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For other uses, see Toronto (disambiguation).

Toronto is Canada's largest city and 4th largest in North America by population and the provincial capital of Ontario. Toronto's population is 2,481,494 (2001 Census), and the population of the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) is estimated at 5,304,100 in 2005 (Statistics Canada). A Greater Toronto Area (GTA), slightly larger than the Toronto CMA, is defined by provincial authorities for urban planning purposes. Residents of Toronto are called Torontonians (in French: Torontois). The city is part of the Golden Horseshoe, a densely populated region in Ontario of around eight million people. Approximately one-quarter of the Canadian population lives within the Golden Horseshoe, and about one-sixth of all Canadian jobs lie within the city limits.

Toronto is a global city, exerting significant regional, national, and international influence, and is one of the world's most multicultural cities. Toronto is Canada's financial centre and 'economic engine,' as well as one of the country's most important cultural, art, and health sciences centres. In January 2005, it was designated by the federal government as one of Canada's cultural capitals. It is one of the safest cities for living in North America: its violent crime rate is lower than that of any major U.S. metropolitan area and is one of the lowest in Canada, though there have been some notable shootouts recently and concomitant calls for increased gun control.

The current City of Toronto was – in 1998 – amalgamated from its six prior municipalities and regional government. The current mayor of Toronto is David Miller. His predecessor, and first mayor of the amalgamated city, was Mel Lastman. The last mayor of the pre-amalgamated city was Barbara Hall.

History

Main article: History of Toronto

The Toronto area was home to a number of First Nations groups who lived on the shore of Lake Ontario. The first European presence was the French trading fort Fort Rouillé established in 1750. The first large influx of Europeans was by United Empire Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution. In 1793 Toronto, then known as York, was named capital of the new colony of Upper Canada. The city steadily grew during the nineteenth century, becoming one of the main destinations of immigrants to Canada. In the second half of the twentieth century Toronto surpassed Montreal as the economic capital of Canada and as its largest city.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Toronto

Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. In 2004, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) ranked Toronto second, behind Miami, in its "List of World Cities with the Largest Percentage of Foreign-born Population". Though ranking first, Miami's foreign-born population is mostly Hispanic, whereas Toronto's is significantly more diverse. Toronto also ranked ahead of Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York City, Singapore, and Sydney.

Toronto represents a multicultural mosaic. The 2001 Canadian census indicates 42.8% of Toronto's population being of a visible minority. In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that the visible minority proportion will comprise a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012.

A majority of Torontonians still claim their ethnic origins as from Britain and Ireland, either in whole or in part, with significant numbers of Chinese, Italians, Vietnamese, South Asians, and others in the city. This has yielded a unique combination of communities and neighbourhoods that are often strikingly different from one another.

Roman Catholicism is the largest faith in the city of Toronto (not the CMA), accounting for 31.4% in 2001, followed by the Anglican Church (21.1%) and other Christian denominations (8.8%). Other faiths such as Islam account for 6.7% of the population, Hinduism (4.8%), Jewish (4.2%) and other communities like Buddhism, Sikhism and Eastern Religions account for 4.0% of the population. 18.8% had no religious affiliation.

While English is the predominant language (51.8%) spoken by Torontonians, Statistics Canada reports that other language groups are significant, including Chinese and Italian. Only 1.4% of city residents claim French (Canada's other official language) as their mother tongue.

Source: [1]

Geography and climate

The City of Toronto covers an area of 641 km² (247 square miles) and is bounded by Lake Ontario to the south, Etobicoke Creek and Highway 427 to the west, Steeles Avenue to the north, and the Rouge River to the east.

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) extends beyond the city boundaries and includes the regional municipalities of Halton, Peel, York and Durham.

The GTA is part of a larger, natural ecosystem known as the Greater Toronto Bioregion. This ecosystem is bounded by Lake Ontario, the Niagara Escarpment, and the Oak Ridges Moraine, and includes several watersheds that drain into Lake Ontario. It is also located at the northern extent of the Carolinian forest zone.

Toronto's climate is moderated by Lake Ontario; its climate is among the mildest in Canada east of the Rocky Mountain range. That said, the climate has great annual variability, particularly during the winter months. Most years it receives less snowfall during the winter than most other Canadian cities, and mild periods occur throughout the winter (temperatures in the 10-15°C range (50s°F) are not uncommon in the winter) triggering regular melting, so there are periods with little or no snow on the ground. During the winter months, daytime high temperatures average just at or below freezing, average January maximum is -1°C (30°F) (although residents usually endure two or three bitter cold snaps each year).

Due to its location on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario it is not so prone to heavy, wind-whipped lake effect snow squalls experienced more often in nearby American cities such as Rochester, Buffalo and Syracuse, NY or elsewhere in Southern Ontario, e.g. Barrie and London. All these cities are located to the south or east of The Lakes making them more vulnerable to predominate winds creating lake effect snow.

Despite this, there is usually at least one or more heavy snowfalls with at least 20 cm (8 in) during each winter season. They are often accompanied by strong east or north-east winds fetching additional moisture from Lake Ontario. Average winter snowfall is 133 cm (52 in).

Summer maximum temperatures typically range from 25–32°C (77–90°F) and are usually accompanied by moderate to high humidity, though temperatures higher than 32°C (90°F) are not unexpected and occasionally approach 38°C (100°F). Such intense heat episodes generally last no more than a few days but can be uncomfortable as they are usually coupled with high humidity and smog. In recent years, air pollution has become a greater problem on many summer days, mostly of as a result of increasing amounts of vehicular exhaust and transported air pollution from heavy industry in the Midwest United States and Southern Ontario. There were a record 52 days with "smog warnings" over the summer of 2005, far exceeding the previous annual record of 28 days in 2001. Sunshine is abundant through summer, but severe thunderstorms are a regular occurrence and can pop up quickly, especially west and north of the city, which is prone to "lake breeze thunderstorms" that set up on the "lake breeze front" where powerful squall lines can develop quickly on hot summer afternoons. 1. In August 2005 there were two such heavy storms that created havoc, the first occurred on August 2, 2005 and is thought to have played a contributing factor in the Air France Airbus crash landing into a ravine that afternoon. The second happened on the afternoon of August 19, 2005 in what has been described as a "once in a thousand year" event, up to 183 mm (over 7 in) of rain fell in parts of the northern end of the city in under a couple of hours. Numerous roadways and bridges were washed out and insurance claims from backed up sewers and flood damage exceeded $500 million - the worst flood in Toronto in 51 years. One major thoroughfare, Finch Avenue West, was completely washed out by Black Creek creating a huge 7m (23')deep hole. Re-construction of the roadway is still underway as of January 2006.

Springs and Autumns feature varied, changeable weather with typically alternating periods of dry, sunny weather and rain. Nights are generally cool, but frosts are rare in the city. Snow can fall in early spring or late fall but usually melts quickly or even before making contact with the ground. Also it is at these times of year where great temperature contrasts (up to 30°C) can occur in a short time frame. Along the Lake Ontario shoreline, spring days tend to be much cooler than further inland, whereas from late summer to early winter, nights are warmer the closer you are to the lake.

The highest temperatures in Toronto was 41°C (105°F) recorded on 3 consecutive days from July 7-July 9, 1936. The coldest -33°C (-25°F) was recorded on January 10, 1859. Annual average precipitation is 83.4 cm (32.8 in).

Government

Main article: Politics of Toronto

Torontonians elect representatives to the federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government. 22 Members of Parliament (MPs) representing Toronto sit in the House of Commons in Ottawa, and another 22 Members of Ontario's Provincial Parliament (MPPs) sit in the Legislative Assembly in Queen's Park, located in Toronto. Being Ontario's capital, many provincial offices are located in the city.

Toronto's local government consists of 44 elected councillors (representing around 55,000 people each), who along with the mayor, make up the Toronto City Council. Toronto elects a new government every three years, in November. The City of Toronto represents the fifth largest municipal government in North America, and has an operating budget of $7.1 billion CDN. This operating budget is comprised of $2.5 billion dollars of funds from the Government of Ontario for purposes they mandate such as Toronto Public Health, $2.0 billion for special purpose bodies including the Toronto Public Library and Toronto Zoo, $1.7 billion of directly controlled money, and $0.9 billion for capital financing and non-programs ^[2].

The current municipal government is rooted in the creation of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (known more popularly as "Metro") in 1954. This new regional government, which encompassed the smaller communities of East York, Etobicoke, Forest Hill, Leaside, Long Branch, Mimico, New Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Swansea, Toronto, Weston, and York, was created in light of the need for more coordination of city services. The postwar boom resulted in suburbanization, and it was felt that a coordinated land use planning strategy, as well as shared services, would be more efficient.

These thirteen townships, villages, towns, and cities continued to exist independently of the regional government, and continued to provide some local services to their residents. Gradually, the Metro government began taking over management of services that crossed municipal boundaries, most notably highways, water, and public transit.

On January 1, 1967, several of the smaller municipalities were amalgamated with larger ones, reducing their number to six. Forest Hill and Swansea became part of Toronto; Long Branch, Mimico, and New Toronto joined Etobicoke; Weston merged with York; and Leaside amalgamated with East York.

This arrangement lasted until 1998, when the regional level of government was abolished and the six municipalities (Toronto, Etobicoke, North York, East York, York, and Scarborough) were amalgamated into a single municipality or "megacity". Many people criticised this change, which came on top of a massive "downloading" of provincial services to the municipal level, with little to no new revenue available. A plebiscite indicated that a majority of the citizens of Toronto opposed amalgamation, but criticisms were raised about the leading nature of the question asked. In Canada (and Ontario), plebiscites are not legally binding. The Province of Ontario under Premier Mike Harris had the power to ignore the result and did so. Mel Lastman, the long-time mayor of North York before the amalgamation, was the first mayor of the new "megacity" of Toronto.

In terms of electoral politics, Toronto has recently been a Stronghold for the Liberal Party both federally and provincially, except in the downtown area which tends to support the NDP provincially. The Conservatives have no Toronto members in either the federal or provincial legislatures, although, most of the right wing members of the Liberal Party are from Toronto. Toronto supported the right wing government of Mike Harris during the 1995 and 1999 Ontario elections, and a right-of-centre Mayor, Mel Lastman during the 1997 and 2000 Toronto elections.

Economy

Toronto is a port of entry, as well as being an important commercial, financial, and industrial hub. It is the banking and stock exchange centre of the country, and is Canada's primary wholesale and distribution point. Its importance as a seaport increased after the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, but has since diminished and is disused (see: Waterfront). Ontario's wealth of raw materials and hydroelectric power have made Toronto a primary centre of industry. The city and its surrounding area produces more than half of Canada's manufactured goods. Until the 1970s, Toronto was the second largest city in Canada, after Montreal. The economic growth of Toronto was greatly stimulated by the development of the auto industry and of large mineral resources in its hinterland, and by the completion in 1959 of the St. Lawrence Seaway which allowed ships access to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean. Further growth in the Toronto area is often attributed to the rise of Quebec separatism, though the extent of its influence is still contested by some, who argue that its effect was exaggerated by the English media. During the 1970s, the Quebec Liberal Party and the Parti Québécois enacted a series of French-language laws, which were perceived as unfavourable towards English-language businesses (especially Multinationals, whose markets extended far beyond Quebec's borders) and English-speaking Montrealers, and some of the former (including the Bank of Montreal) and a number of the latter relocated to Toronto where French is not necessary for business.

As the business and financial capital of the country, Toronto hosts the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), the third largest stock exchange in North America by market capitalisation and sixth in the world (see List of stock exchanges for complete rankings). The TSX has led North American exchanges by being the second to trade electronically and the first to become listed publicly; in the last decade, it has also generally outperformed various major stock exchanges worldwide. The Toronto financial industry is based on Bay Street, the city's equivalent to Wall Street in New York.

A number of major corporations are based in the city, including the Hudson's Bay Company, Manulife Financial, TD Canada Trust, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, Celestica, Four Seasons Hotels, Rogers Communications, MDS Inc. and many others. Numerous other companies are based in the Greater Toronto Area outside of the city limits, such as Nortel, IBM Canada, and Magna International.

In recent years, Toronto has become one of the centres of Canada's film industry, along with Vancouver, due to the lower cost of producing films and television shows in Canada. The city's streets and landmarks can be seen in a variety of different films, mimicking the streets of major American cities such as Chicago and New York.

The City of Toronto's gross domestic product (GDP) is US$225 billion and Metropolitan Toronto's GDP is US$305 billion.

Education

Universities and colleges

Toronto is home to a number of educational institutions, including the largest university in Canada, the University of Toronto, which has a student population of more than 60,000 across three campuses (one downtown, one in Scarborough, and another in Mississauga).

York University, the third largest university in Canada, has a student population of more than 50,000 students across two campuses. It houses Glendon College, one of the only two post-secondary educational institutions in the country where all students are taught in both English and French (the other being the University of Ottawa). Osgoode Law School is a branch of York University and serves as the largest law faculty in Ontario.

Toronto is also the site of Ryerson University, home to approximately 20,000 full-time students.

Other schools include the Royal Conservatory of Music and its associated Glenn Gould School ,which are internationally recognised centres for musical training, and the highly respected Ontario College of Art and Design, the fourth-largest art school in North America. Toronto has four post-secondary community colleges—Seneca College, Humber College, Centennial College, and George Brown College—scattered across 29 campuses. Recently, Toronto's community colleges have begun either offering their own bachelor's degree programmes or operating joint degree programmes with neighbouring universities.

Toronto also has several private and independent schools, at the secondary and post-secondary levels. These include the International Academy of Design and Technology, Trebas Institute and Tyndale University College and Seminary. There are also specialty schools such as the Ontario Science Centre Science School.

Toronto, like many other Canadian cities, hosts a growing number of private English as a Second Language (ESL) schools and is home to as many as 10,000 ESL students at a time. These students come primarily from Latin America, East Asia and German-speaking Europe with surprisingly few coming from nearby French Canada.

K-12 schools

Toronto's public schools are operated by the Toronto District School Board and the separate Toronto Catholic District School Board. In addition there are several well known private primary and secondary schools including Upper Canada College (UCC), St. Michael's College School (SMCS), Havergal College, Bishop Strachan School (BSS), De La Salle College, Branksome Hall, Crescent School, Montcrest School, Royal St. George's College (RSGC), St. Clement's School, University of Toronto Schools (UTS), The York School (TYS), and Toronto French School (TFS).

There is also a strong alternative school movement many of which are associated with the Toronto District School Board or private organizations.

Transport

Railways

Toronto is served by intercity VIA Rail, Ontario Northland, and Amtrak trains through Union Station, a grand neoclassical structure in the heart of the city's downtown, which is shared with GO Transit's commuter trains. See GO Transit for system details. Toronto may soon have its own high-speed airport to downtown rail link with the proposed construction of the Blue22 transit route, although this has not met final approval.

Bus terminals

A large GO bus terminal is located next to Union Station. However, the main inter-city bus terminal is at Bay & Dundas.

Highways

There are a number of freeways that serve the city and the Greater Toronto Area. Forming part of Toronto's municipal expressway system, the Don Valley Parkway (or colloquially, the DVP or sarcastically as the 'Don Valley Parking Lot') connects the city's eastern and northern suburbs to downtown, while the Gardiner Expressway (or colloquially, "the Gardiner") connects its western suburbs to the downtown core. Extending northward from the Don Valley Parkway is Highway 404, towards Markham, Richmond Hill, Aurora, and Newmarket. Extending westward from the Gardiner Expressway is the Queen Elizabeth Way (often called the QEW), which heads towards Hamilton, Niagara, and Fort Erie (borders New York State).

Highway 401 (or simply, "the 401") acts as a by-pass of downtown Toronto, and is one of the most congested highways in North America. It connects to Highway 427 (an important connector highway between the Airport and Downtown) , Highway 400 (north to Barrie and beyond into Ontario's "cottage country"), William R. Allen Road, and Highway 409, a connector route from Hwy. 401 to Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Highway 407 ETR is not located within Toronto proper, but is a major highway in the Greater Toronto Area acting as a secondary by-pass around the northern end of Toronto, stretching from Burlington in the west to Pickering in the east. It is an electronic toll road with no physical toll booths, instead depending on automatic recognition of license plates or electronic toll collection, undergoing continuous upgrades since the relatively high tolls make this affordable for the 407 ETR owners.

Public transport

Within the city, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) operates an extensive system of subways, buses,RT, and streetcars, covering 1,200 km (754 miles) of routes and heavily used by people who live in or near the city. A single flat fare is good for any trip within the city regardless of distance or transfers required with the exception of contracted routes that travel outside of the city and downtown express routes. Toronto has the second highest transit system ridership in the U.S. and Canada (after New York).

The backbone of the TTC is a relatively simple subway system with two main lines, the U-shaped Yonge-University-Spadina Line and the east-west Bloor-Danforth Line, running along principal streets and connecting Toronto's outlying areas with its downtown core. Each line also connects to a secondary feeder near one of its outer ends: the Sheppard subway line in the north and the Scarborough RT in the east making it the second most extensive in Canada after the Montreal Metro.

The rest of the city is primarily served by a network of about 150 bus routes, many of them forming a grid along main streets, and almost all of them connecting to one or more subway or RT stations. A more distinctive feature of the TTC is the streetcar system, one of the few remaining in North America with a substantial amount of in-street operation. Most of the 11 streetcar routes are concentrated in the downtown core, and all connect to the subway.

Interregional commuter train and bus service is provided by GO Transit. GO trains and buses connect the city to the rest of the Greater Toronto Area.

Airports

Main article: List of airports in the Greater Toronto Area

Toronto's primary airport is Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), straddling Toronto's western boundary with Mississauga. Pearson's air traffic is just under 30 million passengers annually [3] and it is the world's largest originator of air traffic into the U.S. The city also has a smaller commercial airport, the Toronto City Centre Airport (YTZ). Situated on the Toronto Islands, the City Centre Airport is primarily a general aviation airport, but Air Canada Jazz does operate commercial flights. In recent years the destinations served from YTZ have been reduced, and currently Ottawa is the only destination for commercial flights. It is connected to the mainland by a short ferry that is free to airline passengers.

The Hamilton International Airport is an alternate, relief airport to Pearson, but not in the GTA. Situated in Hamilton, 85 km (53 miles) southwest of Toronto, it is also a terminus for low-cost carrier, charter airline, and courier traffic. There are a number of other general aviation airports in and around the city, including Buttonville Municipal Airport, Markham Airport, Oshawa Airport, Brampton Airport, and Burlington Airpark.

Cycling

Toronto has an extensive bicycle culture. There are numerous bicycle paths and bicycle routes and most areas of the city are reasonably bicycle-friendly. The municipal government encourages bicycle use through its Toronto Bike Plan. Community groups sponsor activities such as a Yellow bicycle program.

Ferries

Passenger ferry service to the Toronto Islands is provided by the city's Parks, Forestry and Recreation division. Ferries run year-round from the Toronto Ferry Docks at the foot of Bay Street to Hanlan's Point, Centre Island, and Ward's Island. A very short ferry run is provided by the Toronto Port Authority from the foot of Bathurst street to the Toronto City Centre Airport. The port authority announced in February of 2006 that it would expand this service as part of a deal to expand flights out of the airport [4]

A high-speed passenger/vehicle ferry service across Lake Ontario to Rochester, New York was launched on June 17, 2004, using the vessel Spirit of Ontario I under the marketing term "The Breeze". After experiencing a financing-caused service interruption, it returned to service June 30, 2005, under the ownership of the City of Rochester and operated by Bay Ferries Great Lakes Limited, using the marketing term "The Cat". After an unprofitable summer of operation mostly due to delays, and despite adequate ridership, the newly elected Mayor of Rochester announced on January 10, 2006 that the service would be discontinued and the City would be looking for a buyer for the ship.

Media & Communication

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Attractions

Toronto's most famous landmark is the CN Tower, a 553 metre (1,815 ft) tall steel and concrete transmission tower, the tallest free-standing land structure in the world. Directly west of it is the Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome), the world's first sporting arena to feature a fully retractable roof. It is currently home to the Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Argonauts. Nearby, the Air Canada Centre is the home of the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Toronto Raptors, and the Toronto Rock. It was originally built to replace the legendary Maple Leaf Gardens.

Toronto's City Hall is one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Built to replace its predecessor — now known simply as Old City Hall — its modernist style still impresses today. (It has been used as a backdrop in American films to depict a city of the future.) Directly in front of City Hall is Nathan Phillips Square, a public space that frequently houses concerts, art displays, a weekly farmers' market, and other public events. It is also the site of a reflecting pool that, during the winter, becomes a popular skating rink. Dundas Square, nearby, is the city's newest and flashiest public square, located across the street from the Toronto Eaton Centre, a large, popular shopping mall. Queen's Park, a historic scenic park and public space, surrounds Ontario's Legislative Assembly.

The Toronto Islands form part of the largest car-free urban community in North America. Accessible by ferry, "the Islands" include a public park and a children's amusement park, Centreville. The Islands are also home to the Toronto City Centre Airport. The city has several large parks, the best known being High Park to the west of downtown. The city is crisscrossed by a network of ravines that are still almost wholly undeveloped.

Other popular attractions include the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Ontario Science Centre, the Leslie Street Spit, the Toronto Zoo, Little Glenn, and the city's oldest cathedrals, the Roman Catholic St. Michael's Cathedral and the Anglican St. James' Cathedral, both on Church Street. Casa Loma, a castle overlooking downtown Toronto, is one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.

Shopping

Many specialty shops can be found in Toronto near Bloor & Bay, including exclusive boutiques and toy stores. Thanks possibly to the climate, Toronto has an extensive set of underground shopping areas, typically operating 9am to 5pm in the PATH complex centered roughly at King & Bay, as well as a few others such as at Yonge & Bloor. These stores are generally fashion stores, but some specialty toy stores and access to larger stores are available in these complexes.

Along Queen St. East can be found Toronto's biggest camera stores. Big-box stores are not generally found in Downtown Toronto, but the suburbs have many large malls, big-box stores as well as specialty stores, such as near Orfus Road (discount fashions, lighting, etc.) close to Yorkdale mall.

The fashion district is located near King & Spadina, close to the old Chinatown to the north and entertainment district to the east. It is here that Sunday shopping in Toronto first got its start in the 1980s.

St. Lawrence market is a large, historic vendors market with an open air section during the summer months featuring fresh locally grown produce. Kensington Market also has an outdoor vendor section located close to Chinatown.

The city itself has many large and unique malls and shopping centers. Shopping in Toronto has become a large draw for tourists, with for example, the Eaton Centre receiving a special designation as a tourist attraction in the 1980s.

Restaurants

Toronto is touted as one of the top cities in North America for fine dining and quality of restaurants. It has been argued that toronto is rated as the number 2 in North America behind New York to the amount of quality restaurants that the city maintains. Toronto boasts a wide variety of different high-end cullinary cuisines due to the city being classified as one of the most diverse and multi-cultural within the world.

Culture

Main article: Culture in Toronto

Exhibits

Toronto has a world-renowned museum, the Royal Ontario Museum (frequently referred to as "the ROM"), and one of North America's largest art galleries, the Art Gallery of Ontario (also known as the "AGO"). Exhibition Place is the home of the Canadian National Exhibition (the CNE or "the Ex"), an annual event that takes place in August which also hosts the Canadian International Air Show. Nearby Ontario Place is a popular amusement park on the waterfront.

It has a vibrant visual arts scene, with artist-run venues such as Mercer Union and YYZ Artists' Outlet presenting important exhibitions of contemporary art from both the local area and abroad.

Performing arts

Toronto is home to Canada's most active English language theatre scene, and is considered to be the third largest centre for English language theatre in the world, behind New York City and London. It is home to both acclaimed works by companies as Soulpepper, the Canadian Stage, and Tarragon and large Broadway style musicals. Several Broadway theatrical hits originated in Toronto, such as the 1993 revival of Show Boat and Ragtime. Venues for theatre include the Canon Theatre (formerly Pantages Theatre and Pantages Cinema), the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres, the Princess of Wales Theatre, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, the Poor Alex Theatre, and the Harbourfront Centre. It is the mandate of Theatres such as The Factory Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille to produce distinctly Canadian Theatre and support local artists. Canadian artists that have started in these theatres include George F. Walker, Michael Healey and Ann-Marie MacDonald.

Musical venues in Toronto include the Toronto Centre for the Arts in North York; Roy Thomson Hall, home to Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO); and Massey Hall. The National Ballet of Canada is based in Toronto and performs at the Hummingbird Centre and formerly at the Walter Carsen Centre. It and the Opera will move to the Four Seasons Centre in 2006.

As Canada's largest city and the main centre of its recording industry, Toronto is also home to many Canadian pop, rock, and hip hop artists. This includes both musicians native to Toronto and those who have moved to Toronto from other towns and cities. The live music scene in Toronto is centred primarily in the Queen Street West area, part of what is known as the Entertainment District, although not all of Toronto's music venues are in this neighbourhood. More established acts play at venues such as Lee's Palace, The Opera House, The Horseshoe Tavern, The Mod Club, The Phoenix Concert Theatre, and Kool Haus (formerly known as the Warehouse). Major concert tours by stars are usually booked into larger venues such as Air Canada Centre, Hummingbird Centre, the Rogers Centre and the Molson Amphitheatre at Ontario Place.

Literature

The Greater Toronto Area is the centre of English Canadian literature and many of Canada's best known writers, such as Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, write and set their books in Toronto. Other prominent Toronto-based writers include Rohinton Mistry, Morley Callaghan, and George Elliott Clarke. Canada's English language publishing industry is mostly based in Toronto. It is home to major companies, such as McClelland and Stewart and smaller firms like House of Anansi Press and Coach House Books.

Both of Canada's English language national newspapers (the National Post and the Globe and Mail) are based in Toronto, as is Canada's largest-circulating daily newspaper (The Toronto Star) and many other major magazines and periodicals. The city is thus home to a large number of Canada's journalists. As a nexus of multilingual activity, Toronto has 79 ethnic periodicals.

Events

Toronto plays host to a variety of different events year-round. At the end of June annually, Toronto hosts one of North America's largest Gay Pride celebrations. In July, Caribana, the largest Caribbean festival in North America, attracts more than one million celebrants for the concerts, the food, the King and Queen of the Bands competition, and the very popular Caribana parade. The Molson Indy is also held in Toronto every year in July. In September, Hollywood celebrities, actors, writers, directors, and producers from around the world descend on the city for the Toronto International Film Festival, which, according to a variety of sources, has surpassed Cannes as the number one film festival in the world.

Tourism

Toronto has a thriving tourism industry as it has many landmarks and attractions, the most popular of which is the CN Tower. The city has largely recovered from the 2003 SARS outbreak; however, the tourism industry had to make certain cuts, with some elements not having yet returned to the status quo.

One of Toronto's major annual attractions is the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), attendance to which is a family tradition for some. Regular sporting events, such as home games of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Blue Jays, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Marlies, Toronto Rock, and the Argonauts, also bring many tourists to the city every year.

Music

Indie

• The legendary Horseshoe Tavern has been a live music venue for 52 years. Although its stage plays host to big name acts, the venue strives to be an artist- and industry-friendly venue, booking emerging Canadian and international artists.

• Sneaky Dees is another staple rock venue in the city. It boasts punk karaoke and occasionally known as Sneaky Disease. The stage plays host to shows for Canadian Music Week and the Wavelength Music Series, a weekly live music series started by independent musicians to foster the indie scene. Wavelength also includes a zine and an indie rock drop-in centre.

• The Queen West Art and Design District offers the hip Drake Underground in the bohemian Drake Hotel and the newer Gladstone Hotel with venues for a cross pollination of scenes. These stages are perfect for indie acts about to emerge from under the radar.

Source: "Indie nation," Canadian Geographic Online

Sports

Current professional franchises

Current semi-professional franchises

Major sporting venues

• Air Canada Centre - home of the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs, the NBA Toronto Raptors and the NLL Toronto Rock.
• Maple Leaf Gardens - Former home to the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs.
• Allan Lamport Stadium - named after Toronto Mayor Allan Lamport, City-owned facility
• Beatrice Ice Gardens - York University
• Birchmount Stadium - City-owned facility
• Christie Pits - home to the Toronto Maple Leafs (baseball), City-owned facility
• Esther Shiner Stadium - former home to York University Yeomens Football team
• Greenwood Racetrack - demolished and replaced be Woodbine Park and housing development
• Rexall Centre - home to National Tennis Centre at York University
• Ricoh Coliseum - formerly home of the AHL Roadrunners and current home of the AHL Marlies. On City land.
• Rogers Centre - Owned and used by MLB Toronto Blue Jays and also home to the CFL Toronto Argonauts
• Toronto Track and Field Centre at York University
• Varsity Stadium - University of Toronto, since demolished
• Varsity Arena - University of Toronto Varsity Blues Hockey
• Woodbine Race Track - owned by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission

City issues

Crime

Crime (including violent and gang crime) in Toronto has been generally decreasing over the past decade. Toronto's violent crime rates are extremely low compared to many cities in the U.S. and comparable to rates in larger European centres, and are low even compared with other Canadian cities.

Due to a spike in gun-related crimes/murders over the summer of 2005, largely attributed to the rise of gangs and the failure of Canadian officials to stem the rising tide, concern over gun- and gang-related crimes has received increased local media attention recently. There have been calls for increased policing, gun control, and stiffer sentences to help deal with the problem. Gang violence has been the main reason for the outburst of violence in Toronto, between 1997-2005 over two hundred gang related deaths have occured.

American gang experts have been brought in and increased funding for programs in troubled neighbourhoods have been recently initiated. There were 52 gun related murders out of a total of 78 homicides in 2005; thus, Toronto had a murder rate of about 3.1 per 100,000 - significantly higher than the rate in 1999 (1.3 per 100,000), but less than the peak years of the early 1990's and, is on par with the safest of American cities 1. A recent announcement that the provincial government will contribute half of the cost of hiring an additional 250 police officers, is viewed as a reactionary move to the increased violence.

The gun violence also became an issue during the recent Canadian federal election on January 23, 2006 in which Stephen Harper's Conservative Party was elected with a minority government. The Conservative position was viewed as more pro-police and advocated much stiffer sentencing for gun related crimes, while opposing tougher gun legislation, including the controversial gun registry passed by the Liberals. Despite these positions, the Conservatives could not make election inroads within Toronto not being able to procure one seat.

Toronto has a comparable or higher rate of car theft than various U.S. cities, although this is lower than in some other Canadian cities. Much of this has been attributed to organized crime, with stolen vehicles ending up being shipped overseas for sale.

Homelessness

Toronto is also struggling to come to grips with a nagging homeless problem which has ebbed and flowed throughout the years. Toronto has a considerably larger homelessness problem than many cities of similar size. In 2003, 31,985 individuals stayed at least once in a Toronto homeless shelter. [5]. Many programs and responsibilities have recently shifted to the city from the provincial and federal governments, with many arguing that the city must come up with new ways to raise revenue to fund these new responsibilities.

The issue of homeless in Toronto was front page news when in September 2002, when private security evicted the residents of Tent City, a development site in the Toronto portlands that was taken over by many homeless people who lived in improvised shelters.

Waterfront

Main article: Toronto waterfront

For decades, the disuse of the Toronto portlands and lack of development of the Toronto waterfront (also known as the harbourfront, though not to be confused with Harbourfront Centre), has been a major issue. Toronto's central business district is separated from the waterfront by an elevated highway, the Gardiner Expressway. Many contend that a series of condominium towers built along the waterfront in the 1990s and 2000s contribute to this separation. Parts of the formerly industrial area are now vacant and awaiting redevelopment. In 2004, investments from the Ontario government were made to encourage further development. In the area south of the Keating Channel (outflow for the Don River), known as the "Portlands", there have been many controversial approvals and proposals in the last few years. Because this area was entirely man-made and industrial (some remains so but most is vacant land), soil remediation is necessary before it can be put to other non-industrial uses so the redevelopment process is slow. Currently, a movie studio is being built on the site of the inactive Richard L. Hearn Power Plant and the fight continues over the proposal to build a 550mW gas fired co-generation plant on the same site.

The Toronto Port Authority (acronym TPA), an agency run by the federal government oversaw the construction of the newly improved Ferry Terminal that was completed with much fanfare on June 27, 2005. A customs facility was built in the terminal in conjunction with the Toronto-Rochester Ferry (launched in 2004 but cancelled after numerous setbacks and financial plagues in December 2005).

After the recent Conservative Party election victory, the TPA announced a new ferry terminal expansion and a double-deck ferry to upgrade the service between the Bathurst Quay and the Toronto City Centre Airport at the west end of the inner harbour. The city's mayor David Miller who cancelled the bridge originally proposed between the mainland and the airport and is against its expansion, is now left with his hands tied to prevent the TPA's move. This announcement will invariably lead to increased aviation traffic at the island airport, which had been falling over the years (already a new airline, Regco has ordered planes).

Computer leasing inquiry

A dominant issue in Toronto's municipal politics in recent years has been the Toronto Computer Leasing Inquiry, which investigated allegations of impropriety involving computer contracts between the city and MFP Financial Services. The inquiry, headed by Madam Justice (Denise) Bellamy, lasted three years and cost over $19.2 million (CDN). The final report, handed down in September of 2005, concluded that there was credible evidence that a former City of Toronto budget chief accepted a payoff from MFP, and that senior city staff were unduly influenced by sales tactics in the guise of entertainment and favours. Most recently, following the release of the report, Mayor David Miller has requested a criminal probe into the scandal.

Garbage

Another important issue is the city's garbage. As the city's last remaining landfill site, Keele Valley, neared capacity during the 1990s, it was found that no other municipality in Southern Ontario was willing to accept the garbage, but there was also no political support for a change to incineration. A deal was eventually made to ship Toronto's garbage to the Adams Mine, an abandoned open pit mine in Northern Ontario, once the Keele Valley site closed. But objections grew into vociferous controversy as the time neared, and eventually the agreement was cancelled.

By the time the Keele Valley site closed at the end of 2002, the city had made a new deal: its garbage is now shipped by truck to a site in Michigan.

But concerns with the border, and opposition from residents in Michigan, have promoted the need to look for alternate sites or expand the city's recycling programs. Toronto's contract with Michigan lasts until 2008, and includes an option to expand to 2010, but the city is actively seeking options to close the contract sooner. Even with 60% diversion through the green bin and recycling programs, residual waste from the Greater Toronto Area would amass 2,200 tonnes (2,425 tons) a day or 800,000 tonnes (882,000 tons) a year.

Besides the "blue box" (plastic and metal) and grey box (paper) programs, the city has been phasing in a green bin program to recover compostable materials; this will extend city-wide by the fall of 2005. However, the green bin program has come under criticism by watchgroups due to its cost, which is three times per tonne more to operate than currently shipping to Michigan.

Recently the Ottawa-based Plasco Energy Group has formulated a plan to process garbage, turning it into a synthetic gas. Plasco claims that by using an 8,000-degree Celsius (14,400°F) plasma flame, 100,000 tonnes of trash can ultimately produce 12 megawatts of power. Emissions are filtered with active carbon; the waste byproduct of this process is slag, which can be mixed with asphalt and used in road construction. According to a Toronto Star article (linked below), other companies offer similar technologies. Although a plan has yet to be approved, consent has been given to build a demonstration facility in Ottawa, and some Toronto city councillors have indicated their support for the program. [6]

Traffic gridlock

Over the last couple of decades, vehicle and (in particular) highway traffic has been increasing steadily in the Greater Toronto Area, however road and transit investments have been limited to small projects such as on the 404, the 407, Sheppard subway, and York Region's VIVA bus service. Urban sprawl is a major factor: some commuters travel significant distances within the city and GTA for employment. Another major issue is the discontinuity between transit authorities across various municipalities or perceived inefficiency of transit as a viable alternative for commuting. This contributes to gridlock: many single-occupant vehicles idle en route, adding to travel times and smog. A recent study showed that gridlock costs the GTA's economy approximately $6 billion annually in lost revenue. Agencies such as the CAA (Canadian Automobile Association), OTA (Ontario Trucking Association), other commercial transportation interests and some citizens believe that much of the current congestion can be traced to the fact that Toronto's ultimate freeway system as proposed originally was never completed. Today's network includes huge gaps, and after cancellation of the north-south Spadina Expressway in 1971, sucessive "anti-car" city councils have refused to address the issue, electing instead to direct funding to transit initiatives and encourage greater pedestrian and transit usage.

In March 2004, the Ontario government announced the creation of the "Greater Toronto Area Authority" (GTTA - not to be confused with GTAA, acronym for the Greater Toronto Airport Authourity) with the goal of facilitating improved integration between the city and suburban transport systems. One key element to this integration would be a single ticket or fare to better synchronise transfers between neighbouring transit systems and lower the costs commuters by having a "single fare" ticket. At that time, the federal, provincial, and municipal governments jointly announced a tripartite funding infusion of $1 billion for the TTC. In May 2004 the Ontario government, in partnership with the federal government, announced a $1 billion plus investment in the expansion of GO Transit. Although the TTC and has seen a relative stagnation in ridership over the past few years, GO Transit (serving mostly automobile-dependent suburbs and exurbs) has experienced gains in ridership.

Greenbelt

In March 2005, the provincial government unveiled the boundaries of a greenbelt around the Greater Toronto Area, a 7,200 square kilometre (2,780 mi²) area stretching from Niagara Falls to Peterborough. The greenbelt is designed to curb urban sprawl and to preserve valuable farmland surrounding the city. The decision remains controversial, as farmers and other critics say that the "development embargo" being placed on such lands forces down the value of farmland within the greenbelt, without providing compensation to its owners. Many cities have implemented growth boundaries of some kind, including Ottawa; Portland, Oregon; Frankfurt, Germany; Seoul, Korea and London, England; as a method of restricting urban growth.

Toronto and area

City suburbs and neighbourhoods

Main article: List of neighbourhoods in Toronto

From 1954 to 1998, the City of Toronto was one city within a larger federation of cities and municipalities called Metropolitan Toronto. When Metropolitan Toronto was amalgamated by the Ontario provincial government under Mike Harris to become one government, the City of Toronto was enlarged to include the former cities and municipalities of York, East York, North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough. All of these former cities or municipalities still maintain, in some ways, their own distinct identities; their names are still used by their residents. The areas within the former City of Toronto prior to the merger are still referred to as the old City of Toronto, the Inner City, Toronto Proper, or Downtown Toronto.

The former City of Toronto is still the most densely populated area of the current city of Toronto. It is also the business and the entertainment centre of Toronto.

The former inner ring suburbs of York and East York are older, predominantly middle-class areas, and they are also highly ethnically diverse. Much of the housing stock in these areas consists of post-war single-family houses and high-rises. Rosedale and the Bridle Path are upscale neighbourhoods located within the inner ring.

The outer ring suburbs of the former cities of Etobicoke, Scarborough, and North York are much more suburban, although they largely retain the grid patterns of the streets laid down before post-war suburbanization.

Toronto has over 200 neighbourhoods within the current city borders. This is why Toronto is often locally described as "a city of neighbourhoods."

Toronto's "905" exurbs

Further information: Greater Toronto Area

Before 1993, the telephone area code 416 included the entire Golden Horseshoe region from Clarington to Niagara Falls, Ontario. The area code was then split, with Metropolitan Toronto (now Toronto) alone remaining in 416, while the rest of the area became 905. In informal usage in Toronto, "905" quickly began to be used as shorthand for the belt of suburbs and exurbs surrounding the city, but not for places like Niagara Falls or Hamilton. Toronto itself may similarly be referred to as "416". (Subsequently both area codes 416 and 905 were overlaid with new codes, 647 and 289 respectively, but popular usage has not been affected by this.)

Toronto's exurbs, the major "905" municipalities surrounding the city (roughly from west to east), are:

Nomenclature

Nicknames

Nicknames for Toronto include:

• T.O. – an acrostic for Toronto, Ontario, or a false acrostic for Toronto; pronounced "Tee-Oh"
• T-dot – short for "T-dot, O-dot"
• The Big Smoke – a nickname it shares with many other cities
• Hogtown – referring to its importance in the 19th century as a site for growing, trading, and marketing livestock
• Toronto the Good – from its history as a bastion of 19th century Victorian morality (sometimes called Toronto the Bad now in reverse as a derogatory nickname)
• Methodist Rome – an analogy implicating the city as a centre for Canadian methodism, akin to Rome's role in Catholicism
• City of Churches
• Hollywood North – due to the many TV and movie productions in the city (shared with Vancouver)
• Queen City – a reference most commonly used by francophone Quebecers ("La Ville-Reine")
• Muddy York – derived from Toronto's previous name, York, and the weather's effect on its once-largely unpaved streets
• The 416 – 416 is the original telephone area code for much of the city (the other area code in Toronto is 647; 905 is used in the surrounding GTA exurbs)
• The Economic Engine of Canada
• The Most Ethnoculturally diverse City in the World
• The Most Multicultural City on Earth
• New York run by the Swiss – a take on Peter Ustinov's oft-quoted reference of the city to reporter John Bentley Mays in The Globe and Mail on 1 August 1987: "Toronto is a kind of New York operated by the Swiss." When reminded of this later at a reception in June 1992, he responded (again cited in The Globe), "I've learned it's really run by the Canadians."
• Belfast of America; Athens of the Dominion – similar glorified comparisons of foreign places
• Tehranto – a portmanteau of Tehran (the capital of Iran) and Toronto, so called by the substantial number of Iranians who live in the city.

Similarly:

• Scarberia – a portmanteau of Scarborough, Ontario, an expansive eastern Toronto suburb, and Siberia

Pronunciation

The stress is on the second syllable. Locals sometimes pronounce the city's name as "Toronno" (most often) or "Tronno", "Tronto", "Toranna", "Taranna", "Chronno" or "Chranna" (both with ch as in chime, not chrome) or even "Terawhnna" (listen to an example (help·info)). This is a reflection of the varieties of Canadian pronunciation and does not represent a unique pronunciation for the city name itself. Even the same local speaker may pronounce the name differently depending on the subject of the conversation in which it is used.

For instance, many Canadians pronounce the number "ninety nine" as something between "9-D-9" and "9-E-9", ommiting the "t", whereas many Britons or East Indians will distinctly pronounce "9-T-9". Thus while it is natural that many Canadians will say "Toronno", speakers whose dialects pronounce the "T" distinctly in words like "ninety nine" should do likewise when pronouncing "Toronto". In each case, the speaker merely pronounces "Toronto" in the way that is most natural in his or her dialect. Some Torontonians would often identify a local if he/she says "Toronno".

Even for Canadian speakers it is never outright incorrect to pronounce distinctly the second t in Toronto. Pronouncing it "Tor-on-toe" (with equal stress on each syllable) in casual speech is usually seen as a sign of someone who is not a native of the city. Canadian francophones pronounce it, "To-ron-to", in three syllables, with the french nasal on on the second syllable, and the accent on the third syllable.

Twinnings

Toronto is twinned with the following world cities:

• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• New York City, New York, U.S.A.
• Eilat, Israel
• Frankfurt, Germany
• Jakarta, Indonesia
• Kyiv, Ukraine
• New Delhi, India
• Milan, Italy
• Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
• Quito, Ecuador
• Sagamihara, Japan
• Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
• Thessaloniki, Greece
• Volgograd, Russia
• Warsaw, Poland
• Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
• Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.
• Sydney, Australia
• Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.A. (partnership is actually with former city of Scarborough, Ontario)

See also

• Metropolitan Toronto
• List of Torontonians
• List of Toronto mayors
• Toronto City Council
• 1976 Summer Paralympics
• List of hospitals in Toronto
• List of sports teams in Toronto
• List of malls in Toronto
• List of educational institutions in Toronto
• List of media outlets in Toronto
• List of neighbourhoods in Toronto
• List of attractions in Toronto
• List of parks in Toronto
• List of annual events in Toronto
• List of Toronto's 10 tallest skyscrapers
• Province of Toronto

External links

Official websites

• City of Toronto Official website for the city.
• Tourism Toronto Official tourism website for the city.

Tourism websites

• Fodor's Toronto City guide from Fodor's.
• Frommer's Toronto City guide from Frommer's.
• Toronto 4 Kids What to do with kids in Toronto? Find out!
• Spotlight Toronto Toronto's Entertainment Portal. A grip on Toronto's Restaurant,Lounge,Nightlife, and Event scene.
• Toronto Restaurants Reviews and listings of Toronto restaurants, organized alphabetically and categorized by cuisine.
• Toronto Life Restaurant guide, events calendar, city guide, best of the city.
• Dine.TO Local bars, restaurants and cafes search engine.

Other websites

• Toronto Maps Online and interactive city maps.
• Toronto Urban Indicators Online source for various statistics relating to Toronto.
• The Toronto Star Official website for the journal.
• The Toronto Sun
• Toronto Community Information and apartments for rent
• CBC Toronto local news from the CBC.
• Freshnews Toronto local news

Related wikilinks

• Wikitravel Toronto Toronto travel guide at Wikitravel.
• Wikicities Toronto Toronto Wiki at wikicities.com.

References

• The Canadian Encyclopedia - Toronto
• Robert Fulford, 1995. Accidental city: the transformation of Toronto. (ISBN 0921912919; ISBN 1551990105 (paperback)) Macfarlane, Walter & Ross: Toronto.
• Statistics Canada profile
• Toronto Photos
• Alan Rayburn. 2001. Naming Canada: stories about Canadian place names, 2nd ed. (ISBN 0-8020-8293-9) University of Toronto Press: Toronto.

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