Ajax, on the eastern edge of the GTA along Lake Ontario, has a smaller but steadily growing Muslim community concentrated around corridors like Westney Road and Harwood Avenue, where a mix of halal restaurants, grocers, and quick-service spots have opened to serve nearby residential neighbourhoods. As newer developments continue to fill in around the Audley Recreation Centre and other parts of the city, halal dining options have followed the population rather than the other way around.

Ajax doesn't have the density of halal restaurants found in Toronto, Mississauga, or Brampton, but that's part of what makes it an interesting market — residents who want halal food often have a short, well-known list of local options rather than an overwhelming strip to choose from, and those restaurants tend to build genuinely loyal, repeat customer bases within the community. Durham Region as a whole, which includes Ajax, Pickering, Whitby, and Oshawa, has been one of the fastest-growing areas in the GTA for new families, many of them Muslim.

Watermelon Points gives Ajax's halal restaurants a way to turn that local loyalty into something bigger: points earned at a Westney Road restaurant carry over to any other participating business in Ajax or across the wider Durham Region and GTA network, so customers have a reason to explore beyond the one or two spots they already know. For restaurant owners, joining as a founding partner means no monthly fee, a Square point-of-sale integration that takes minutes to set up, and early placement in North America's first halal loyalty network as it expands across Durham Region. Ajax's proximity to Pickering, Whitby, and Oshawa — all part of the same initial Durham Region launch — means an Ajax restaurant's Watermelon Points customers are likely already earning and redeeming points just a few minutes down the road.