Photo: Wesoree · CC BY-SA 4.0Markham Public Library draws 6.9 visits per person served, ahead of 94% of Ontario’s town libraries
The library figures on this page are Markham’s: Markham Public Library serves all 365,051 people of the city, Thornlea among them. Loans ran to 8.3 items per person served in 2024. Visits here are a typical week’s count times 52, Ontario’s method, so read them as an estimate.
B−Civic life#305 of 866 in OntarioThornlea’s civic life grade, input by input
Thornlea gets a B− for civic life, #305 of 866 towns graded in Ontario. A civic life grade combines library visits per resident, registered charities per 1,000 residents and the province’s volunteering rate, and all three exist for Thornlea.
Informal groups and mutual aid go uncounted.
Sources: provincial statistics, the CRA, Statistics Canada.
356 registered charities are based in Markham, by mailing address
There is no count for Thornlea on its own: the charities are those of all of Markham. Per 1,000 residents that makes 1; the median is 1.4 for Ontario towns and 1.4 for Canada’s. Charities are placed by mailing address, which flatters service towns whose post office serves a region and undercounts suburbs and rural municipalities.
32.1%
The whole province shares one estimate: 32.1% of people in Ontario volunteered formally in 2023 (between 31.0% and 33.2%), where the ten provinces run from 25.2% to 40.3%.
Statistics Canada, table 45-10-0039.
Ahead of most of Ontario’s town libraries on all 3 measures
Measured per person served against the 195 town libraries of Ontario’s 2024 statistics.
Town libraries only; regional systems left out.
About 48,360 visits in a typical week
The year 2024 at Markham Public Library, in the library’s own counts.
Thornlea’s 2 public libraries
In order of distance from the centre of Thornlea, as the crow flies.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Visits count everyone. A busy library may owe some of its visits to people who live outside Thornlea; the figure can’t tell them apart.
Questions about the library and civic life in Thornlea
Does Thornlea have a public library?
Yes, 2: Markham Public Library - Thornhill Branch and Thornhill Community Centre And Library.
How busy is Markham Public Library?
The 2024 totals: 2,514,720 in-person visits, 3,031,444 loans.
Library statistics: Ontario Public Library Statistics, 2024. Library locations: © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) and Statistics Canada, Open Database of Cultural and Art Facilities (2020). Charities: Canada Revenue Agency, List of charities (2024), charitable organizations only.
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).