In 1998 Toronto became a “Mega City” and one of the largest cities in North America as the result of an amalgamation of six municipalities including: Etobicoke, East York, North York, Scarborough, York, and the “Old” City of Toronto. Each of these former municipalities have maintained their own sense of place and together have helped make Toronto one of the most vibrant and diverse Cities in the world. Toronto is the largest City in Canada and the fourth largest City in North America.
The diverse population of Toronto reflects its current and historical role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada.[26][27] More than 50 percent of residents belong to a visible minority population group,[28] and over 200 distinct ethnic origins are represented among its inhabitants.[29] While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, over 160 languages are spoken in the city.[30] The mayor of Toronto is elected by direct popular vote to serve as the chief executive of the city. The Toronto City Council is a unicameral legislative body, comprising 25 councillors since the 2018 municipal election, representing geographical wards throughout the city.[31]
BOUNDARIES: Spadina Avenue to the west, Jarvis Street to the east, Bloor Street to the north, and the Gardiner Expressway to the south.
Toronto covers an area of 630 square kilometres (243 sq mi),[94] with a maximum north–south distance of 21 kilometres (13 mi). It has a maximum east–west distance of 43 km (27 mi) and it has a 46-kilometre (29 mi) long waterfront shoreline, on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. The Toronto Islands and Port Lands extend out into the lake, allowing for a somewhat sheltered Toronto Harbour south of the downtown core.[95] An Outer Harbour was constructed southeast of downtown during the 1950s and 1960s and it is now used for recreation. The city’s borders are formed by Lake Ontario to the south, the western boundary of Marie Curtis Park, Etobicoke Creek, Eglinton Avenue and Highway 427 to the west, Steeles Avenue to the north and the Rouge River and the Scarborough–Pickering town line to the east.
Toronto is an international centre for business and finance. Generally considered the financial and industrial capital of Canada, Toronto has a high concentration of banks and brokerage firms on Bay Street in the Financial District. The Toronto Stock Exchange is the world’s seventh-largest stock exchange by market capitalization.[154] The five largest financial institutions of Canada, collectively known as the Big Five, have national offices in Toronto.
The city is an important centre 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, such as Four Seasons Hotels and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.
Although much of the region’s manufacturing activities take place outside the city limits, Toronto continues to be a wholesale and distribution point for the industrial sector. The city’s strategic position along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor and its road and rail connections help support the nearby production of motor vehicles, iron, steel, food, machinery, chemicals and paper. The completion of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959 gave ships access to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean.
Toronto’s unemployment rate was 6.7% as of July 2016.[155] According to the website Numbeo, Toronto’s cost of living plus rent index was second highest in Canada (of 31 cities).[156] The local purchasing power was the sixth lowest in Canada, mid-2017.[157] The average monthly social assistance caseload for January to October 2014 was 92,771. The number of seniors living in poverty increased from 10.5% in 2011 to 12.1% in 2014. Toronto’s 2013 child poverty rate was 28.6%, the highest among large Canadian cities of 500,000 or more residents.[158]
The grid of major city streets was laid out by a concession road system, in which major arterial roads are 6,600 ft (2.0 km) apart (with some exceptions, particularly in Scarborough and Etobicoke, as they used a different survey). Major east-west arterial roads are generally parallel with the Lake Ontario shoreline, and major north–south arterial roads are roughly perpendicular to the shoreline, though slightly angled north of Eglinton Avenue. This arrangement is sometimes broken by geographical accidents, most notably the Don River ravines. Toronto’s grid north is approximately 18.5° to the west of true north. Many arterials, particularly north–south ones, due to the city originally being within the former York County, continue beyond the city into the 905 suburbs and further into the rural countryside.
There are a number of municipal expressways and provincial highways that serve Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. In particular, Highway 401 bisects the city from west to east, bypassing the downtown core. It is the busiest road in North America,[252] and one of the busiest highways in the world.[253][254] Other provincial highways include Highway 400 which connects the city with Northern Ontario and beyond and Highway 404, an extension of the Don Valley Parkway into the northern suburbs. The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), North America’s first divided intercity highway, terminates at Toronto’s western boundary and connects Toronto to Niagara Falls and Buffalo. The main municipal expressways in Toronto include the Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, and to some extent, Allen Road. Toronto’s traffic congestion is one of the highest in North America, and is the second highest in Canada after Vancouver.[255]
Toronto is a central transportation hub for road, rail and air networks in Southern Ontario. There are many forms of transport in the city of Toronto, including highways and public transit. Toronto also has an extensive network of bicycle lanes and multi-use trails and paths.
Toronto’s main public transportation system is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).[68] The backbone of its public transport network is the Toronto subway system, which includes three heavy-rail rapid transit lines spanning the city, including the U-shaped Line 1 and east–west Line 2. Line 3 is a light metro line that exclusively serves the city’s eastern district of Scarborough.
The TTC also operates an extensive network of buses and streetcars, with the latter serving the downtown core, and buses providing service to many parts of the city not served by the sparse subway network. TTC buses and streetcars use the same fare system as the subway, and many subway stations offer a fare-paid area for transfers between rail and surface vehicles.
There have been numerous plans to extend the subway and implement light-rail lines, but many efforts have been thwarted by budgetary concerns. Since July 2011, the only subway-related work is the Line 1 extension north of Sheppard West station (formerly named Downsview) to Vaughan Metropolitan Centre in Vaughan, a suburb north of Toronto. By November 2011, construction on Line 5 Eglinton began. Line 5 is scheduled to finish construction by 2022.[241][242] In 2015, the Ontario government promised to fund Line 6 Finch West which is to be completed by 2023. In 2019, the Government of Ontario released a transit plan for the Greater Toronto Area which includes a new 16-kilometres Ontario Line,[243] Line 1 extension to Richmond Hill Centre[244] and an extension for Line 5 Eglinton to Toronto Pearson Airport.[245][246]
Toronto’s century-old Union Station is also getting a major renovation and upgrade which would be able to accommodate more rail traffic from GO Transit, Via Rail, UP Express and Amtrak.[247] Construction on a new Union Station Bus Terminal is also in the works with an expected completion in 2020.[248] Toronto’s public transit network also connects to other municipal networks such as York Region Transit, Viva, Durham Region Transit, and MiWay.
The Government of Ontario operates a regional rail and bus transit system called GO Transit in the Greater Toronto Area. GO Transit carries over 250,000 passengers every weekday (2013) and 57 million annually, with a majority of them travelling to or from Union Station.[249][250] Metrolinx is currently implementing Regional Express Rail into its GO Transit network and plans to electrify many of its rail lines by 2030.[251]
Consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world, Toronto enjoys a reputation as an exciting, diverse, clean, and safe city to set up home.
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, whereas TCDSB and TDSB are English first language school boards.
TDSB operates the most schools among the four Toronto-based school boards, with 451 elementary schools, 105 secondary schools, and five adult learning centres.[262] TCDSB operates 163 elementary schools, 29 secondary schools, three combined institutions, and one adult learning centre. CSV operates 11 elementary schools, and three secondary schools in the city.[263] MonAvenir operates nine elementary schools,[264] and three secondary schools in Toronto.[265]
Five public universities are based in Toronto. Four of these universities are based in downtown Toronto: OCAD, Ryerson, the Université de l’Ontario français, and the University of Toronto. The University of Toronto also operates two satellite campuses, one of which is in the city’s eastern district of Scarborough, while the other is in the neighbouring city of Mississauga. York University is the only Toronto-based university not situated in downtown Toronto, operating a campus in the northwestern portion of North York, and a secondary campus in midtown Toronto. The University of Guelph-Humber is also based in northwestern Toronto, although it is not an independent public university capable of issuing its own degrees. Guelph-Humber is jointly managed by the University of Guelph, based in Guelph, Ontario, and Humber College in 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. Examples of such institutions include The Royal Conservatory of Music, which includes the Glenn Gould School; the Canadian Film Centre, a media training institute founded by filmmaker Norman Jewison; and Tyndale University, a Christian post-secondary institution and Canada’s largest seminary.
The Toronto Public Library[266] consists of 100[267] branches with more than 11 million items in its collection.[268]
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, Birchmount 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.
In 2007, Toronto was reported as having some of the longer average emergency room waiting times in Ontario. Toronto hospitals at the time employed a system of triage to ensure life-threatening injuries receive rapid treatment.[237] After initial screening, initial assessments by physicians were completed within the waiting rooms themselves for greater efficiency, within a median of 1.2 hours. Tests, consultations, and initial treatments were also provided within waiting rooms. 50% of patients waited 4 hours before being transferred from the emergency room to another room.[237] The least-urgent 10% of cases wait over 12 hours.[237] The extended waiting-room times experienced by some patients were attributed to an overall shortage of acute care beds.[237]
Toronto’s Discovery District[238] is a centre of research in biomedicine. It is on a 2.5-square-kilometre (620-acre) research park that is integrated into Toronto’s downtown core. It is also home to the MaRS Discovery District,[239] which was created in 2000 to capitalize on the research and innovation strength of the Province of Ontario. Another institute is the McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine (MCMM).[240]
Specialized hospitals are also outside of the downtown core. These hospitals include the Baycrest Health Sciences geriatric hospital and the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital for children with disabilities.
Toronto is also host to a wide variety of health-focused non-profit organizations that work to address specific illnesses for Toronto, Ontario and Canadian residents. Organizations include Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Alzheimer Society of Canada, Alzheimer Society of Ontario and Alzheimer Society of Toronto, all located in the same office at Yonge–Eglinton, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada, the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, Cystic Fibrosis Canada, the Canadian Mental Health Association, the ALS Society of Canada, and many others. These organizations work to help people within the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, or Canada who are affected by these illnesses. Toronto is also home to the Geneva Centre for Autism. As well, most of these organizations engage in fundraising to promote research, services, and public awareness.
Toronto has a diverse array of public spaces, from city squares to public parks overlooking ravines. Nathan Phillips Square is the city’s main square in downtown, contains the 3D Toronto sign,[190] and forms the entrance to City Hall. Yonge–Dundas Square, near City Hall, has also gained attention in recent years as 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. The Toronto Public Space Committee is an advocacy group concerned with the city’s public spaces. In recent years, Nathan Phillips Square has been refurbished with new facilities, and the central waterfront along Queen’s Quay West has been updated recently with a new street architecture and a new square next to Harbourfront Centre.
In the winter, Nathan Phillips Square, Harbourfront Centre, and Mel Lastman Square feature popular rinks for public ice-skating. Etobicoke’s Colonel Sam Smith Trail opened in 2011 and is Toronto’s first skating trail. Centennial Park and Earl Bales Park offer outdoor skiing and snowboarding slopes with a chairlift, rental facilities, and lessons. Several parks have marked cross-country skiing trails.
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 Bellwoods Park. An almost hidden park is the compact Cloud Gardens,[191] which has both open areas and a glassed-in greenhouse, near Queen and Yonge. 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 managed by the city include High Park, Humber Bay Park, Centennial Park, Downsview Park, Guild Park and Gardens, Sunnybrook Park and Morningside Park.[192] Toronto also operates several public golf courses. Most ravine lands and river bank floodplains in Toronto are public parklands. After Hurricane Hazel in 1954, construction of buildings on floodplains was outlawed, and private lands were bought for conservation. In 1999, Downsview Park, a former military base in North York, initiated an international design competition to realize its vision of creating Canada’s first urban park. The winner, “Tree City”, was announced in May 2000. Approximately 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres), or 12.5 percent of Toronto’s land base is maintained parkland.[193] Morningside Park is the largest park managed by the city, which is 241.46 hectares (596.7 acres) in size.[193]
In addition to public parks managed by the municipal government, 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 centred around the Rouge River and encompasses several municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area.[194]
