Facts about Toronto
Toronto winters sometimes feature short cold snaps where maximum temperatures remain below -10 °C (14 °F), often made to feel colder by windchill.
Located on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario, Toronto is the economic center of the Canadian Province of Ontario and the seat of its provincial government.
Reformist politician William Lyon Mackenzie became the first Mayor of Toronto, and led the unsuccessful Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837 against the British colonial government.
Over 100 languages and dialects are spoken here, and over one third of Toronto residents speak a language other than English at home.
BCE Place is an office complex in downtown Toronto, which consists of two towers, the Bay Wellington Tower and the TD Canada Trust Tower, linked by the six-storey Allen Lambert Galleria.
Toronto's most prominent landmark is the CN Tower, which currently stands as the tallest free-standing land structure in the world at 553 metres (1,815 ft).
Toronto is a city of high-rises, having 1,892 buildings over 90m (300') in height, second only to New York City (which has over 5,000 such buildings) in North America.
The city is home to the National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport in Markham provides general aviation facilities.
Statistics Canada reported 2,615,060 people residing in Toronto in 2011.
Toronto's Caribana festival takes place from mid-July to early August of every summer, and is one of North America's largest street festivals.
Wychwood Park is historically significant for the architecture of its homes, and for being one of Toronto's earliest planned communities.
Other notable neighborhoods and attractions include The Beaches, the Toronto Islands, Kensington Market, Fort York, and the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Toronto is a major scene for theatre and other performing arts, with more than 50 ballet and dance companies, six opera companies, and two symphony orchestras.
Much of the current lakeshore land area fronting the Toronto Harbour is actually artificial landfill.
Toronto is also home to Canada's most famous castle - Casa Loma, the former estate of Sir Henry Pellatt, a prominent Toronto financier, industrialist and military man.
The city is intersected by two rivers and numerous tributaries: the Humber River in the west end and the Don River east of downtown at opposite ends of the Toronto Harbour.
Toronto is also home to the Medical and Related Sciences Centre (MaRS), which was created in 2000 to capitalize on the research and innovation strength of the Province of Ontario.
Due to urbanization and other factors Toronto has a fairly low diurnal temperature range, at least in built-up city and lakeshore areas.
The Toronto Islands were actually a landspit until a storm in 1858 severed its connection to the mainland, creating a channel later used by shipping interests to access the docks.
Canada's busiest airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport (IATA: YYZ), straddles the city's western boundary with the suburban city of Mississauga.
Long-distance railway lines were constructed, including a route completed in 1854 linking Toronto with the Upper Great Lakes.
The Toronto Public Library is the largest public library system in Canada, consisting of 99 branches with more than 11 million items in its collection.
During this time, in part due to the political uncertainty raised by the resurgence of the Quebec sovereignty movement, many national and multinational corporations moved their head offices from Montreal to Toronto.
Toronto experiences an average of 2,038 sunshine hours or 44 percent of possible, most of it during the warmer weather season.
On many occasions, celebrities from all over North America can be spotted in the area, especially during the Toronto International Film Festival.
Each summer, the Canadian Stage Company presents an outdoor Shakespeare production in Toronto’s High Park called "Dream in High Park."
Defining the Toronto skyline, the CN Tower is Canada's most recognizable and celebrated icon.
One of Toronto's most unique neighborhoods, the Distillery District contains the largest and best-preserved collection of Victorian industrial architecture in North America.
The harbour was naturally created by sediment build-up from lake currents that created the Toronto Islands and the Leslie Street Spit.
Limited commercial and passenger service is also offered from the Toronto City Centre Airport (usually called the "Island Airport"), located on the Toronto Islands.
In 1954, the City of Toronto was federated into a regional government known as Metropolitan Toronto.
The Toronto City Council is a unicameral legislative body, comprising 44 councillors representing geographical wards throughout the city.
Toronto is heralded as one of the most multicultural cities in the world and is ranked as the safest large urban area in North America by Places Rated Almanac.
Toronto remained the capital of the province of Ontario after the province's official creation in 1867.
At a height of 553.33 m (1,815 ft., 5 inches) it is the world's tallest freestanding structure, an important telecommunications hub, and a centre of tourism in Toronto.
The Yorkville neighborhood is one of Toronto's most elegant shopping and dining areas.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, Toronto has the second-highest percentage of foreign-born population among world cities, after Miami, Florida.
Much of the Toronto harbor (the quays, formerly known as wharves) and adjacent Portlands are also fill.
Toronto is also home to Canada's most famous castle - Casa Loma, the former estate of Sir Henry Pellatt, a prominent Toronto financier, industrialist and military man.
Forty years later, it has grown to attract one million people to Toronto's Lake Shore Boulevard annually.
Toronto's population grew to more than one million in 1951 when large-scale suburbanization began, and doubled to two million by 1971.
The Mayor of Toronto is elected by direct popular vote to serve as the chief executive of the city.
During the last ice age, the lower part of Toronto was beneath Glacial Lake Iroquois.
The name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto, meaning "place where trees stand in the water".
Summer in Toronto is characterized by long stretches of humid weather.
The Toronto District School Board operates 451 public schools and 102 Secondary or high schools.
In 1998, the metropolitan government was dissolved and the six municipalities were amalgamated into a single municipality, creating the current City of Toronto.
The Toronto Stock Exchange is the world's sixth-largest stock exchange by market capitalization.
The Toronto Eaton Centre is one of North America's top shopping destinations, and Toronto's most popular tourist attraction with over one million visitors per week.
The Great Toronto Fire of 1904 destroyed a large section of downtown Toronto, but the city was quickly rebuilt.
By the 1980s, Toronto had surpassed Montreal as Canada's most populous city and the chief economic hub.
Toronto remained the capital of the province of Ontario after the province's official creation in 1867.
Smaller numbers of Protestant Irish immigrants were welcomed by the existing Scottish and English population, giving the Orange Order significant influence over Toronto society.
Toronto is the largest city in Canada and the fifth largest metropolitian area in North America.
Toronto is home to at least 20 hospitals, and is a center of research in biomedicine.
Toronto is home to a diverse range of public and private educational institutions.
The structure of the municipal government is stipulated by the City of Toronto Act.
Toronto's population is cosmopolitan and international, which reflects its role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada.
The various residential communities of Toronto express a character distinct from that of the skyscrapers in the commercial core.
The University of Toronto, established in 1827, is the oldest university in the province of Ontario and a leading public research institution.
The Toronto Stock Exchange is headquartered in the city, along with a majority of Canada's corporations.
The Government of Ontario operates an extensive rail and bus transit system called GO Transit that links the neighboring cities and suburbs with the City of Toronto.
Greektown on the Danforth, is another one of the major attractions of Toronto which boasts one of the highest concentrations of restaurants per kilometre in the world.
The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the third largest public transit system in North America after the New York City Transit Authority, and Mexico City Metro.
Toronto has become an architectural hotspot featuring uniquely designed buildings from many of the most celebrated architects in the world.
Toronto covers an area of 629.91 square kilometres (243.21 sq mi), with a maximum north-south distance of 21 kilometres (13 mi) and a maximum east-west distance of 43 kilometres (27 mi).
Toronto's climate is moderate for Canada due to its southerly location within the country and its proximity to Lake Ontario.
Despite its fast paced growth, by the 1920s, Toronto's population and economic importance in Canada remained second to the much longer established Montreal.
In 1787, young Beethoven traveled to Vienna for the first time, where he may have met and played for Mozart.
Toronto is home to at least 20 hospitals, and is a center of research in biomedicine.