About Newcastle

Newcastle is a community in the Municipality of Clarington in Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. The Town of Newcastle was also the original name of what is now Clarington. 

Newcastle is located about 80 km east of Toronto, and about 18 km east of Oshawa and Bowmanville on Highway 401. It is also the southern terminus of Highway 35/115.(Highway 35).

The name “Town of Newcastle” was used from 1973-94 for the municipality now called the Municipality of Clarington. The name was changed in 1994 to alleviate long standing confusion between the municipality as a whole and the community of the same name. The community was commonly known as “Newcastle Village” to distinguish the two. It was also a confusing fact that Bowmanville had a larger population than “Newcastle Village”, and it also housed the former Town of Newcastle’s municipal offices, causing some to believe the town should have been called “Bowmanville” instead of “Newcastle” during that period.

Newcastle was incorporated as a town in 1856. It remained a small community until the 1990s, when new residential development began and the population quickly swelled. Newcastle had a jail in the late 1800s, though the location is not known. Maps of Newcastle from those years have not been discovered. Many have tried to find the location of this jail; however, it is believed that it was either demolished or had been destroyed by the elements.

Newcastle has a beautiful town hall, donated by the Massey family, one high school, one public school, one Catholic school, a post office, churches, a few plazas, several small parks, an ice arena, a marina on Lake Ontario, and a golf course.

Click for the last available Clarington property tax rates.

Newcastle Economic Development Initiatives

Click the link to see the most recent Clarington Economic Development plan.