Ajax, Ontario - Ajax (2011 population 109,600) is a town in the Durham Region of Southern Ontario, Canada, located in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area.

The town is named for HMS Ajax, a Royal Navy cruiser that served in World War II. It is approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) east of Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario and is bordered by the City of Pickering to the west and north, and the Town of Whitby to the east.

Before the Second World War, the territory in which Ajax is situated was a rural part of the township of Pickering. The town itself was first established in 1941 when a Defence Industries Limited (D.I.L.) shell plant was constructed and a townsite grew around the plant. By 1945 the plant had filled 40 million shells; employed over 9,000 people at peak production; boasted of its own water and sewage treatment plants; a school population of over 600; 50 km (31 mi) of railroad and 50 km (31 mi) of roads. The entire D.I.L. plant site included some 12 km2 (5 sq mi). People came from all over Canada to work at D.I.L.

The burgeoning community received its name in honour of the first significant British naval victory of the war. From December 13 to December 19, 1939, a flotilla of British warships-HMS Ajax, HMS Exeter and HMS Achilles-commanded by Commodore Henry Harwood-engaged and routed the powerful German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee at the Battle of the River Plate, near the Uruguayan port of Montevideo in South America. Ajax was chosen as the name of this war-born community.

After the war, the University of Toronto leased much of the D.I.L. plant to house the flood of newly discharged soldiers who had enrolled as engineering students. War machines were moved out and the buildings were converted to classrooms and laboratories. By 1949, the last year of the University of Toronto, Ajax Division, some 7,000 engineering students had received their basic training there.

Following the departure of the University of Toronto, the town's growth was largely due to the vision of George W. Finley of Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and Ajax became a planned modern community using the wartime base for its post-war foundation.

From 1941 to 1950, Ajax had no local municipal government of its own. In 1950, as a result of a petition, the community became the Corporation of the Improvement District of Ajax with three trustees appointed by the Lieutenant-Governor in Council. By 1953, the desire for full and active participation by its citizens in an elected council and school board was strong. The Ajax Citizens' Association, formed by many civic-minded persons, presented a brief to the Ontario Municipal Board urging that the Improvement District of Ajax become the Corporation of the Town of Ajax. The Municipal Board approved this step, and on December 13, 1954, the people elected the first Town Council and the first Public School Board.

On June 22, 1973, the Ontario Legislature enacted Bill 162 to amalgamate the Town of Ajax and the Village of Pickering and annex certain portions of the Township of Pickering to the Town of Ajax, as part of the creation of the new Durham Region; this also included the remote lakeside Town of Pickering Beach. The Region and Town both officially came into being on January 1, 1974.

DowntownToday, Ajax has a busy downtown, but plans are underway to begin construction on the Ajax city center (ACC) what is now a rundown low rise industrial and commercial area in Ajax along Harwood Avenue, and Bayly street will soon become a large Urban modern area, with high rise condos, office towers, malls, squares, and mixed use areas along landscaped streets. Projects such as Pat Bayly Square are already underway.

Today, Ajax is commonly considered part of the Greater Toronto Area, in the eastern part of the Golden Horseshoe region.

As is true for most suburban areas in the Greater Toronto Area, Ajax has grown considerably since the 1980s. What was once a small town mostly surrounded by agricultural areas has increasingly become a bedroom community to Toronto and its environs. Many residents commute to work in Toronto or other municipalities in Durham Region.

In 1945, with the closing of D.I.L., there was no industry within the town; but in 1949, Dowty Aerospace started operations in Ajax. By 1969, major employers included Volkswagen Canada, DuPont, Paintplas, Ajax Textile, AEG Bayly Engineering and many others.

Shopping was virtually non-existent in the mid-1940s, but by 1970 major shopping centres such as Ajax Plaza, Harwood Place Mall and Clover Ridge Plaza were constructed. The 1980s saw an expansion of retail shopping malls to include Discovery Bay Plaza, Transit Square, Baywood Plaza, Westney Heights Plaza and most recently the Durham Centre at Harwood Avenue and Kingston Road.

The 1970s saw the beginning of many physical changes to the face of Ajax. New subdivisions spread over vacant land in central Ajax. The early 1980s brought extensive development to the southern part of Ajax with large, upscale housing units constructed along Lake Driveway.

The recession of the early 1980s did not stop residential development in Ajax. Westney Heights started north of Highway 2 and offered home buyers low interest rate mortgages while interest rates were then at an all-time high of 18% to 20%. Development north of Highway 2 stretched from Church Street in Pickering Village to Harwood Avenue, with the Millers Creek development south of the highway down to the edge of Highway 401.

The Ajax Rock are a box lacrosse team that, as of 2009, have been promoted to the Senior "A" Major Series Lacrosse league. They play during the Summer months out of the Ajax Community Centre.

The town is the home of two minor leagues, the Ajax Spartans Minor Baseball Association and the Ajax Knights Minor Hockey Association.

There is also a growing rugby union club that has been established since 1949 called the Ajax Wanderers. Their clubhouse is located on 1717 Harwood Ave. N, just south of Taunton Rd.

Ajax is home to several clubs: Ajax FC, Ajax United and Ajax Azzurri. The Ajax ringette association is popular. Ajax has a football team, the Ajax-Pickering Dolphins.

Ajax Cricket Club is located in the community.

Ajax is the home of the Ajax Skating Club and the Ajax Ice Waves, a synchronized skating team.   Details