Ontario has 52 cities. In Ontario, city status is conferred by the provincial government, generally upon the request of the incorporated municipality. A municipality may apply for city status anytime after its population surpasses 10,000. This status is not automatically conferred on a community that reaches this population target, but must be requested by the municipality and granted by the provincial Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Not all municipalities which reach this population target have pursued city designation. For example, Ajax, Oakville, and Whitby, which all had populations greater than 100,000 in 2011, are still designated as towns. Once designated a city, however, a municipality does not lose this status even if its population later falls back below 10,000 (as, for example, Dryden). Ontario's newest city is Richmond Hill, which changed from town to city status on March 25, 2019.