The Town of Newmarket is proud to once again receive the Canadian Public Works Association (CPWA) and the Ontario Public Works Associations’ (OPWA) Roger Brown Award for their efforts during National Public Works Week in Newmarket for 2026.
During National Public Works Week (May 17 to 23), the Town of Newmarket hosted various internal and external events and campaigns to promote the profession of public works, under the theme of “Rooted in Service, Powered by the Community”. Festivities included a public educational campaign on social media and the beloved Touch a Truck event that saw more than 3,000 attendees come out and get up close and personal with their favourite trucks.
This event also featured various partnerships with Central York Fire Services, York Region Paramedic Services, York Region, the Ontario Provincial Police and industry partners that showcased the many services and professionals working together to support the community.
See a recap video of Touch a Truck to relive the experience.
“Congratulations to our Public Works and Parks and Facilities teams on this well-deserved recognition,” says Mayor John Taylor. “These awards are a testament to the dedication, care and pride our staff bring to the community every day. From maintaining our parks and public spaces and supporting essential infrastructure, they play a vital role in creating a community where people belong and feel connected. Their “we before me” attitude represents the power of community and what makes Newmarket one of the best places to live, work and play in Canada. A special shout-out to police, fire, EMS, and other Town staff and community partners who came out to support and make Touch a Truck a great success.”
The Roger Brown Award is presented to communities with a population between 25,001 and 100,000. The award is provided to municipalities who demonstrate outstanding efforts in commemoration of National Public Works Week, highlighting public works contributions and services that benefit and enrich the community. Newmarket was selected as the winning entry based on its public outreach, education, staff involvement, political involvement, and events held. Newmarket previously won the same award in 2017 and 2018.
About Newmarket’s Public Works and Parks and Facility Services department
Both departments are responsible for
- Maintaining over 44 km of trails, over 45 active parks, 800 acres of parkland, 624 km of roads (both directions), 364 km of sidewalks and 309 km of watermains and 284 kms of sanitary sewer mains.
- Ensuring our parks, facilities and sport fields are ready for use by the community and sport groups.
- Helping to support the Town’s events through set-up and teardown, including road closures, clean-up and garbage removal.
- Performing winter maintenance (road and sidewalk snow plowing/salting) to ensure residents can get to their destination safely.
- Maintaining Newmarket’s tree canopy through planting, pruning and strategies to increase the longevity of the trees while caring for the Town’s natural heritage.
- Coordinating utility construction works with other levels of government and private entities to limit disruptions to the community as much as possible. Creating an
- even greener and sustainable Newmarket through its waste and recycling programs and initiatives and more.
10 Fun facts about Public Works and Parks and Facility Services:
- In 2025, Newmarket’s Water Department maintained the infrastructure that distributed 8,494,809 m³ of water! That’s 8,494,809,000 litres, or approximately 16.99 billion standard water bottles. That annual total is roughly 3,398 Olympic-size swimming pools (≈2.5 million litres each).
- The 2025/2026 winter season saw 67 snow events and 108 centimetres of snow. Our snow crews were ready for the challenge and hauled 1,775 loads of snow to keep our streets and sidewalks safe.
- Our fleet of mechanics are the behind-the-scenes pros keeping Newmarket moving! From snowplows and sidewalk plows to cars, trucks, lawn mowers, Zambonis, and even Central York Fire Services vehicles, they keep it all running like a well-oiled machine. No matter the season, they’re always hard at work making sure the Town’s fleet is ready.
- Public Works helped the environment by collecting 9.92 tonnes of e-waste and batteries at the 2025 Electronics Recycling Events. Thanks to your amazing efforts, Newmarket is keeping these items out of landfills and giving valuable materials a second life. The result? Less pollution, lower energy use, and a big win for reducing greenhouse gas emissions!
- The freeze and thaw cycle created by the harsh winter conditions have caused a few potholes along our local roads. To date, our roads team repaired approximately 4,400 potholes.
- Our facilities team completes approximately 170 ice depth checks at all facilities. Each check involves measuring 29 specific points per rink, where operators drill a hole and measure ice thickness. They carefully monitor ice depth to help balance energy efficiency, ice quality, player safety, and long-term maintenance of the ice surface.
- Our aquatic and ice facilities are running year-round marathons behind the scenes, clocking in more than 70,000 working hours every year. That time is spent making sure pools sparkle, rooms are set up, and ice surfaces are perfectly smooth and game ready.
- Horticulture staff planted nearly 13,000 annuals for the beautiful basket and planter combos across Town to beautify our community. This year, they will also be growing over 250 vegetable plants in our vegetable garden for the Community Fridge.
- Grass is cut on a planned schedule. Our parks and property staff mow based on a 10-day rotating schedule (weather and growth rate dependent). Doing so improves moisture retention and promotes healthier grass. To support pollinators like bees and butterflies (as Newmarket is Canada’s 14th Bee City) some areas are mowed less to help boost local biodiversity.
- Town-owned trees are on a “healthcare plan”. Our Forestry Team manages trees much like doctors. Each tree is tracked in a real-time digital inventory system (built in-house), with details like species, size, age class, condition, and location. Staff regularly inspect trees for structural stability, signs of stress, and overall health, especially in high-traffic areas like parks, trails, and boulevards. Based on these assessments, crews carry out proactive care such as pruning to remove weak or hazardous branches and promote long-term canopy health.
For more information on various divisions within Public Works Services, visit our website at newmarket.ca and view information on our parks and trails, water and wastewater, road and sidewalks, trees and more.