Ontario Province
400 University Avenue, 6th floor
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2R9
https://www.ontario.ca

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the most populous city in Canada, with a population of over 2.7 million. The greater Toronto area is Canada’s most populous region with more than 5 million residents. Toronto is the anchor of a region known as the Golden Horseshoe in Southern Ontario, located on the shore of Lake Ontario. Toronto is an international center of business, finance, arts, and culture, and is recognized as one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities in the world.

City of Toronto

City offices
100 Queen St. W.
Toronto, ON 416-392-2489
https://www.toronto.ca

People have travelled through and inhabited the Toronto area, situated on a plateau with rivers, ravines, and urban forest, for thousands of years. The diverse population of the region reflects its role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada.

Toronto is the area center for music, theater, movie and television production. The city’s numerous museums and galleries, events, special districts, historic sites and sports, attract millions of people each year. The city is known for its architecture, tall buildings, and the tallest free-standing building in the Western Hemisphere, the CN Tower. The city is also home to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the headquarters of Canada’s largest banks, and the headquarters of many multinational corporations.

Toronto Neighborhoods:

Toronto encompasses a geographical area formerly administered by many separate municipalities. These neighborhoods each have developed a distinct history and identity, and their names are common among residents. Former municipalities include East York, Etobicoke, Forest Hill, Mimico, North York, Parkdale, Scarborough, Swansea, Weston and York. Throughout the city there exist hundreds of small neighborhoods and some larger neighborhoods covering a few square kilometers. These neighborhoods have a different flare than the core of the city. Victorian and Edwardian-era residential buildings can be found in areas such as Rosedale, Cabbagetown, The Annex, and Yorkville. The Wychwood Park neighborhood, historically significant for the architecture of its homes, and for being one of Toronto’s oldest planned communities, was designated as an Ontario Heritage Conservation district. The old city of Toronto covers what is the downtown and also older neighborhoods to the east, west, and north of downtown. It is the most densely populated part of the city. The Financial District contains the neighborhoods of St. James Town, Garden District, St. Lawrence, Corktown, and Church and Wellesley. Old Toronto is also home to many historically wealthy residential areas, such as Yorkville and Rosedale.

The inner suburbs consist primarily of post–World War I small, single-family homes and small apartment blocks. Neighborhoods such as Crescent Town, Thorncliffe Park, Weston, and Oakwood–Vaughan consist mainly of high-rise apartments. The outer suburbs comprising the former municipalities of Etobicoke (west), Scarborough (east) and North York (north) largely retain the grid plan laid before post-war development. High-rise development in these areas has given the former municipalities distinguishable skylines of their own with high-density transit corridors serving them.

Many of Toronto’s former industrial sites near Downtown have been redeveloped including parts of the Toronto waterfront, the rail yards west of downtown, and Liberty Village, the Massey-Harris district. The Gooderham & Worts Distillery produced spirits until 1990, and is preserved today as the “Distillery District,” the largest and best-preserved collection of Victorian industrial architecture in North America. Similar areas that retain their industrial character, but are now largely residential are the Fashion District, Corktown, and parts of South Riverdale and Leslieville. Toronto still has some active older industrial areas, such as Brockton Village, Mimico and New Toronto. In the west end of Old Toronto and York, the Weston/Mount Dennis and The Junction areas still contain factories and industrial areas.

Toronto Outdoor and Public Spaces

Toronto is home to a large number of public spaces, from city squares to public parks overlooking ravines. Nathan Phillips Square is the city’s main square in downtown and forms the entrance to City Hall. Yonge-Dundas Square, near City Hall, is one of the busiest gathering spots in the city. Other squares include Harbourfront Square, on the Toronto waterfront, and the civic squares at the former city halls of the defunct Metropolitan Toronto, most notably Mel Lastman Square in North York.

There are many large downtown parks, which include Allan Gardens, Christie Pits, Grange Park, Little Norway Park, Moss Park, Queen’s Park, Riverdale Park and Trinity Bellwood’s Park. An almost hidden park is the compact Cloud Gardens, which has both open areas and a glassed-in greenhouse. South of downtown are two large parks on the waterfront: Tommy Thompson Park on the Leslie Street Spit, which has a nature preserve, is open on weekends; and the Toronto Islands, accessible from downtown by ferry. Large parks in the outer areas include High Park, Humber Bay Park, Centennial Park, Downsview Park, Guild Park and Gardens, and Morningside Park. Toronto also operates several public golf courses. Most ravine lands and riverbank floodplains in Toronto are public parklands. Approximately 8,000 acres or 12.5 percent of Toronto’s land base is maintained parkland. Morningside Park is the largest park managed by the city, which is 596.7 acres in size. In addition to public parks managed by the city, parts of Rouge National Urban Park, the largest urban park in North America, is in the eastern portion of Toronto. Managed by Parks Canada, the national park is centered around the Rouge River.

Lifestyle

Toronto’s performing arts scene ballet and dance companies, six opera companies, two symphony orchestras and a host of theatres. The city is home to the National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Canadian Electronic Ensemble, and the Canadian Stage Company. Notable performance venues include the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Roy Thomson Hall, the Princess of Wales Theatre, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Massey Hall, the Toronto Centre for the Arts, the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres and the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts. Each summer, the Canadian Stage Company presents an outdoor Shakespeare production in Toronto’s High Park. Toronto’s Caribana (formerly known as Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival) takes place from mid-July to early August of every summer and attracts more than a million people to Toronto’s Lake Shore Boulevard annually. One of the largest events in the city, Pride Week takes place in late June, and is one of the largest LGBT festivals in the world

The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history. The Toronto Zoo is home to over 5,000 animals. The Art Gallery of Ontario contains a diverse collection of Canadian, European, African and contemporary artwork. The Gardiner Museum of ceramic art is the only museum in Canada entirely devoted to ceramics. The city is also home to the Ontario Science Center, the Bata Shoe Museum, and Textile Museum of Canada. The city is also home to over a dozen additional museums. The Canadian National Exhibition is held annually at Exhibition Place, and it is the oldest annual fair in the world.

Shopping in Toronto is exactly what you would expect form such a large City, the shopping areas include the Yorkville neighborhood, Queen West, Harbourfront, the Entertainment District, the Financial District, and the St. Lawrence Market neighborhood. The Eaton Centre is Toronto’s most popular tourist attraction with over 52 million visitors annually and one of the largest malls in the country.

Regional Sports

Toronto sports are represented throughout 5 leagues, with teams in the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, Canadian Football League, and Major League Soccer. The city’s major sports venues include the Scotiabank Arena, Rogers Centre, Coca-Cola Coliseum and BMO Field.

Toronto is home to the Toronto Maple Leaf’s and has also served as home to the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1958. The city has a storied history of hockey championships; the Maple Leaf’s have won 13 Stanley Cup titles, the Toronto Marlboros and St. Michael’s College School-based Ontario Hockey League teams, combined, have won 12 Memorial Cup titles.

The city is home to the Toronto Blue Jays and The Toronto Raptors entered the National Basketball Association (NBA.) They and the Maple Leafs play their home games at the Scotiabank Arena. The city is represented in the Canadian Football League by the Toronto Argonauts. The city also has an MLS team the Toronto FC. The city is also represented in other sports ranging from Lacrosse to Ultimate Frisbee. In addition, Toronto, along with Montreal, hosts an annual tennis tournament called the Canadian Open. The city has the annual Honda Indy Toronto car race, part of the IndyCar Series schedule, held on a street circuit at Exhibition Place.

Services

The economy of the city is based on a broad range of businesses. Toronto is an international city for business and finance. The city is the financial capital of Canada, The Toronto Stock Exchange is the world’s seventh-largest stock exchange by market capitalization. The city is an center for the media, publishing, telecommunication, information technology and film production industries; it is home to Bell Media, Rogers Communications, and Torstar. Other prominent Canadian corporations in the Greater Toronto Area include Magna International, Celestica, Manulife, Sun Life Financial, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and major hotel companies and operators. Although much of the region’s manufacturing activities take place outside the city limits, Toronto continues to be a wholesale and distribution point for those businesses. The city’s location and its road and rail connections help support the nearby production of motor vehicles, iron, steel, food, machinery, chemicals and paper.

Education in Toronto offers its residents a broad range of options. There are four public school boards that provide elementary and secondary education in Toronto, the Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir, the Conseil scolaire Viamonde (CSV), the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB), and the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). CSV and TDSB are secular public-school boards, whereas MonAvenir and TCDSB are separate public-school boards. CSV and MonAvenir are French first language school boards, and TCDSB and TDSB are English first language school boards. TDSB operates the most schools amongst the four Toronto-based school boards, with 451 elementary schools, 105 secondary schools, and five adult learning centers. TCDSB operates 163 elementary schools, 29 secondary schools, three combined institutions, and one adult learning center. CSV operates 11 elementary schools, and three secondary schools in the city. MonAvenir operates nine elementary schools, and three secondary schools. The city is also home to a number of post-secondary institutions. Three public universities are in downtown Toronto, OCAD University, Ryerson University, and the University of Toronto. The University of Toronto also operates two satellite campuses. York University is another public university in the northwest portions of the city. The University of Guelph-Humber is also in northwestern Toronto.

There are four diploma- and degree-granting colleges based in Toronto. These four colleges, Centennial College, George Brown College, Humber College, and Seneca College operate several campuses throughout the city. The city is also home to a satellite campus of Collège Boréal, a French first language college. The city is also home to several supplementary schools, seminaries, and vocational schools.

Healthcare in Toronto is exactly what is to be expected in a major metropolitan area, offering residents a broad choice in healthcare options. Toronto is home to twenty public hospitals, including The Hospital for Sick Children, Mount Sinai Hospital, St. Michael’s Hospital, North York General Hospital, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital, Etobicoke General Hospital, St. Joseph’s Health Centre, Scarborough General Hospital, Scarborough Grace Hospital, Centenary Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, many of which are affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.

Residents of Toronto enjoy a high quality of life bolstered by the unrivaled availability of recreation, educational and vocational options. Shopping, dining and entertainment venues are plentiful and easily accessible.