Toronto

Toronto (English pronunciation:/tj LINKING LINK( listen), locally/tjě LINK LINK, /хtj LINK) is the capital of the province of Ontario and, with a population of 2 615 060 hectares. is the largest and most populous city in Canada, in addition to the financial center of that country. Its metropolitan area totals more than 6,202,225 inhabitants.

Located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, it is the fifth largest city in North America. Toronto is in the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the largest area metropolitan Canada, and is part of a densely populated region in south-central Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe, home to eight million people.

As the economic capital of Canada, Toronto is considered a global city and one of the world's leading financial cities. It leads the economic sectors of finance, business services, telecommunications, transportation, media communication, art, film, medical research, education, and tourism in Canada.

Toronto is famous for the CN Tower, which is 553 meters tall. The city is considered the center of Anglophone Canadian culture and plays host to many national celebrations.

Toronto's population is cosmopolitan, and it is a major destination for many immigrants to Canada. Toronto is the world's largest city in percentage of non-native-born residents; over 49% of the city's inhabitants were not born in Canada. Due to its low crime rate, environmental care and high standard of living, Toronto is regularly considered one of the best livable cities in the world. world. In addition, in 2006 it was classified as the most expensive city in Canada. Those born in Toronto are known as Torontonians.

In January 2005, Toronto was chosen by the Canadian government as one of the Cultural Capitals of Canada. Toronto has one of the best quality of life in North America, and is considered by many to be one of the best metropolises in the world to live in. It is one of the safest cities in America—its crime rate is lower than that of any major city on the continent, and one of the smallest in Canada.

In the neighboring city of Mississauga is the Toronto Pearson International Airport. Also, in 'the Toronto Islands' Within the city is the smaller Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

Etymology

The origin and meaning of the word "Toronto" is still a matter of debate. The most common definition of the word says that it comes from the Huron word toran-ten, which means 'meeting place'. However, others believe that the term in question comes from the Mohawk word tkaronto, which means 'where the trees stand above the water', referring to the waters north of the Present-day Lake Simcoe—the Mohawks called it "Lake Taronto" at the time. This shoreline was connected to the shoreline of Lake Ontario by a road that led to the Humber River and its mouth at Lake Ontario. As the road became more and more used, so did the term 'Toronto', also coming to be used to designate a French trading post near the mouth of the Humber River. Part of this confusion can be attributed to the succession of indigenous peoples who lived in the area throughout the 18th century, who were either Algonquian or Iroquois tribes—with the notable exception of the Mississaugas, part of the Chippewa (who are the origin from the name of the second largest city in the Greater Toronto Area, Mississauga, located immediately west of Toronto).

Until the beginning of British colonization, there were no permanent settlements in the region, although both the natives and the French attempted to establish permanent settlements, which included the construction of a small fort near the mouth of the River Humber, now buried under the ground, where the Canadian National Exhibition is located. The British built a fort and settlement they called 'York'. In 1834 the city was officially named "Toronto".

History

View of Toronto from Front Street in 1854.

The first Europeans to explore the region on which Toronto now sits were the French. In fact, French traders founded Fort Rouillé in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers loyal to the British Empire fleeing to unsettled land north of the lake. ont. Thanks to its protected natural harbour, the settlement served as a British naval base. In 1787, the British negotiated in Toronto to purchase Mississauga with a new credit, in order to guarantee more than 1,000 km² in the Toronto area.

In 1793, John Graves Simcoe established the present settlement in the city of York after being appointed governor by Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe chose the city to replace Newark as the capital of Upper Canada, believing the new location would be less vulnerable to American attack. Fort York was built at the entrance to the city's natural harbor, protected by a long strip of sand.

Toronto Plan, 1894.

In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York resulted in the city being captured and sacked by American forces. The surrender of the city was negotiated by John Strachan. American soldiers destroyed much of Fort York and set the parliament buildings on fire during the five days of the occupation.

York was incorporated into the City of Toronto on March 6, 1834, renaming it by its original native name. The population then was 9,000, but African-American slaves were excluded from the census, even though slavery was abolished in Upper Canada in 1834. Reform politician William Lyon Mackenzie became Toronto's first mayor, and failed in the 1837 attempted rebellion by Upper Canada against British colonial rule. The city grew rapidly through the remainder of the 19th century as a major destination for immigrants arriving in Canada. The first major population influx occurred with the Great Irish Famine between 1846 and 1849, which brought large numbers of the Irish diaspora to the city, some of them transients and most of them Catholics. By 1851, the Irish-American population had become the largest ethnic group in the city. A smaller number of Protestant Irish immigrants were received by the Scottish and English population, giving rise to the Orange Order of Toronto, which had a notable influence in society.

Toronto was, for two brief periods, the capital of the Province of Canada: from 1849 to 1852, following the riots in Montreal, and later from 1856 to 1858. It was replaced by Quebec, which became the capital until 1866 (one year before the Confederacy); since the latter date, the capital is Ottawa. As it had been in Upper Canada since 1793, Toronto became the capital of the province of Ontario after its official creation in 1867. Due to its status as capital, the The city was also the location of the Government House and the residence of the viceroy, representative of the Crown.

Port of Toronto, 1919. In the foreground is the headquarters of the Port Commission at the end of a dock, which today is about 500 m from the port. Union Station can also be seen under construction.

View of the Yonge Street in 1903.

In the 19th century, an extensive sewerage network was built and streets were lit with gas with a regular service. Long-distance railroad lines were built, including a route completed in 1854 that linked the city to the Great Lakes. The railway companies Grand Trunk Railway and Great Northern Railway joined in the construction of the first railway station. The arrival of the railway drastically increased trade and the number of immigrants who arrived and, being on the shores of Lake Ontario, allowed Toronto to become a nerve center of trade developed in the interior of the American continent. Horse-drawn buggies gave way to electric streetcars in 1891, when the city licensed transit operation to the Toronto Railway Company franchise. The public transportation system became the property of the Toronto Transit Commission in 1921 and is still owned by the Toronto Transit Commission today, along with the bus, streetcar and subway lines. The city's public transportation system is the third most used in North America, behind only New York and Mexico City.

The Great Toronto Fire of 1904 destroyed much of downtown, but it was quickly rebuilt. The fire caused more than $10 million in damage and resulted in the strictest fire safety laws; because of this, the city's fire department was also increased.

The city received new groups of immigrants from the end of the XIX century to the beginning of the XX century, mainly Germans, Italians and Jews from various parts of Eastern Europe. These were soon followed by the Chinese, Russians, Poles, and immigrants from other Eastern European nations. Like the Irish before them, many of these new immigrants settled in crowded slums, such as the ward, which was located on Bay Street, now the financial center of the country. Despite its rapid growth in the 1920s, Toronto's population and economic importance in Canada remained second only to Montreal for a long time. However, in 1934 the Toronto Stock Exchange became the largest in the country.

After World War II, European and Chinese refugees without financial means arrived in the city, as did a good number of construction workers, mainly Italians and Portuguese. After the removal of racially-based immigration policies in the late 1960s, immigrants arrived from all parts of the world. The population grew to over a million in 1951 when suburbanization began on a large scale, and doubled to two million in 1971. By the 1980s, it had surpassed Montreal as the most populous city and major economic center of Canada. During this time, in part due to the political uncertainty posed by the revival of Quebec's sovereignty^{[citation needed]}, many national and multinational companies moved their headquarters from Montreal. to Toronto and other western Canadian cities.

In 1954, the City of Toronto was federated into a regional government known as the Greater Toronto Area. The great post-war growth resulted in rapid suburban development, as it was believed that a coordinated strategy in the use of land territory and shared services would provide greater efficiency for the region. The metropolitan government began to manage the services that crossed the municipal limits, including highways, water and public transport. In 1967, the region's seven smaller municipalities merged with their larger neighbors, creating six municipalities that include the former City of Toronto and surrounding municipalities East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and York. In 1998, the metropolitan government was dissolved and the six municipalities were consolidated into a single municipality, creating the current City of Toronto, of which John Tory is the current mayor.

Geography

Satellite image of Toronto.

Toronto covers an area of 630 km² (243 mi²), with a maximum north-south extent of 21 km and a maximum east-west extent of 43 km. Its shoreline on Lake Ontario is 46 km long. Its borders are made up of 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.

Topography

Two rivers and numerous tributaries cross the city: the Humber River on the west end and the Don River east of downtown, the rivers being on opposite ends of Toronto Bay. The bay was created naturally by sediment buildup from lake currents that created the Toronto Islands. The large number of rivers and streams running north into the lake created large, heavily forested ravines, and provided ideal locations for parks and recreation (Humber Bay Park video). However, the ravines also interfere with the orthogonal plane of the city, and this results in some major streets such as Finch Avenue, Leslie Street, Lawrence Avenue, and St. Clair Avenue ending on one side of the ravines and continuing on the other.. Other thoroughfares such as the Bloor Street Viaduct require crossing over ravines. These deep ravines are useful for draining the city's vast sewerage network during the rainy season, but other sections, particularly near the Don River, are prone to heavy flooding.

During the last Ice Age, lower Toronto lay beneath the glacial Lake Iroquois. Now a series of escarpments mark the former edge of the lake. The escarpments are most prominent from Victoria Park Avenue to the mouth of Highland Creek, where they form the Scarborough Cliffs. Other notable sections include the area near St. Clair Avenue between Bathurst Street and the Don River, and north of Davenport Street from Caledonia Avenue to Spadina Avenue; the Casa Loma gardens lie on this escarpment. Although its terrain is not markedly rugged, Toronto has elevation differences ranging from 75m above sea level on the shores of Lake Ontario to 270m above sea level near the York University grounds in the north end of the city.

Much of the lakefront terrain in Toronto Bay is actually man-made terrain. In the mid-19th century the shoreline of the lake was moved one kilometer inland. The Toronto Islands were actually connected to the coast until a storm in 1858 weakened their connection, creating a channel that would later be used to access the docks via shipping.

Climate

High Park Spring Look, Toronto.

Toronto's climate is mild (by Canadian standards) due to its southern location within the country and its proximity to Lake Ontario. It has a humid continental climate (Dfa in the Köppen climate classification), with warm, humid summers and generally cold winters, although fairly mild by Canadian and northern United States standards. The city experiences four distinct seasons with considerable variations in daily temperature, particularly during the cold weather season. Due to urbanization and proximity to water, Toronto has a fairly low range of daytime temperatures, at least in urban areas and areas near the lake. At different times of the year, this lake influence has various local and regional impacts on the climate, such as the delay of the beginning of spring and autumn.

Toronto for a mid-winter day.

Toronto winters sometimes feature short cold snaps when maximum temperatures stay below -10°C, though generally the chill is heightened by wind. Snowstorms, sometimes mixed with ice and rain, can interfere with work and travel schedules. Snow can fall anytime between November and mid-April. Summer in Toronto is characterized by long periods of humid weather. Daytime temperatures can exceed 35°C. Spring and fall are transitional seasons with generally warm or cool temperatures with some dry or wet periods.

Rainfall is distributed fairly evenly throughout the year, but summer is usually the wettest season, even with thunderstorms. Average annual precipitation is 83 cm, with average annual snowfall of about 133 cm. Toronto experiences an average of 2,038 daylight hours, which is 44% of that possible, most of it during the warm weather season.

Average climate parameters of Toronto, Ontario (1981-2010)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	16.1	14.4	26.7	32.2	34.4	36.7	40.8	38.9	37.8	30.0	23.9	19.9	40.8
Average temperature (°C)	-0.7	0.4	4.7	11.5	18.4	23.8	26.6	25.5	21.0	14.0	7.5	2.1	12.9
Average temperature (°C)	-3.7	-2.6	1.4	7.9	14.1	19.4	22.3	21.5	17.2	10.7	4.9	-0.5	9.4
Temp. medium (°C)	-6.7	-5.6	-1.9	4.1	9.9	14.9	18.0	17.4	13.4	7.4	2.3	-3.1	5.9
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-32.8	-31.7	-26.7	-15.0	-3.9	-2.2	3.9	4.4	-2.2	-8.9	-20.6	-30.0	-32.8
Total precipitation (mm)	61.5	55.4	53.7	68.0	82.0	70.9	63.9	81.1	84.7	64.4	84.1	61.5	831.1
Rains (mm)	29.1	29.7	33.6	61.1	82.0	70.9	63.9	81.1	84.7	64.3	75.4	38.2	714.0
Nevadas (cm)	37.2	27.0	19.8	5.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.06	8.3	24.1	121.5
Precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm)	15.4	11.6	12.6	12.6	12.7	11.0	10.4	10.2	11.1	11.7	13.0	13.2	145.5
Rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm)	5.4	4.8	7.9	11.2	12.7	11.0	10.4	10.2	11.1	11.7	10.9	7.0	114.1
Days of snowfall (≥ 0.2 cm)	12.0	8.7	6.5	2.2	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.08	3.1	8.4	40.9
Hours of sun	85.9	111.3	161.0	180.0	227.7	259.6	279.6	245.6	194.4	154.3	88.9	78.1	2066.3
Source: Environment Canada

Demographics

Toronto is one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world. In total, the city has more than 150 ethnic groups that speak more than 100 languages. The largest ethnic groups in the Toronto area consist of people of English, Scottish, and Irish descent. In the mid-20th century, many Europeans immigrated to Toronto, especially Italians and Portuguese. Other significant ethnic groups in the area include Germans and people from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and one of the largest Chinese communities in North America. Toronto has a growing community of Caribbean, Hispanic, Brazilian, African and Southeast Asian Americans. This wide range of cultures has helped make Toronto a cosmopolitan hub, with a wide variety of cultures, cuisine and exquisite hospitality.

Population

The latest census conducted by Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada) counted 5,113,149 people residing in Toronto in May 2016 (see the list of the 100 most populated areas of Canada), population that, projected, is located at approximately 5,360,000 hab. in January 2019. The city's population grew by 4% (96,073 residents) between 1996 and 2001, at an annual rate of 0.8%. People under 14 years of age represent 17.5% of the population and those over 65 years of age 13.6%. The median age is 36.9 years. The percentage of people born abroad is 4.6%. According to the United Nations Program, Toronto has the second highest percentage of foreign population in the world after Miami. Even some statistics from the country affirm that Toronto has surpassed the city of Florida. While in Miami it has always been Cubans and Latinos in general who have led foreign immigration, in Toronto there is no main ethnic race or nationality, making of it one of the most diverse cities in the world.

In 2001, European nationalities made up the largest ethnic group in the city, with 57.2%, including English, Irish, Scottish, Italian and French. They are followed by Chinese (with 10.6%), South Asians and Indo-Caribbeans (10.3%), Blacks and Afro-Caribbeans (8.3%), Filipinos (3.5%) and, finally, Latin Americans (2.6%).

As for the religions of the Torontonian population, Christianity, again according to the 2001 census, is the religion with the most adherents, with 31.1% Catholics, followed by 21.1% who declared evangelical, 4.8% Orthodox Christians and 3.9% of other Christian faiths. The rest of the religions are made up of Muslims (6.7%), Hindus (4.8%), Jews (4.2%), Buddhists (2.7%), Sikhs (0.9%) and other Eastern religions (0.2%). 18.7% claim to be non-theistic.

English is the predominant language in the city, but it also has a high percentage of speakers of other languages such as French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Punjabi, Tagalog or Hindi. Italian is the second most spoken language in the workplace, and the city's emergency telephone number (911) is equipped with a program capable of interacting in 150 different languages.

Neighborhoods

Single Houses of Toronto.

Many Toronto residential communities express a different character than the skyscrapers in the city's financial center. Victorian and Edwardian buildings can be seen in enclaves such as Rosedale, Forest Hill, Cabbagetown, the Annex, Bridle Path and Moore Park.

Wychwood Park is historically significant for the architecture of its houses and for being one of the first communities to settle in Toronto. The Wychwood Park neighborhood was designated as an Ontario Heritage Conservation district in 1985. In the Casa Loma neighborhood, a castle was built in 1911 that featured an elevator, secret passages, and bowling alleys. Spadina House is a 19th century lowercase manor house that is now a museum.

The City of Toronto encompasses a geographic area formerly administered by six separate municipalities. They have each developed a distinct history and identity over the years, and their names continue to be commonly used among Torontonians. Throughout the city there are many small neighborhoods, and some larger ones that cover square kilometers. The former municipalities that make up the current city of Toronto are East York, Etobicoke, North York, Old Toronto, Scarborough, and York.

View of the skyscrapers of the financial district (Photo taken from the CN Tower).

Old Toronto (Old Toronto)

Old Toronto covers the area commonly known as Downtown (in Spanish: Centro). This is the historic heart of Toronto and the most densely populated part of the city. Toronto's financial district is the place with the most skyscrapers in Canada: First Canadian Place, Toronto-Dominion Centre, Scotia Plaza, Royal Bank Plaza, Commerce Court and Brookfield Place. From that point, the Toronto skyline stretches north along Yonge Street. In Old Toronto there are also many historic residential enclaves such as Yorkville, Rosedale, The Annex, Forest Hill, Lorenzo Park, Lytton Park, Moore Park and Casa Loma. In these neighborhoods, the luxury houses generally stand out. On the other hand, in the neighborhoods close to the city center, live a high percentage of immigrants and low-income families, who live in social housing and apartment blocks, such as St. James Town, Regent Park, Moss Park, Alexandra Park and Parkdale. To the east and west of Downtown, neighborhoods like Kensington Market, Leslieville, Cabbagetown and Riverdale are commercial and cultural areas, as well as home to many artists. These neighborhoods also have a growing percentage of upper and middle class professionals who interact with the situations of the poor people who live there. Other Old Toronto neighborhoods retain an ethnic identity, including two Chinatowns, a Greek Quarter, and other areas such as Little Italy, Portugal Village, and Little India among others.

Dawn in the city of Toronto. In the center stands the CN Tower.

Inner neighborhoods

Single houses.

The inner boroughs are located in the former boroughs of York and East York. These are the areas where the working class normally resides, staying in single-family houses and small apartment blocks. Neighborhoods such as Crescent Town, Thorncliffe Park, Weston, and Oakwood-Vaughan consist primarily of high-rise apartment blocks that are the residence of immigrants. Recently, many neighborhoods have become multi-ethnic and have undergone gentrification as a result of population growth and construction during the late 1990s and 2000s. The first neighborhoods affected were Leaside and North Toronto.

Outer neighborhoods

The so-called outer boroughs comprise the former townships of Etobicoke, Scarborough, and North York, which largely retain the orthogonal plan that existed before the outbreak of World War I. The city began to grow and spread long before the housing boom hit, as can be seen in Mimic, Newtonbrook, and West Hill. These neighborhoods developed rapidly after World War II and luxury developments began to be built such as Bridle Path in North York, which is the area surrounding the Scarborough Bluffs, and in most of downtown Etobicoke: such as Humber Valley Village. and The Kingsway. One of the largest and oldest "planned communities" was the Don Mill, the first parts of which were built in the 1950s. The mix of single-family homes and large apartment blocks made the neighborhood development model popular. Some of these models have been copied by other municipalities surrounding the Greater Toronto Area, although they had a lower population density. More recently, the center of North York, which is crossed by Yonge Street, and the center of Scarborough have become secondary business districts outside the city center. The high development of these areas has given North York and Scarborough their own horizons distinguishable from downtown Toronto.

Distillery district

Picture of the Stonehouse Distillery.

One of Toronto's most unusual neighborhoods is the Distillery district, home to the largest and best-preserved collection of Victorian industrial architecture in North America. This place of national interest was listed by National Geographic magazine as an important place of visit for tourists from Canada. Large industrial tracts still exist, in particular in Scarborough and Etobicoke, although not to the height they once were.

Economy

The skyscrapers of the Toronto-Dominion Centre, designed by Mies van der Rohe.

Toronto's economy is one of the most diverse and strong in North America. It is the main industrial, commercial and financial center of Canada, and one of the main ones on the continent.

Until the 1970s, Toronto was the second largest commercial hub in Canada, behind Montreal. Toronto's great economic growth was stimulated by the discovery of large natural resource deposits throughout the province of Ontario and the growing presence of the automobile industry throughout the southern part of the province. On top of that, the opening of the St. Lawrence Canal allowed ships to navigate between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes, making Toronto an important port center.

During the 1960s, Quebecois nationalism and the passage of various laws forcing Quebec-based companies to use only French as a working language caused several previously Montreal-based companies (especially large multinationals, whose market extends well beyond the limits of Quebec) will move to Toronto,^{[citation needed]} where French is not necessary for business activities.

According to 2004 data, Toronto's gross domestic product is approximately C$129 billion and its per capita income is C$43,000. If Toronto were an independent country, it would have the 42nd largest GDP in the world. With a gross domestic product of about $240 billion, the Greater Toronto Area has the ninth largest GDP among the world's major metropolises, behind New York, London, Tokyo, Osaka, Paris, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

Commerce and Finance

Exterior view of the former Toronto Stock Exchange, at the Bay Street.

Toronto is the nation's leading banking center — the nation's five largest banks are headquartered in the city. In all, four out of five Canadian banks are headquartered in the city. The Toronto Stock Exchange is the largest in Canada and the second largest in the Americas (behind the New York Stock Exchange, located in the US city of New York) and the sixth largest in the world. It was the first stock exchange in the entire American continent to trade shares electronically. Toronto is also Canada's largest center of wholesale trade. On Bay Street are located the headquarters of the four largest banks in Canada and most of the tallest skyscrapers in the city.

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

Industry

Ontario is rich in natural resources such as timber, aluminum, copper, iron, nickel, silver, gold, uranium and zinc. In addition to that, the large number of rivers, lakes and waterfalls allowed the construction of several hydroelectric power plants, and the uranium deposits allowed the construction of nuclear power plants. This, plus an efficient network of rail, highway and canals have made Toronto the largest industrial center in Canada. Currently, it owns more than 5,700 factories. Factories located in the Greater Toronto Area produce half of the industrialized products manufactured in Canada. About a third of Toronto's workforce works in factories.

The largest industrial activities in the city are food processing, the automobile industry, and the printing of newspapers, magazines, and advertising material. Other important industrial activities are the textile industry, the manufacture of electronic products, paper and furniture.

Media

The city of Toronto has become one of the centers of the film industry in Canada along with Vancouver, and one of the largest in North America, due to the low price of producing films and television series in Canada in relation to the United States. Its streets and landmarks can be seen in a variety of movies that imitate the streets of the largest cities in the United States, such as Chicago and New York. Toronto produces more movies and television shows than any other American city except Los Angeles and New York. The main reason why many productions use Toronto and its surroundings for their location shoots is because filming permits are much cheaper and easier to obtain than in the United States.

Shopping

Toronto Eaton Centre's interior.

There are many specialty shops to be found in Toronto, particularly near Bloor and Bay streets, such as exclusive boutiques and toy stores. Possibly thanks to the weather, Toronto has an extensive set of underground shopping arcades, which are generally open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. m. to 5 p.m. m. These stores are generally fashionable, although in these underground complexes there are also specialized toy stores and even access to larger stores.

Along Queen Street is the largest camera store in Toronto. Department stores are rare in downtown Toronto, although its suburbs have extensive shopping malls, department stores, and specialty stores, especially near Orfus Road, near the Yorkdale department store.

The fashion district is located near King and Spadina, close to Old Chinatown to the north and the Entertainment District to the east.

The St. Lawrence Market is a historic market that features an outdoor section during the summer months, offering fresh, locally grown food. Kensington Market also has an outdoor section located near Chinatown.

The city itself has large malls and shopping malls. Shopping in Toronto has become another attraction for tourists. For example, the Toronto Eaton Center received the special designation of "tourist attraction" in the 1980s.

Restaurants

Toronto has a wide variety of restaurants as a result of its cultural diversity.

Education

The central library of Toronto.

The central campus of the University of Toronto.

Nearly three-quarters of Toronto's elementary and secondary school students are educated in the public realm of the city. The rest do so in private Catholic institutions. Toronto has three universities: the University of Toronto, York University, and Ryerson University. The first is the oldest, founded in 1827. Other schools in Toronto include the National School of Classical Ballet, the Ontario College of Art and the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Schools

Toronto's public secular school system of English language education is administered by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). In total, this system manages 427 schools (it is estimated that more than 300,000 students study there annually, making the TDSB the largest school district in Canada and the fourth largest in North America). The Catholic English language education system, Toronto Catholic District School Board, runs another 80 schools, which are responsible for the education of more than 70,000 students. The secular system of education in the French language is the Conseil scolaire Viamonde. The Catholic system of education in the French language is the School Board of the Central-South Catholic District.

Libraries

The City of Toronto runs the largest public library system in the country and the second most frequented in the world in number of visits, behind only Hong Kong. There are 99 libraries spread throughout the city, with more than nine million different items. The large collection of books, magazines, videos, CDs, DVDs, and encyclopedias is available in a number of different languages, English being the most common. Materials can be found in more than 60 different languages, the most frequent being: Mandarin, Cantonese, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Hindi, Latin, and Greek.

Higher Education

Toronto has three universities. The central campus of the University of Toronto (U of T) is located in the center of the city and is the largest university in Canada, employing nine thousand people, and responsible for the education of more than 53,000 students. The U of T also has two smaller campuses, one in Scarborough and one in Mississauga. The three boards serve about 71,500 students a year. Two other universities are located in Toronto: York University, located in North York, and Ryerson University, located in the city center. The first serves 45,000 students a year, and the second, 20,000.

Toronto also has five other colleges. The Ontario College of Art and Design is one of the most prestigious art colleges in North America. The other four faculties —Seneca, Humber, Centennial and George Brown— have a total of 29 campuses spread throughout the city.

Government

Old City Hall.

City government is housed in Toronto City Hall, located in the city's financial center, near Nathan Phillips Square. It was built during the early 1960s, on the site of the city's old Chinatown (which moved to the junction of Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street), replacing the old city hall building, Old City Hall. Today it is one of the best known points of the city.

It is the result of one of the largest architecture competitions ever organized by a city. The international jury formed for the occasion had to evaluate 520 projects from 42 different countries. In 1958, the then mayor of Toronto, Nathan Phillips, announced the winner of the competition: it was Viljo Revell, a Finnish architect. The works began in 1961 and the official inauguration took place four years later, on September 13, 1965.

Culture and entertainment

Inside the Eaton Centre, the city's best-known shopping centre.

Nathan Phillips Square.

Hockey Hall of Fame.

Toronto Urban Beach.

The architecture of Toronto's buildings is mostly contemporary, although some of the older buildings have architecture based on the Gothic or Art Deco style. The Toronto sky is dominated by large skyscrapers. It is the city with the largest skyscrapers under development and construction in the entire Western Hemisphere.

Modern, Contemporary

• The CN Tower, the main presentation card of the city and the fourth highest structure in the world not supported by cables and on the ground, only being surpassed by the Burj Khalifa, the Tokyo Skytree and the Canton TV Tower. The tower has a total of 553 meters high, located in the city center, near the coast, attracts millions of tourists per year. It was opened in 1976.
• The Toronto City Hall, the City Hall building, is a distinguished architectural attraction, with its modernist style, of approximately 100 meters high. Next to the town hall is the building of the Municipal Council, which has the shape of an oyster. The two buildings that make up the City Hall and the City Council building are located in a five-hectare square, the Nathan Phillips Square, located near the Old City Hall, the old town hall building.
• Toronto has many skyscrapers. They are in total 1623 buildings with more than 12 floors. Toronto is considered by Emporis the tenth city of the world with the sky most dominated by skyscrapers. Several of his skyscrapers are among the highest in the world. At present, the highest of them, the First Canadian Place, is 298 metres high, is the highest skyscraper in Canada, the 12th highest in North America at the height of the roof (new by the height of the antenna), and the highest 104th in the world.

Neoclassic, Neogotic, Art Deco

• The new city council building replaced the old city hall of Toronto, a building built in the architecture moulds Romanesque Revivalwhich dates from 1896 and is 104 meters high.
• The Loma House is a great mansion—which due to its size gives the impression of being a castle—open in 1918, with a total area of seventeen thousand square meters.
• Union Station, the city's main railway station. It was built between 1913 and 1927, and officially opened on August 6, 1926.

Arts

• The Royal Ontario Museum is the largest museum in Canada. It exhibits mainly archaeological and paleontological works. It has one of the most prestigious collections of objects in ancient China.
• The Ontario Art Gallery houses several paintings and sculptures by internationally renowned artists such as Henry Moore.
• The Ontario Science Centre is a science and technology museum. It is intended especially for children.
• The metropolitan area of Toronto is the third largest center of the world's Anglophone theatre, just behind New York and London, with more than 90 theaters distributed by the metropolis. Several renowned theatres are located in Toronto, and several Canadian theatre companies also have their headquarters here.
• The National Ballet of Canada, the most prestigious ballet group in Canada, is based in Toronto. Most of the group shows are represented at the Hummingbird Centre.
• The Canadian Opera Company, the main opera in the country, is also based at the Hummingbird Centre.
• In total, the city has more than 50 ballet and dance companies, six opera companies and two symphonic orchestras.
• In addition, Toronto has produced a lot of popular music, and it is the origin of artists such as the rapper named Aubrey Graham (Drake).
• Toronto is a center of the North American film industry, and the production of domestic and international films is one of the main sources of income in the city. Toronto is the scene of various films, which often represents large American cities such as New York and Chicago. Many American movies are premiered first in Toronto before being released to a larger scale. The importance of the film industry in the city is emphasized with Toronto International Film Festival (International Film Festival in Toronto), the world's largest film festival, which rivals Cannes in importance.

Leisure

Toronto has six large, modern shopping malls. The best known of them is the Eaton Centre, located in the center of the city, close to Nathan Phillips Square, and one of the main tourist spots in the city. Other large shopping centers are Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Scarborough Town Centre, Sherway Gardens and Fairview Mall, all with two hundred stores or more. Around the city there are as many lesser-renowned shopping centers.

• Ontario Parliament is located in Queen's Park.
• Although not especially known for its green areas, Toronto has several parks and beaches. The two largest green areas of the city are the Toronto Islands (with 230 hectares of size) and the Leslie Street Spit, with approximately 200 hectares. Other popular parks in the city include High Park, Sunnybrook Park, Rouge Park and Christie Pits.
• The coastal waters of Lake Ontario are frozen during the coldest days of winter, making them a more tourist attraction.

Sports

Toronto is the only Canadian city with representatives in nearly every professional sports league in North America, with teams in the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, National Lacrosse League, National Basketball Association, Canadian Football League, Major League Soccer, Canadian Rugby Championship and Major League Rugby.

Next to the CN Tower is the Rogers Center (old name: SkyDome), a large stadium, opened in 1989, the first in the world with a fully retractable roof, and home to the Toronto Blue Jays (Toronto's premier baseball team) and, for several decades, the Toronto Argonauts (its premier Canadian soccer team). The city's soccer club is Toronto FC, which plays in Major League Soccer and its stadium is BMO Field, also the current stadium of the Toronto Argonauts. At the intersection of Bay Street, York Street and the Gardiner Expressway is the Air Canada Centre. It is the home of the Toronto Raptors (the city's main basketball team) and the Toronto Maple Leafs (the main ice hockey team). All of the aforementioned teams play in the major North American leagues of the respective sports.

Toronto is home to the Hockey Hall of Fame, honoring the greatest players in ice hockey, Canada's national sport.

The Toronto Grand Prix has been held since 1986 and since 2009 it is a race of the IndyCar Series. Contested on a street course at Exhibition Place, it is the third oldest street racing race in North America.

The city was a candidate to host the 1996 and 2008 Olympic Games, which ended up being awarded to Atlanta and Beijing, respectively. The Canadian Olympic Committee is considering applying to Toronto to host the 2020 and 2024 Olympic Games. Despite unsuccessful attempts to host the Olympic Games, in 2015 the city hosted the Pan American Games, an exclusive multi-sport event for the countries of the Americas.

Predecessor: Guadalajara

Pan American City 2015

Successor: Lima

Tourism

Toronto is the Canadian city most visited by tourists, receiving more than four million tourists each year and ranking 14th. The next city in the country, Montreal, is far behind with 679,000 tourists, according to a study carried out with in relation to the year 2006. The biggest attraction in the city continues to be the CN Tower, the fourth tallest structure in the world, only surpassed by the Burj Khalifa, the Tokyo Skytree and the Canton TV Tower, and which has stood for 30 years in the first position of the largest skyscrapers in the world.

downtown Toronto seen at night.

Thanks to the more than 80 nationalities that have immigrated to the city over the last two hundred years, Toronto has many multicultural areas including Portugal Villa, Chinatown, Little Budapest, Little Italy, Little Poland, Greektown, Little India, Koreatown and the area around Bathurst Street, populated by the Caribbean community. Each of these neighborhoods celebrate national holidays in the same way as their compatriots and have opened businesses, such as restaurants, allowing tourists and Torontonians to enjoy and take in the atmosphere as if they were in the neighborhood's home country.

Throughout the day there are organized excursions to explore Lake Ontario and its islands. On the lake are Queens Quay, a pier with more than a hundred shops that offer typical Canadian crafts. Another important pier is the Harbourfront Antique Market, specializing in antiques. As for the islands, Center Island stands out, whose main claim is its "Centreville", a miniature replica of an Ontario city from the beginning of the century XX at 1/12 scale.

Building in downtown Toronto

In cultural tourism, Toronto is the third largest English-speaking theater center with its 44 theaters in total and more than 140 performing companies. The most important cultural buildings are the Royal Ontario Museum (the most important museum in the country), the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Ontario Science Center, as detailed further in the Arts section.

The typical gastronomy of the city stands out for two essential dishes, salmon and venison. One of the mandatory culinary appointments for lovers of international gastronomy who come together in Toronto is the St. Lawrence Market, located on the same street that gives its name to the market, and which opens on Saturdays. In it you can enjoy national and imported caviar and a multitude of smoked products, the star product being the "American Candy" (North American Caramel), which is Canadian salmon cured with maple syrup and sprinkled with pepper. Another specialty of the city is, surprisingly, wine. The typical wine is the "Ice Wine" (ice wine), since it is made with clusters harvested after freezing in the same vineyard, hence its name. Once pressed, the frozen grapes release a sweet juice that produces a wine with aromas of vanilla, walnuts and honey.

The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the important dates for tourists and movie lovers.

Tourist sites and events

• CN Tower, 553 m.

Night view of the CN Tower

Loma House

• SkyDome or Rogers Centre, sports center.
• Air Canada Centre, sports center.
• Toronto City Hall.
• Osgoode Hall
• Toronto Eaton Centre, mall.
• Queen's Park, Ontario Legislative Building site.
• St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto Archdiocese Cathedral.
• St. James Cathedral, the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Toronto.
• Princess of Wales Theatre and Royal Alexandra Theatre.
• Royal Ontario Museum (Royal Ontario Museum).
• Ontario Art Gallery (Art Gallery of Ontario).
• University of Toronto.
• Bata Shoe Museum (Bata Shoe Museum).
• Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art (Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art).
• Loma House Castle.
• 

  Ontario Legislative Building
  Le Petit Glenn.
• Yonge-Dundas Square.
• High Park.
• Harbourfront.
• Yorkville neighborhood.
• Barrio Small Italy / Little Italy.
• Chinese Quarter / Chinatown.
• Kensington Market.
• Ontario Science Centre (Ontario Science Centre).
• Toronto Zoo, zoo.
• Canada's Wonderland, amusement park.
• TIFF - Toronto International Film Festival / Toronto International Film Festival.
• Pride Week.
• Nuit Blanche.
• Caribana.
• Much Music Video Awards / Video Awards by Much Music.

Transportation

Public transport

A tram from the Toronto Transit Commission, the Toronto public transport system, at the Dundas Street.

Toronto's public transportation services are provided by the Toronto Transit Commission, which controls the bus, streetcar, and subway routes that operate within the city. Toronto's public transportation system is one of the most self-sufficient in North America, generating about 81% of the revenue needed to maintain it. Even so, this system has received insufficient budgets from the city and the province in recent years, which has caused a drop in the efficiency of this system.

The city is served by approximately 400 bus lines and 12 tram lines. Toronto is currently the only city in the Americas, as well as one of the few cities in the world, to have an extensive streetcar system, geared solely towards providing public transportation. The tram lines operate mainly in the city center, in several of the most frequented streets and avenues. All tram lines and the vast majority of bus lines (with the exception of one) connect at some point with a metro station. The Toronto subway system is 70 kilometers long and has a total of 80 stations, spread over four different lines. It was the first metro system in Canada, having been inaugurated in 1954.

Toronto's public transportation system is fully integrated. About 1.3 million people use this system daily.

Public transport statistics

According to a report by Moovit in July 2017, the average time people spend on public transportation in Toronto, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 96 min, while that 34% of people spend more than 2 hours every day. The average time people wait at a stop or station is 14 minutes, while 10% of people wait more than 20 minutes each day. The average distance people typically travel in a single trip is 10 km, while 25% travel more than 12 km in one direction.

Highways

View of the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway and the crossroads in clover that forms with the Leslie Street.

Although Toronto has a network of highways, it is not as extensive and efficient as those of several large American cities, or Montreal for example. Some cities belonging to the Greater Toronto Area, however, have a well-developed highway network, such as Mississauga and Brampton. In total, nine expressways pass through Toronto, which together are 75 kilometers long.

The Don Valley Parkway connects the Upstate and East Side neighborhoods to downtown, while the Gardiner Expressway connects the West Side of the city to downtown. The Don Valley ends at the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway. It continues north as Highway 404, connecting the northernmost neighborhoods with several of the cities in the Regional Municipality of York. The Gardiner ends at Highway 427 and continues west as Queen Elizabeth Way, passing through Mississauga, Oakville, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls, and ending in Buffalo, United States.

The Macdonald-Cartier Expressway, or Highway 401—connecting Windsor to the eastern tip of Ontario (later continuing into Quebec as Auto-route 20, to Rimouski)—passes through Toronto. The section of this highway in its urban area, between Mississauga and Oshawa, is the busiest in the world (and also one of the most congested).

Highway 400 (starting at the Macdonald-Cartier Expressway) is the primary transportation route between the Greater Toronto Area and Central and Northwest Ontario. Highway 427 is the second busiest highway in North America, connecting Gardiner and Queensway with Macdonald-Cartier, to the northern end of York Regional Municipality and Peel. Much of its length serves as the border between Toronto and the Peel Regional Municipality, and between Peel and York. Along the way is Highway 409, a short highway that connects Macdonald-Cartier to the Toronto International Airport, via Highway 427. Macdonald-Cartier also intersects Allen Road.

Highway 407 bypasses Toronto, but it is one of the major highways in its metropolitan area. This highway is tolled, which is charged electronically and automatically when a car accesses it, through cameras that record the vehicle's license plate.

Railways

Union Station.

Toronto has about 175 kilometers of rail track. The city has train stations for locomotion between the cities that make up the metropolitan area of Toronto and a central station, Union Station, located in the center of the city. This station, built in the XIX century, is at the same time one of the busiest stations on the Toronto subway and also serves to two tram lines.

The GO Transit trains, with Union Station as its main base of operations, offer intercity trips on regular schedules between downtown Toronto and its most distant neighborhoods, as well as other cities that are part of the Greater Toronto Area.

Airports

View of Toronto City Centre Airport.

Toronto has two airports within the city proper, and a total of eight in its metropolitan area.

The city's main airport is Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) (or Lester B. Pearson International Airport), which is not located in the city of Toronto proper, but in the neighboring city of Mississauga. It is the fourth busiest international airport in the entire American continent, and the busiest in the country.

The city has two airports within its municipal limits. One of these is Toronto City Center Airport (YTZ), located in the Toronto Islands, and serves primarily general aviation flights, although Air Canada Jazz, a subsidiary of Air Canada, operates a flight between the airport and Ottawa.. It is connected to the mainland via a ferry. The second airport is Downsview Air Base (C.F.B. Downsview), located in North York, which serves as a military base for the Canadian Air Force, as well as a test base for the aircraft manufacturer Bombardier.

Terminal 1 of Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Hamilton-Munro International Airport is an airport that serves as an alternate to Lester B. Pearson. It is not located in the Greater Toronto Area itself, but in Hamilton, located 85 kilometers southwest of Toronto, and serves as a base for low-cost airlines and charter flights.

Other airports in the Greater Toronto Area, which serve only civil aviation flights, are located in Buttonville, Markham, Oshawa, Brampton and Burlington.

Seaplane flights have been operated between Toronto and the Niagara Falls region, although this service no longer exists.

Port and ferries

View of the ferry connecting Toronto to the Toronto Islands.

The Port of Toronto, located near the city center, moves close to two million tons of cargo a year, through small and medium-sized ships. To receive large ships, Toronto makes use of the port of Montreal (through a rail connection).

Transportation between Toronto and the Toronto Islands is via ferries. The service is provided by the Toronto Department of Parks and Recreation. The rafts travel daily the stretch between Bay Street and the islands, stopping at three of them.

On June 17, 2004, high-speed passenger ferry service opened between Toronto and Rochester, New York. The ship was nicknamed The Breeze. However, this service was suspended after 11 weeks, when the company that ran it ran into financial difficulties. The company's ship—formerly based in Toronto—was purchased after the company's bankruptcy by a subsidiary of the City of Rochester, and returned to sail the Toronto-Rochester route on June 30, 2005, this time under the moniker The Cat.

Current Issues

One of Toronto's nicknames is Toronto the good. It is in fact one of the best cities to live in, according to several public and private investigations. For example, it has a very low crime rate, for a city of this size. According to the Places Rated Almanac, Toronto is the safest metropolitan area in North America. Even so, the city has its problems, which are present in almost all large cities.

Housing and the homeless

Toronto's general residence purchase and maintenance prices are some of the highest in Canada. A house with three bedrooms and 200 square meters of useful area costs on average CAD 350,000. Rental prices are also gradually increasing. The lack of low-cost housing has led to an increase in homelessness in the city. Currently, the number of homeless is approximately ten thousand, who are generally unemployed, people with mental deficiencies and young adolescents who have run away from home. Toronto has a significantly greater homelessness problem than many cities of a similar size. In 2003, 31,985 citizens stayed at least once in a hostel.

The number of homeless people living on the streets of the city, which has gradually increased in recent years, is a big problem for Toronto (especially on winter days, when the temperature can drop as low as -30 °C during the night, if we consider the wind factor). The death of a homeless man in 2000 due to a night of intense cold has encouraged the construction of shelters (in insufficient numbers to cover the demand) aimed at caring for such homeless people, especially on days of intense cold, although little else is has done apart from this.

Environment

Toronto suffers from serious environmental problems. The city's beaches, along Lake Ontario, were very popular with the population throughout the XIX century. However, the development of the industry polluted the coastal waters and made them highly dangerous for human health. During the 1960s and 1970s, many of the polluting industries were shut down, and bathers now frequent several of the beaches. However, water contamination continues to be a problem, and it is not for nothing that the waters of all the beaches are regularly analyzed during the summer days, closing the beaches with high levels of contamination if necessary.

A tricolor multilingual recyclable trash container typical of Toronto.

One of the main problems in the city is garbage. As the city's last landfill, the Keele Valley, reached capacity, the council found that no other southern Ontario city was willing to buy its trash. Although the city has signed an agreement to deposit waste at the Adams Mine—an abandoned mine in northern Ontario—when the Keele Valley was closed, the agreement generated so much controversy, which increased as more As the Keele Valley was due to close, the council decided to cancel it.

In 2002, when the Keele Valley was closed, the Toronto City Council had already signed a new agreement, which established that all the garbage produced by the city would be sent to a landfill located in the state of Michigan, in USA. To this day, the trash produced in Toronto is trucked all the way to Michigan. The contract expires in 2008, and can be extended through 2010. However, growing opposition from Michigan residents and the Michigan House of Representatives prompted the city to expand its recycling system, and look for alternative places to store trash, as that it had no intention of extending the contract beyond 2008. Because of the controversy, Carelton Farms, the Michigan landfill under contract with the City of Toronto, announced in May 2006 that it would no longer accept waste from the sewer, although it would continue to accept household waste. On September 19, 2006, the Toronto City Council announced plans to purchase a London, Ontario landfill, at an estimated price of more than $500 million. However, the deal, which has sparked outrage from many Londoners, still needs to be approved by the Toronto City Council. If approved, the landfill will have the capacity to deposit Toronto's trash for about 25 years, with the first Toronto trash bins expected to begin shipping around 2010.

As alternative programs, the Toronto City Council unified the city's recycling system, introduced programs that encourage recycling among citizens, and a program aimed at recycling organic materials, to generate compost, although this last program has been criticized for its high cost, three times more expensive than the current agreement with the Michigan landfill. Although many inhabitants are against incinerators because of the high pollution they generate, the Peel Regional Municipality is interested in building one, capable of generating electricity (enough to supply five thousand homes) through the incineration of the trash. The regional municipalities of York and Durham have an even more ambitious joint programme. The incineration center proposed by both would be capable of supplying up to 200,000 homes, and its construction could begin in 2011.

Several companies have proposed turning trash into synthetic gas, which could be used as fuel to generate electricity (one proposal claimed that 100,000 tons of trash would be capable of generating up to 12 megawatts). The residues would be filtered, and could be mixed with asphalt for the construction of public roads.

Coastline

View of the Gardiner Expressway and the Union Station from the CN Tower.

For decades, Toronto's waterfront along Lake Ontario has caused controversy in the city. Much of the city—including its financial center—is separated from its coastline by the Gardiner Expressway and a railroad, which run south of the city. Previously, the areas located near the coast and next to the financial center were used for industrial purposes, which contributed to this separation.

Although most of the factories have been abandoned, gradually giving way to parks and residential and commercial areas, many argue that the construction of many nearby buildings along the coastline (which continues to this day) maintains and even aggravates the separation of the city from its coastline. Many propose burying the sections of the Gardiner Expressway and the railway that run close to the coast, although this solution is unlikely even in the long term, due to the high cost of the project. On September 26, 2006, a city council recommended the demolition of Gardiner, between Spadina Avenue and Don Valley Parkway, located immediately south of the city's financial center. The demolished section would be replaced by an extension of the Lakeshore Boulevard, whose layout runs along Gardiner, in a five-lane road in each direction. The project, whose estimated cost is 758 million Canadian dollars, generated a great deal of controversy.

Another contentious issue is the Toronto City Center Airport, located on an artificial island, just 100 meters away from the mainland. Many support the construction of a bridge connecting the island to the airport, while others are against it, fearing that an increase in traffic in the region will exacerbate the problem of air pollution. Currently, the airport is only accessible by a ferry line, the shortest in the world. The island on which it is located has parks and houses, although the direct transit of people between the airport and other parts of the island is not allowed.

Traffic

View of the Gardiner Expressway.

In recent decades, vehicle traffic on the streets and especially on the highways has increased more and more. However, investment by the city and the province in the same period in public roads and in the city's public transport system has been limited, dedicating itself mainly to small projects on the city's highways. Because of this, vehicle traffic on the city's public roads is difficult, especially at rush hour, which generates heavy traffic jams and pollution. A recent study estimates the cost of the gridlock to Toronto's economy at C$6 billion. Transportation and commerce agencies allege that the city's traffic problems stem from the fact that the urban highway system, planned in the 1950s, was never completed, leaving gaping gaps. Since the cancellation of the Spadina Expressway in 1971, community and city council opposition to the construction of new expressways has increased.

Ontario announced in March 2004 the creation of the Greater Toronto Transit Authority, a public transportation body for the entire Greater Toronto Area, with the goal of facilitating integration between the different public transportation systems operating in the metropolis and encourage initiatives such as the single rate. At the same time, the federal, provincial and municipal governments announced that they would invest a total of $1 billion in the TTC, the body that manages Toronto's public transportation system, which has experienced stagnant ridership on the decades, although the number of riders using GO Transit has gradually increased in recent years.

Crime

Toronto has one of the lowest crime rates in the Americas, in 2004 it had an average of 1.8 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, reaching the figure of 314 homicides. By comparison, Chicago, which has about the same population as Toronto, had a rate of 15.5 homicides per 100,000 residents in that same year. Even so, this rate increased in subsequent years. The robbery rate in the city is 115 per 100,000 inhabitants. The biggest problem is the growing presence of illegal drug trafficking in the city and nightly confrontations (sometimes even with shootouts) between different gangs —which almost always have to do with drugs— that can result in injuries or deaths. members or innocent persons. Gang confrontation specialists have been hired to reduce these problems in the confrontational areas.

In 2005, the homicide rate, which had been growing since 1996, decreased. During that year, a total of 78 homicides were registered, the vast majority related to drug trafficking. Even so, several citizens believe that Toronto is no longer a safe city, especially at night on the streets, the place and time where they occur the vast majority of homicides.

Threats of terrorist attacks

As the nation's leading financial center, Toronto is viewed by many as a potential target for terrorists. The main targets within the city would be the public transport system, the stock market and the skyscrapers. On June 3, 2006, 19 people accused of planning terrorist attacks in southern Ontario, including Toronto, were arrested. This group would have purchased three tons of ammonium nitrate, which they would later use to make bombs. The group would also have planned to open fire on crowds and seize important structures in the city. Despite the fear, investigators say the danger of a terrorist attack is minimal.

The reason for the attack is reportedly Taliban opposition to the Canadian presence in Afghanistan, as Canadian troops stationed there have been increasingly targeted. Taliban officials have issued direct advisories to Canada, for the first time since the start of the War on Terror.

On April 23, 2018, a Van ran over a dozen people. It is not clear whether it is a terrorist attack.

Metropolitan area

The following cities are part of the Greater Toronto Area:

West

Regional Municipality of Peel

• Brampton (325 428 inhabitants).
• Caledon (50 595 inhabitants).
• Mississauga (612 925 inhabitants).

Halton Regional Municipality

• Burlington (150 836 inhabitants).
• Halton Hills (47 600 inhabitants).
• Milton (47 500 inhabitants).
• Oakville (144 738 inhabitants).

North

York Regional Municipality

• Aurora (40 167 inhabitants).
• Markham (208 615 inhabitants).
• Newmarket (65 788 inhabitants).
• Richmond Hill (132 030 inhabitants).
• Vaughan (182 022 inhabitants).

East

Durham Regional Municipality

• Ajax (82 000 inhabitants).
• Clarington (69 834 inhabitants).
• Oshawa (150 000 inhabitants).
• Pickering (92 000 inhabitants).
• Whitby (110 000 inhabitants).

City nicknames

• T.O.
• T-dot.
• The Big Smoke ("the big smoke"), due to fog and sometimes covering the city; other cities in North America also have this nickname.
• Hogtown.
• Toronto the good ("Toronto the Good") - Due to Victorian morality that prevailed in Toronto during the centuryXIX.
• Hollywood North - Due to the large number of television programs and films produced in the city.
• The 416 - 416 is the city's phone prefix.
• The Centre of the Universe or The Centre of the Canadian Universe ("The center of the Canadian universe") - nickname used, often in a pejorative sense, by the inhabitants of western Canada.
• Hockeytown - Due to the popularity of ice hockey in the city, and the team Toronto Maple Leafs ("the maple leaves of Toronto").
• The 6 - This nickname was given by the rap artist Drake, who published a song titled '6 God in 2014'Since then this nickname has gained a lot of popularity. The name The 6 is taken from the area codes of the city of Toronto which are '647' and '416.'

International relations