50 Fun, Weird and Interesting Facts About Toronto
I lived in Toronto for eight years and return regularly to visit my family. But it’s changed a lot since I lived there. It seems busier than ever and unfortunately it feels to me like the city is starting to fall apart. I don’t think enough money has been put into infrastructure over the years. Nonetheless it’s still one of Canada’s great cities to visit – especially for culture, dining and shopping. Visit in the fall if you have the choice.
Here are 50 fun, weird and just plain interesting facts I’ve dug up about the city of Toronto.
The Flatiron Mural by Canadian artist Derek Besant
- Toronto is Canada’s largest city with a population now of almost 5.6 million. The Greater Toronto area boasts 6,054,191 residents.
- Toronto is the capital of Ontario.
- Toronto is the fifth largest city in North America. Larger cities include Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago.
- The city of Toronto started off as York, the capital of Upper Canada in 1793. York was incorporated and renamed Toronto in 1834.
- Toronto is the world’s fourth most livable city.
- Toronto has more than 8000 restaurants. And some restaurants are now encouraging a 20% tip.
- The St. Lawrence Market is one of Canada’s great markets. The selection of food is outstanding. Runner up in my books is Kensington Market.
The St. Lawrence market is always a busy place
- Toronto has 301 days of measurable sunshine. December has the fewest days – only 19, while July and August have on average 30 days.
- On the summer solstice the sun rises at 5:37 AM and sets at 9:03 PM. On the winter solstice the sun rises at 7:50 AM and sets at 4:45 PM.
- The coldest temperature ever recorded in Toronto was -31.3°C (-24.3°F) on January 4, 1981. The windchill on that day was -44.7°C (-48.5°F), the coldest ever.
- The highest temperatures ever recorded were 41°C (105°F) from July 7-9 in 1936.
- Toronto had to deal with two major snowstorms two weeks apart in January 1999. The first dumped 40 centimetres (15.75 inches) and the second dumped 118 centimetres (46.5 inches).
- Over 30% of Toronto residents speak a language other than English and French. Just ride the subways and that fact will hit home. Dual language street signs can be found in Little Italy, Little Portugal and Chinatown.
The Kensington Market area is very colourful
- Caribana is the largest single day parade in North America. The parade route is 3.6 kilometres long. It starts at 10 AM and finishes sometime around 8 PM. Over one million spectators come to see over 10,000 costumed participants.
- The Toronto Stock Exchange is the third largest in North America and the seventh largest in the world based on capitalization.
The CN Tower is one of Toronto’s most iconic buildings
- Toronto ranks second as the world’s most business competitive global city.
- Toronto ranks as the twelfth most economically powerful city city in the world – based on economic output, innovation, its’ global economic power score and its’ financial center score.
- Yonge Street was once considered to be the longest street in the world. No more. It starts at Queen’s Quay and ends at a farm access lane west of Keswick – not 1,896 kilometres later in Rainy River as was originally thought.
- The Toronto Zoo is the largest in Canada. It is home to over 16,000 animals representing 491 species.
Tiger in the Toronto Zoo – Photo credit: derekp on Flickr
- PATH is the largest underground pedestrian system in North America. It connects 1200 stores and restaurants, 50 office towers, 20 parking garages, five subway stations and a railway terminal over its’ twenty eight kilometre length. Each letter in PATH is a different colour representing a different direction: P is red and points south. A is orange and points west. T is blue and directs north. H is yellow and points east.
- The world’s largest underground sidewalk sale happens once a year with all the businesses found along the PATH.
- Movie stars from Toronto include Jim Carrey, Mike Myers and Eugene Levy. My husband was the soccer coach for Eugene’s son when he was all of six.
- Toronto is North America’s third largest venue for movie production. There are over 25,000 jobs in feature film production.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967. And despite being consistently one of the worst teams in the NHL, they have a loyal fan base and tickets are always sold out.
- They boast many other professional sports teams – The Toronto Raptors (basketball), The Toronto BlueJays (baseball), The Toronto Argonauts (football), the Toronto FC team (soccer), Toronto Rock (National Lacrosse) and the Toronto Marlies (American Hockey League).
- There are 52 outdoor skating rinks in Toronto – open from the beginning of December until the end of February.
There are loads of neighbourhood skating and ice hockey rinks
- Toronto is home to three universities, a degree granting college of art and design and four colleges of applied arts and technology.
- The Toronto Islands, just a short ferry ride away from downtown Toronto, comprise the largest urban car-free community in North America. They are also a very popular recreational destination and home to the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.
Toronto Island from the air
- High Park is Toronto’s largest public park. Walk along the Grenadier Pond and you won’t feel like you’re in a big city. It also boasts a zoo, playgrounds, a dog park, sports facilities and many hiking trails.
- Toronto is considered to be one of the most multicultural cities in the world.
- Nathan Phillips Square is named for the mayor of Toronto from 1955-1962. Toronto’s City Hall is located at the square. The square is used for concerts, art displays, the winter festival of lights and even demonstrations.
- Toronto’s plant hardiness zone is six – and is considered to be on the eastern edge of the Carolinian Forest zone.
- Toronto sits on the northwest shore of Lake Ontario.
- Toronto is 76.5 metres above sea level. The highest point – 209 metres – is at the intersection of Steeles Avenue West and Keele Street.
- Toronto’s shoreline stretches 43 kilometres as the crow flies – or 138 kilometres if bays and islands are factored in.
View of the CN Tower from Toronto Island
- There are over 1,600 named parks in Toronto.
- There are about 10 million trees in Toronto of which four million are publicly owned.
- Over 21 million people visit Toronto on an annual basis. There are about a quarter of a million people who work in tourism and hospitality. Brazil, India, China and South Korea are the fastest grown markets for Toronto.
- You’ll find over 35,000 hotel rooms in Toronto.
- Toronto is one of the largest cultural centers in North America. You’ll find The National Ballet Company, The Canadian Opera Company, The Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir as well as loads of small theatres and those boasting Broadway style productions.
- There are over 200 public art works and historic monuments that are owned by the city.
- Toronto is home to over 70 film festivals. TIFF – the Toronto International Film Festival is an annual occurrence every September. Lots of big name movie stars make an appearance while it is on.
The Ontario College of Art and Design
- Twenty two Members of Parliament represent Toronto in the House of Commons in Ottawa.
- Twenty two MPP’s represent Toronto in Ontario’s Provincial government.
- The City of Toronto’s government is the sixth largest in all of Canada. The 2012 operating budget for the City of Toronto is 9.4 billion dollars.
- There are approximately 50,000 employees working for City of Toronto government – including those that work on agencies, boards or commissions.
- There are 9,520 streets in Toronto. The longest street is Lawrence Avenue East (other than Yonge Street.)
- There are over 1.6 million trips every day on the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) which includes subways, buses and streetcars.
- Toronto’s transit system is the second largest in North America and has the highest per capita ridership rate. I do wish they’d work harder to clean up the subway stations though.
- Toronto’s Pearson Airport is the busiest in Canada and the fourth busiest in North America.
Do you have some interesting Toronto facts you’d like to share?
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Leigh McAdam
Author of Discover Canada: 100 Inspiring Outdoor Adventures
Co-author of 125 Nature Hot Spots in Alberta
HikeBikeTravel
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Really interesting facts. I’ve only been to Toronto once, and it was winter (not -31C thankfully) so I’m hoping to go back when the weather is nicer. I actually have a TBEX ticket, so fingers crossed I’ll be able to make it out to Toronto in June. I had no idea the letters in PATH actually stood for directions. That’s pretty handy.
ha love it
@Alouise I learned a few things too by writing this. I also will be at TBEX this year.
Great list, Leigh! I remember that 1999 snowstorm very well – we have a photo where the snow bank is nearly as high as our house! I used the PATH system for years while working downtown and I had no idea that the letter/colour indicated the direction – not very observant, I guess! 🙂
@Lisa I remember hearing about the snowstorm – and it sounded like fun if you didn’t have to go anywhere and your electricity was still on. My husband just mentioned the same thing about PATH. I wonder how many people understand it.
There’s no way I could come up with anything else. I’ve learned quite a lot in this post. Like Alouise, it’s news to me about PATH. Can you believe that I’ve only seen the Flatiron building from the front, so I’ve never seen the mural? A shame!
@Cathy That Flatiron building is one of my faves in Toronto. It seems that the city of Toronto needs to do a better job about explaining PATH. I didn’t know that info until I researched it.
I lived in Toronto for 12+ years but didn’t know some of these facts (oops). You’re absolutely right about Maple Leafs loyal fans…I still support them too 🙂
@Shamis People ourtside of Toronto marvel at the support the Leafs get. It’s too bad more hockey clubs didn’t have that sort of fan base.
Great list, Leigh! I learned a few things — didn’t know about the suggested 20% tip or that there are 301 days of measurable sunshine. Love Kensington Market!
@Marcia I’m thinking that 301 days of sunshine had got to be pushing the limit – at least from my experience living there.
Great design and awesome architectural, i love that building.
I’ve been to Toronto a lot, but never as a tourist. I worked for several companies that have their head office there. I have done a bit of sightseeing, but would like to have a week there to do all of the touristy things. Strange, I just posted a guest post about Toronto 🙂
I’ve been to Toronto a lot, but never as a tourist. I worked for several companies that have their head office there. I have done a bit of sightseeing, but would like to have a week there to do all of the touristy things. Strange, I just posted a guest post about Toronto 🙂
@Nancie You should think about a trip to Toronto for TBEX the first weekend in June. I bet the city will offer plenty of freebies for bloggers to see the city – and if they’re smart they’ll give you a week to do it.
I’ve heard that Hwy 401 is the busiest highway in North America.
I’ve heard that Hwy 401 is the busiest highway in North America.
@Amy Good point. I’ve heard that too.
The part of Highway 401 that passes through Toronto is the busiest highway in the world and one of the widest.
@Chippy Thanks for that bit of info.
well hike bike travel in school i am trying to do a brochure about Toronto so do you know any tips for me please replay
You’ll have to read through my blog for ideas – or check out Tourism Toronto’s website.
I Loved this i used it for a project
@Ariana Glad it was useful.
nice facts
# missed one
Toronto uses the most electricity in Canada
@Muskan I didn’t know that but it makes sense wit its population. Thank you.
Interesting facts.
Writing my own blogpost about Toronto right now I searched for some info and went by your blog for the first time. I will definitely stick around. You provide very useful, sometimes even breath-taking info and experience.
I visited Toronto in November this year for the first time; it was really cold so I didn`t enjoy it that much. I lived on the Dundas street and I didn`t feel very safe there. Despite of this, the city was beautiful and the view from CN tower, wow! I only wish I visited it in summer.
Thank you for all the information you provided. Take care.
@Jane I think the best time of all to visit Toronto is in the fall. Although I wouldn’t want to live there again, I do enjoy visiting.
Great job!!!! I was in Toronto 13 years ago, and after this reading I want to go back, but now with my family.
Cheers,
Hugo Navarro
@Hugo Hope you get the chance.
Toronto is home for the Queen’s Own Rifles and Castle Loma, Imax?
Thank you Robert.
Lol ?
awesome fact
Interesting facts..liked it !
i loved it
Hike Bike Travel is awesome it really helped me
i loved the article and a lot of interesting facts too!
nice article about toronto it helped me with my slide show at school