Toronto

(tərŏn`tō), city (1998 est pop. 2,400,000), provincial capital, S Ont., Canada, on Lake Ontario. Toronto is the largest city in Canada and since the 1970s has been one of the fastest-changing cities in North America, experiencing an enormous growth in foreign-born residents. In 1998, the cities of Metropolitan Toronto (Toronto, York, East York, North York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough) were merged as Toronto, instantly becoming the continent's fifth largest city.

Economy and People

The city is a port of entry and an important commercial, financial, and industrial hub as well as Canada's banking and stock-exchange center and chief wholesale-distribution point. Its importance as a port and transshipment point has increased since the opening (1959) of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Ontario's wealth of raw materials and hydroelectric power make Toronto an industrial powerhouse. The city and surrounding area produces more than half of Canada's manufactured goods.

Toronto's industries include slaughtering and meatpacking, printing and publishing, and the manufacture of aircraft, farm implements, electrical machinery, and metal products. The city has the country's leading service sector and attracts a growing amount of high-tech businesses. It is also a major tourist center. The influx of many Arab, Asian, African, and Caribbean immigrants has dramatically diversified the ethnic composition; roughly a tenth of the population is now ethnically Chinese. Suburbanization and redevelopment of the downtown and waterfront have changed the city's character.

Landmarks and Institutions

Toronto has many parks and historic buildings, such as the factories in the Distillery Historic District, now converted largely to commercial and artistic uses. The Toronto city hall is a modernistic structure completed in 1965. The 1,815-ft (553-m) CN Tower (1976), a telecommunications spire, was long the world's tallest freestanding structure, but in 2007 the Burj KhalifaBurj Khalifa
[Arab.,=Khalifa Tower], skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that is the tallest building in the world. The centerpiece of a large urban development, it stands 2,717 ft (828 m) high and has 163 floors.
..... Click the link for more information. , under construction in Dubai, passed it. Exhibition Park is the site of the annual Canadian National Exhibition. The Skydome, a baseball stadium for the Toronto Blue Jays, was completed in 1989. The Maple Leafs (National Hockey League), Raptors (National Basketball Association), and Argonauts (Canadian Football League) also play in the city.

The Univ. of Toronto was chartered in 1827 and opened in 1843 as King's College. It was renamed in 1850 and is Canada's largest university and most important graduate research center. York Univ. and Ryerson Univ. are also in Toronto. Other notable institutions include the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies; the Osgoode Hall law school; the Ontario Science Centre; the Art Gallery of Ontario; and the Royal Ontario Museum, housing an important collection of Chinese art. There also is a noted zoo, an aquarium, and a botanical garden. Toronto has Anglican and Roman Catholic bishoprics and is the headquarters of the United Church of Canada.

History

The site was an early fur-trading post. The French built (1749) Fort Rouille there to counteract British influence in the Niagara country, but the post was destroyed (1759) to prevent its occupation by the British. The British purchased the site from the Native Americans in 1787 and it became the home of many American Loyalists. It was chosen by Sir John Simcoe in 1793 to be the capital of Upper Canada (see OntarioOntario
, province (2001 pop. 11,410,046), 412,582 sq mi (1,068,587 sq km), E central Canada. Land and People

Ontario, the second largest Canadian province, is the most populous and the leader in mineral, industrial, and agricultural output and in financial and
..... Click the link for more information. ) and was named York. In the War of 1812 the city was raided twice by the Americans, and many buildings were destroyed. In 1834 it was incorporated as Toronto. The city was the scene of the insurrection led by William Lyon MackenzieMackenzie, William Lyon,
1795–1861, Canadian journalist and insurgent leader, b. Scotland; grandfather of William Lyon Mackenzie King. Emigrating to Upper Canada in 1820, he published (1824–34), first at Queenston, then at York (later Toronto), his noted
..... Click the link for more information. in 1873.

Bibliography

See V. L. Russell, ed., Forging a Consensus: Historical Essays on Toronto (1984); J. T. Lemon, Toronto (1984); E. R. Arthur, Toronto: No Mean City (1986); J. De Visser et al., Toronto: The Heart of the City (1988).

Toronto

a city in eastern Canada; capital of Ontario Province. Population (1971) of Toronto proper, 712,800; of Greater Toronto, 2,628,000. A port on Lake Ontario, Toronto is accessible to oceangoing ships via the St. Lawrence Seaway; in 1974 it handled 4.1 million tons of cargo. Greater Toronto is a large manufacturing center, accounting for one-fifth of Canada’s gross national product. Its leading industries include machine building for transportation and other sectors, electrical engineering, metalworking, petroleum refining, chemical production, printing, and production of clothing and foodstuffs. The city manufactures one-half of Canada’s total agricultural machinery and airplanes and three-fourths of the country’s total machine tools and electrical-engineering equipment. An important financial and cultural center, Toronto has two universities.

In the 17th century the site of present-day Toronto was occupied by an Indian settlement; in the 18th century it became a French trading post and later a fort. The British founded a town there in 1793; known until 1834 as York, it served as the administrative center of the British colony—or province—of Upper Canada from its founding to 1841. In 1837 and 1838 the town was the scene of an anti-British uprising.

Laid out in a rectangular grid of thoroughfares, Toronto until the mid-20th century consisted mostly of two-story dwellings. Among its oldest architectural landmarks is Fort York, whose stockade walls and interior wooden structures, erected in 1796, are preserved intact. Later buildings of note are Osgoode Hall, the city’s court building (1829–59, architects F. Cumberland and others); Casa Loma, a private residence (1911–14, architect E. J. Lennox); and a complex of structures including a railroad station, an airport, and a lakeport (1914–29, architects J. Lyle and others). Toronto’s modern edifices include the Regent Park high-rise housing project and the Park Plaza and Westbury hotels (1955–57, architects F. Page and H. Steele); the new Sun Life Building (1960, architect J. B. Parkin); the City Hall, a high-rise structure (1965, architects V. Revell and others); and the Toronto-Dominion Centre (1967, architect L. Mies van der Rohe).

REFERENCE

Kerr, D., and J. Spelt. The Changing Face of Toronto. Ottawa [1965].

Toronto

a city in S central Canada, capital of Ontario, on Lake Ontario: the major industrial centre of Canada; two universities. Pop.: 2 481 494 (2001)

Toronto

To·ron·to

Toronto

To•ron•to

Toronto

Toronto

Economy and People

Landmarks and Institutions

History

Bibliography

Toronto

REFERENCE

Toronto

Toronto

Words related to Toronto

noun the provincial capital and largest city in Ontario (and the largest city in Canada)

Related Words