agincourt west of Midland Avenue belongs to the electoral district of Scarborough—Agincourt, while the section to the east is part of Scarborough North (federal, previously Scarborough—Rouge River) or Scarborough—Rouge River (provincial, until the 2018 provincial election, when it will be replaced with Scarborough North).

History

Agincourt Public School was established in 1914. Agincourt Collegiate Institute would occupy the second floor from 1915 to 1929.

Agincourt was once referred to as "hero town" by the citizens that lived there. The village of Agincourt was officially founded with the establishment of the Agincourt post office, opened in June 1858 by John Hill. The name of the settlement was after the site of Henry V's decisive English victory over French forces in 1415. Local legend has it that the town's name was chosen when Hill requested that the town be given a post office, and the French-Canadian Postmaster agreed, on the condition that it be given a French name, with 'Agincourt' chosen to undermine the Postmaster's intention.^[2] The site of the 1415 battle is now known as Azincourt: the namesake of today's Agincourt, Ontario should not be confused with Agincourt, Meurthe-et-Moselle. The original crossroads of Agincourt is located at Midland Avenue and Sheppard and served a rural agricultural population.

A Presbyterian church (from France^{[citation needed]}) was built on the north-east corner, which is today's Knox United Church. In addition, an Agincourt Public School was built in 1914, which has evolved over time into Agincourt Junior Public School. A secondary school that later evolved into Agincourt Collegiate Institute, was established in 1915 on the second floor of the same building. From 1954 to 1998, the schools were a part of the Scarborough Board of Education.

Two railway stations were constructed in the second half of the 19th century at Agincourt. One was built just west of the crossroads as part of the Toronto and Nipissing Railway line heading north from Scarborough Junction on the Toronto – Montreal mainline, and greatly improved access. The line eventually became part of Canadian National Railways, and the station operates today as Agincourt Station on the GO Transit Stouffville commuter rail route. A second station was built east of the crossroads, northside of Sheppard Avenue and west of Brimley Road, on what is today CP Rail track that runs from downtown Toronto diagonally northeast through the neighbourhood. Commuter rail service to Toronto's Union Station was offered by the CPR from various service routes such as Lake Ontario Shore Line and Toronto-Peterboro Dayliner (1950s). CP passenger service was discontinued in 1982 but revived briefly in 1985 before being cancelled for good in 1990. The line branches east of a marshalling yard, built by CP in the 1960s between McCowan and Markham Roads on the east of the neighbourhood, into the (Peterborough–) Havelock and Belleville (– Montreal) subdivisions. The neighbourhood saw an influx of Chinese Canadians move into the area during the 1980s.

Agincourt saw an influx of Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwanese emigrants during the 1980s, especially in the area along Sheppard Avenue near Midland Avenue. Since the development of Chinese-themed shopping centres in the 1980s, it has become a booming suburban Toronto Chinatown and was the vanguard for the proliferation of "Chinese malls", catering specifically to the Chinese community across the GTA.^[3]

Economy

Agincourt Mall, an enclosed mall, began a redevelopment in 2018, and is the second-largest active residential application in Toronto.^[4]

Education

Four public school boards operate elementary and secondary schools in Agincourt. They include the public secular Toronto District School Board (TDSB), and the public separate school boards, Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir (CSCM), and the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB). Toronto's French-language secular public school board, Conseil scolaire Viamonde (CSV) now operates a school in the district.

TDSB operates four public secondary schools in the neighbourhood, Agincourt Collegiate Institute, Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute, Sir William Osler High School and Delphi Alternative Secondary School. In addition to secondary schools, TDSB also operates institutions which provide primary education. TCDSB operates two public secondary schools in Agincourt, Francis Libermann Catholic High School and Monsignor Fraser College Midland Campus, with the latter housed in the former Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic School.

The following public elementary schools operate in Agincourt (with the managing school board in parentheses):

Agincourt Junior Public School (TDSB)
C. D. Farquharson Junior Public School (TDSB)
Chartland Junior Public School (TDSB)
École elémentaire catholique Saint-Jean-de-Lalande (CSCM)
École elémentaire Laure-Riese (CSV)
Henry Kelsey Senior Public School (TDSB)
Iroquois Junior Public School (TDSB)
North Agincourt Junior Public School (TDSB)
Sir Alexander Mackenzie Senior Public School (TDSB)
St. Bartholomew Catholic School (TCDSB)
St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Elementary School (TCDSB)
St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic School (TCDSB)
White Haven Junior Public School (TDSB)

Recreation

The neighbourhood is home to a number of municipal parks, managed by the Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation Division. In addition to local parks, the Division also operates the Agincourt Recreation Centre (pool and ice rink - damaged in fire in January 2019), located adjacent to Agincourt Park, Albert Campbell Pool (inside Albert Campbell CI) and Commander Park Arena (ice rink) at Commander Park.

Agincourt Park
Alexmuir Park
Brimley Woods Park
Chartland Park
Chartwell Park
Collingwood Park
Donalda Park
Farquharson Park
Havendale Park
Iroquois Park
Knott Park
Metrogate Park
McDairmid Woods Park
North Agincourt Park
Snowhill Park
White Haven Park

References

^ "Agincourt". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
^ As taught to students at Agincourt Collegiate Institute in 10th Grade history, 1992
^ Liu, Karon (August 21, 2019). "Dragon Centre was a catalyst for Scarborough's Chinese community, but the history is not all rosy | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
^ D'Andrea, Aaron (February 23, 2018). "Huge mixed-use development planned for Scarborough's Agincourt Mall". Toronto.com. Retrieved October 1, 2018.

External links

[CGNDB-1] "Agincourt". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved August 21, 2017.

[2] As taught to students at Agincourt Collegiate Institute in 10th Grade history, 1992

[3] Liu, Karon (August 21, 2019). "Dragon Centre was a catalyst for Scarborough's Chinese community, but the history is not all rosy | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved November 10, 2019.

[4] D'Andrea, Aaron (February 23, 2018). "Huge mixed-use development planned for Scarborough's Agincourt Mall". Toronto.com. Retrieved October 1, 2018.

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v t e Neighbourhoods in Toronto
Old Toronto	Alexandra Park Allenby The Annex The Beaches Bedford Park Bickford Park Bloor West Village Bloor Street Culture Corridor Bloordale Village Bracondale Hill Brockton Village Cabbagetown Carleton Village Casa Loma Chaplin Estates Chinatown (First Chinatown) Christie Pits Church and Wellesley CityPlace Corktown Corso Italia Corso Italia-Davenport Davenport Davisville Village Deer Park Discovery District Distillery District Downtown Yonge Dovercourt Park Dufferin Grove Earlscourt East Bayfront East Chinatown East Danforth East Toronto Entertainment District Fashion District Financial District Forest Hill Garden District Gerrard India Bazaar Grange Park Greektown Harbord Village Harbourfront High Park North The Junction Junction Triangle Kensington Market Koreatown Lawrence Park Leslieville Liberty Village Little Italy Little Portugal Little Tibet Lytton Park Midtown Moore Park Moss Park Niagara North Toronto Norway Old Town Palmerston Parkdale Playter Estates Port Lands Quayside Queen Street West Railway Lands Regent Park Riverdale Roncesvalles Rosedale Runnymede St. James Town St. Lawrence Seaton Village South Hill South Core Summerhill Swansea Toronto Islands Trefann Court Trinity-Bellwoods Upper Beaches Uptown Toronto Wallace Emerson The Ward West Don Lands (Canary District) Wychwood Park Yonge–Eglinton Yorkville
North York	Amesbury Armour Heights Bathurst Manor Bayview Village Bayview Woods-Steeles Bermondsey Bridle Path Clanton Park Don Mills Don Valley Village Downsview Flemingdon Park Glen Park Graydon Hall Henry Farm Hillcrest Village Hoggs Hollow Humber Summit Humbermede Jane and Finch Lansing Lawrence Heights Lawrence Manor Maple Leaf Newtonbrook North York City Centre Parkway Forest Parkwoods Pelmo Park-Humberlea Pleasant View Rustic Teddington Park Victoria Village Westminster-Branson Willowdale York Mills York University Heights
Scarborough	Agincourt Armadale Bendale Birch Cliff Birchmount Park-Warden Woods Brown's Corners Clairlea Cliffcrest Cliffside Dorset Park Eglinton East Golden Mile Guildwood Highland Creek Ionview L'Amoreaux Malvern Maryvale Milliken Morningside Morningside Heights Oakridge Port Union Rouge Scarborough City Centre Scarborough Junction Scarborough Village Steeles Tam O'Shanter-Sullivan West Hill West Rouge Wexford Woburn
Etobicoke	Alderwood Clairville Eatonville The Elms Eringate-Centennial-West Deane Humber Heights-Westmount Humber Valley Village Humberwood Islington-City Centre West Kingsview Village The Kingsway Long Branch Markland Wood Mimico New Toronto Princess Gardens Rexdale Richview The Queensway-Humber Bay Smithfield Thistletown Thorncrest Village
York	Baby Point Fairbank Humewood–Cedarvale Lambton Little Jamaica Mount Dennis Oakwood Village Old Mill Rockcliffe–Smythe Silverthorn Tichester Weston
East York	Bermondsey Crescent Town Governor's Bridge Leaside O'Connor–Parkview Old East York Pape Village Thorncliffe Park
Italics indicate neighbourhoods now defunct. For information on the evolution of each neighbourhood in general, see History of neighbourhoods in Toronto.

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