Name | Toronto |
---|---|
Official name | City of Toronto |
Settlement type | City |
Nickname | T.O., T-Dot, Hogtown, The Queen City, Toronto the Good, The City Within a Park |
Motto | Diversity Our Strength |
Flag link | Flag of Toronto |
Flag size | 125px |
Image shield | Toronto_Coat_of_Arms.jpg |
Shield link | Coat of arms of Toronto |
Shield size | 85px |
Map caption | Location of Toronto and its census metropolitan area in the province of Ontario |
Coordinates region | CA-ON |
Subdivision type | Country |
Subdivision name | :Canada |
Subdivision type1 | Province |
Subdivision name1 | |
Subdivision type2 | Former cities |
Subdivision name2 | East York, Etobicoke, North York, Old Toronto, Scarborough, York |
Leader title | Mayor |
Leader name | Rob Ford |
Leader title1 | Council |
Leader name1 | Toronto City Council |
Leader title2 | MPs |
Leader name2 | |
Leader title3 | MPPs |
Leader name3 | |
Settled title | Settled |
Settled date | 1750 (as Fort Rouillé) |
Established title | Established |
Established date | August 27, 1793 (as York) |
Established title1 | Incorporated |
Established date1 | March 6, 1834 (as Toronto) |
Established title2 | Amalgamated |
Established date2 | January 1, 1998 (from Metropolitan Toronto) |
Unit pref | Metric |
Area total km2 | 630 |
Area metro km2 | 7125 |
Area urban km2 | 1749 |
Elevation m | 76 |
Area footnotes | |
Population as of | 2006 |
Population total | 2,503,281 (1st) |
Population density km2 | 3972 |
Population metro | 5,113,149 (1st) |
Population urban | 4,753,120 (1st) |
Population blank1 title | Demonym |
Population blank1 | Torontonian |
Timezone | EST |
Utc offset | -5 |
Timezone dst | EDT |
Utc offset dst | -4 |
Postal code type | Postal code span |
Postal code | M |
Area code | 416, 647 |
Website | www.toronto.ca |
Blank name | NTS Map |
Blank info | 030M11 |
Blank1 name | GNBC Code |
Blank1 info | FEUZB }} |
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth most populous city in North America. Its metropolitan area with over 5 million residents is the seventh largest urban region in North America. Toronto is at the heart of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and is part of a densely populated region in Southern Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe, which is home to over 8.1 million residents—approximately 25% of Canada's population. The census metropolitan area (CMA) had a population of 5,113,149, and the Greater Toronto Area had a population of 5,555,912 in the 2006 Census.
As Canada's economic capital and one of the top financial centres in the world, Toronto is considered an alpha world city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) study group. It is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the world's seventh largest in terms of market value. Toronto contains more corporate headquarters than any other Canadian city, including those of Canada's five largest banks. Toronto's leading economic sectors include finance, business services, telecommunications, aerospace, transportation, media, arts, film, music, television production, publishing, software production, medical research, education, tourism, engineering, and sports industries.
A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy. The settlement was later established as the Town of York and proclaimed as the new capital of Upper Canada by its lieutenant-governor, John Graves Simcoe. In 1834, York was incorporated as a city and renamed to its present name. The city was ransacked in the Battle of York during the War of 1812, and damaged in two great fires: in 1849 and in 1904. Since its incorporation, Toronto has repeatedly expanded its borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities, most recently in 1998. Toronto's population is cosmopolitan and international, reflecting its role as an important destination for immigrants to Canada. Toronto is one of the world's most diverse cities by percentage of non-native-born residents, with about 49% of the population born outside Canada.
According to Forbes, Toronto is the tenth-most economically powerful city in the world and one of the fastest growing among the G7 nations, whilst PwC ranks the city as the world's second-best "metro powerhouse". Toronto was ranked twelfth in the world and fourth in the Americas in 2010 for economic innovation by 2thinknow. Toronto is also consistently rated as one of the world's most livable cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Mercer Quality of Living Survey. The cost of living in Toronto was ranked highest in Canada .
French traders founded Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists fled for the unsettled lands north of Lake Ontario. In 1787, the British negotiated the Toronto Purchase with the Mississaugas of New Credit, thereby securing more than a quarter million acres (1000 km2) of land in the Toronto area.
In 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the existing settlement, naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe chose the town to replace Newark as the capital of Upper Canada, believing the new site would be less vulnerable to attack by the Americans. Fort York was constructed at the entrance of the town's natural harbour, sheltered by a long sand-bar peninsula. The town's settlement formed at the eastern end of the harbour behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street and Front Street (in the Corktown–St. Lawrence area).
Toronto was twice for brief periods the capital of the united Province of Canada: first from 1849 to 1852, following unrest in Montreal, and later 1856–1858 after which Quebec became capital until 1866 (one year before Confederation); since then, the capital of Canada has remained Ottawa. As it had been for Upper Canada from 1793, Toronto became the capital of the province of Ontario after its official creation in 1867, the seat of government located at the Ontario Legislature located at Queen's Park. Because of its provincial capital status, the city was also the location of Government House, the residence of the vice-regal representative of the Crown.
In the 19th century, an extensive sewage system was built, and streets became illuminated with gas lighting as a regular service. Long-distance railway lines were constructed, including a route completed in 1854 linking Toronto with the Upper Great Lakes. The Grand Trunk Railway and the Northern Railway of Canada joined in the building of the first Union Station in downtown. The advent of the railway dramatically increased the numbers of immigrants arriving, commerce and industry, as had the Lake Ontario steamers and schooners entering port before which enabled Toronto to become a major gateway linking the world to the interior of the North American continent.
Toronto became the largest alcohol distillation (in particular spirits) centre in North America; the Gooderham and Worts Distillery operations became the world's largest whiskey factory by the 1860s. A preserved section of this once dominant local industry remains in the Distillery District, the harbour allowed for sure access of grain and sugar imports used in processing. Expanding port and rail facilities brought in Northern Timber for export and imported Pennsylvania coal, industry dominated the waterfront for the next 100 years.
Horse-drawn streetcars gave way to electric streetcars in 1891, when the city granted the operation of the transit franchise to the Toronto Railway Company. The public transit system passed into public ownership in 1921 as the Toronto Transportation Commission, later renamed the Toronto Transit Commission. The system now has the third-highest ridership of any city public transportation system in North America.
The Great Toronto Fire of 1904 destroyed a large section of downtown Toronto, but the city was quickly rebuilt. The fire had cost more than $10 million in damage, led to more stringent fire safety laws, and the expansion of the city's fire department.
The city received new immigrant groups beginning in the late 19th century into early 20th century, particularly Germans, French, Italians, and Jews from various parts of Eastern Europe. They were soon followed by Chinese, Russians, Poles and immigrants from other Eastern European nations, as the Irish before them, many of these new migrants lived in overcrowded shanty type slums, such as "the Ward" which was centred on Bay Street, now the heart of the country's finances. Despite its fast paced growth, by the 1920s, Toronto's population and economic importance in Canada remained second to the much longer established Montreal. However, by 1934, the Toronto Stock Exchange had become the largest in the country.
In 1954, the City of Toronto and 12 surrounding municipalities were federated into a regional government known as Metropolitan Toronto. The postwar boom had resulted in rapid suburban development, and it was believed that a coordinated land use strategy and shared services would provide greater efficiency for the region. The metropolitan government began to manage services that crossed municipal boundaries, including highways, police services, water and public transit. In that year, a half-century after the Great Fire of 1904, disaster struck the city again when Hurricane Hazel brought intense winds and flash flooding. In the Toronto area, 81 people were killed, nearly 1,900 families were left homeless, and the hurricane caused more than $25 million in damage.
In 1967, the seven smallest municipalities of Metropolitan Toronto were merged into their larger neighbours, resulting in a six-municipality configuration that included the old City of Toronto and the surrounding municipalities of East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and York. In 1998, the metropolitan government was dissolved by the Provincial Government in the face of vigorous opposition from the smaller component municipalities and all six municipalities were amalgamated into a single municipality, creating the current City of Toronto, with Mel Lastman as its first mayor (after being mayor of North York). David Miller was the second mayor and Rob Ford is the third and current mayor.
The city celebrated its 175th anniversary on March 6, 2009, since its inception as the City of Toronto in 1834. Toronto hosted the 4th G-20 summit during June 26–27, 2010, for which the largest security operation in Canadian history took place amidst large-scale protests. Toronto will host the Pan American Games in 2015.
Toronto covers an area of , with a maximum north-south distance of and a maximum east-west distance of . It has a long waterfront shoreline, on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. The Toronto Islands and Port Lands extend some distance out into the lake, allowing for a somewhat sheltered Toronto Harbour immediately south of the downtown core. The city's borders are formed by Lake Ontario to the south, Etobicoke Creek and Highway 427 to the west, Steeles Avenue to the north and the Rouge River to the east.
During the last ice age, the lower part of Toronto was beneath Glacial Lake Iroquois. Today, a series of escarpments mark the lake's former boundary, known as the Iroquois Shoreline. The escarpments are most prominent from Victoria Park Avenue to the mouth of Highland Creek, where they form the Scarborough Bluffs. Other observable sections include the area near St. Clair Avenue West between Bathurst Street and the Don River, and north of Davenport Road from Caledonia to Spadina Road; the Casa Loma grounds sit above this escarpment. Despite its deep ravines, Toronto is not remarkably hilly, but does increase in elevation steadily away from the lake. Elevation differences range from above-sea-level at the Lake Ontario shore to ASL near the York University grounds in the city's north end at the intersection of Keele Street and Steeles Avenue. There are occasional hilly areas, in particular midtown Toronto has a number of rolling hills, some of which are of considerable height. Lake Ontario remains occasionally visible from the peaks of these ridges as far north as Eglinton Avenue, inland.
Much of the current lakeshore land area fronting the Toronto Harbour is artificial landfill filled during the late 19th century. Until then the lakefront docks (then known as wharves) were set back further inland than today. Much of the adjacent Port Lands are also fill. The Toronto Islands were a natural landspit until a storm in 1858 severed their connection to the mainland, creating a channel later used by shipping interests to access the docks.
Toronto winters sometimes feature short cold snaps where maximum temperatures remain below , often made to feel colder by wind chill. Snowstorms, sometimes mixed with ice and rain can disrupt work and travel schedules, accumulating snow can fall any time from November until mid-April. However, mild stretches with temperatures in the range and infrequently higher also occur in most winters melting accumulated snow. Summer in Toronto is characterized by long stretches of humid weather. Usually in the range from to , daytime temperatures occasionally surpass accompanied by high humidity making it feel oppressive during these brief periods of hot weather. Spring and autumn are transitional seasons with generally mild or cool temperatures with alternating dry and wet periods.
Precipitation is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, but summer is usually the wettest season, the bulk falling during thunderstorms. There can be periods of dry weather, but drought-like conditions are rare. The average yearly precipitation is about , with an average annual snowfall of about . Toronto experiences an average of 2,038 sunshine hours, or 44% of daylight hours, varying between a low of 27% in December to 59% in July.
Defining the Toronto skyline is the CN Tower. At a height of it was the world's tallest freestanding structure until 2007 when it was surpassed by Burj Khalifa, but it is still the tallest tower in the western hemisphere surpassing Chicago's Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower) by 110 metres. It is an important telecommunications hub, and a centre of tourism in Toronto.
Toronto is a city of high-rises, having over 2,000 buildings over , second only to New York City (which has over 5,000 such buildings) in North America. Most of these buildings are residential (either rental or condominium), whereas the central business district contains the taller commercial office towers. There has been recent media attention given for the need to retrofit many of these buildings, which were constructed beginning in the 1950s as residential apartment blocks to accommodate a quickly growing population.
Through the 1960s and 1970s, significant pieces of Toronto's architectural heritage were demolished to make way for redevelopment or, simply, parking. In contrast, Toronto is currently experiencing a period of architectural revival, with several buildings by world-renowned architects having opened in the last five years. Daniel Libeskind's Royal Ontario Museum addition, Frank Gehry's remake of the Art Gallery of Ontario, and Will Alsop's distinctive Ontario College of Art & Design expansion are among the city's new showpieces. The historic Distillery District, located on the eastern edge of downtown, is North America's largest and best preserved collection of Victorian era industrial architecture. It has been redeveloped into a pedestrian-oriented arts, culture and entertainment neighbourhood. Modern glass and steel highrises have begun to transform the majority of the downtown area as the condominium market has exploded and triggered widespread construction throughout the city's centre. Trump International Hotel and Tower, Ritz-Carlton Toronto, Four Seasons Hotel and Residences, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts are just some of the many high rise luxury condominium-hotel projects currently under construction in the downtown core.
The City of Toronto encompasses a geographical area formerly administered by six separate municipalities. These municipalities have each developed a distinct history and identity over the years, and their names remain in common use among Torontonians. Throughout the city there exist hundreds of small neighbourhoods and some larger neighbourhoods covering a few square kilometres. Former municipalities include East York, Etobicoke, North York, Old Toronto, Scarborough, and York.
The Old City of Toronto covers the area generally known as downtown. It is the historic core of Toronto and remains the most densely populated part of the city. The Financial District contains the largest cluster of skyscrapers in Canada, including the First Canadian Place, Toronto-Dominion Centre, Scotia Plaza, Royal Bank Plaza, Commerce Court and Brookfield Place. This area includes, among others, the neighbourhoods of St. James (not to be confused with St. James Town to the north), Garden District, St. Lawrence, Corktown, and Church and Wellesley. From that point, the Toronto skyline extends northward along Yonge Street. Old Toronto is also home to many historically wealthy residential enclaves, such as Yorkville, Rosedale, The Annex, Forest Hill, Lawrence Park, Lytton Park, Deer Park, Moore Park, and Casa Loma, most stretching away from downtown to the north. These neighbourhoods generally feature upscale homes, luxury condominiums and high-end retail. At the same time, the downtown core vicinity includes neighbourhoods with many recent immigrants and low-income families living in social housing and rental high-rises, such as St. James Town, Regent Park, Moss Park, Alexandra Park and Parkdale. East and west of Downtown, neighbourhoods such as Kensington Market, Chinatown, Leslieville, Cabbagetown and Riverdale are home to bustling commercial and cultural areas as well as vibrant communities of artists with studio lofts, with many middle and upper class professionals. Other neighbourhoods in the central city retain an ethnic identity, including two Chinatowns, the popular Greektown area, the trendy Little Italy, Portugal Village, and Little India, along with others.
The inner suburbs are contained within the former municipalities of York and East York. These are mature and traditionally working class areas, primarily consisting of post–World War I small, single-family homes and small apartment blocks. Neighbourhoods such as Crescent Town, Thorncliffe Park, Weston, and Oakwood–Vaughan mainly consist of high-rise apartments, which are home to many new immigrant families. During the 2000s, many neighbourhoods have become ethnically diverse and have undergone gentrification, as a result of increasing population and a housing boom during the late 1990s and first decade of the 21st century. The first neighbourhoods affected were Leaside and North Toronto, gradually progressing into the western neighbourhoods in York. Some of the area's housing is in the process of being replaced or remodelled.
The outer suburbs comprising the former municipalities of Etobicoke (west), Scarborough (east) and North York (north) largely retain the grid plan laid before post-war development. Sections were long established and quickly growing towns before the suburban housing boom began and the emergence of Metro Government, existing towns or villages such as Mimico, Islington and New Toronto in Etobicoke; Willowdale, Newtonbrook and Downsview in North York; Agincourt, Wexford and West Hill in Scarborough where suburban development boomed around or between these and other towns beginning in the late 1940s. Upscale neighbourhoods were built such as the Bridle Path in North York, the area surrounding the Scarborough Bluffs in Guildwood, and most of central Etobicoke, such as Humber Valley Village, and The Kingsway. One of largest and earliest "planned communities" was Don Mills, parts of which were first built in the 1950s. Phased development mixing single-detached housing with higher density apartment blocks became more popular as a suburban model of development. To some this model has been copied in other GTA municipalities surrounding Toronto, albeit with less population density. Over the late 20th century and early 21st century, the North York Centre, Etobicoke City Centre and the Scarborough City Centre have emerged as secondary business districts outside Downtown Toronto. High-rise development in these areas have given North York, Etobicoke and Scarborough distinguishable skylines of their own and a more downtown feel with high-density transit corridors serving them.
The Distillery District contains the largest and best-preserved collection of Victorian industrial architecture in North America. Once the largest alcohol processing centre in North America, related structures along the Harbour include the Canada Malting Co. grain processing towers and the Redpath Sugar Refinery. Although production of spirits has declined over the decades, Toronto still has a robust and growing microbrewery industry.
The District is a national heritage site, it was listed by National Geographic magazine as a "top pick" in Canada for travellers. Similar areas that still retain their post-industrial character, but are now largely residential are the Fashion District, Corktown, and parts of South Riverdale and Leslieville. Toronto still has some active older industrial areas, such as Brockton Village, Mimico and New Toronto. In the west end of Old Toronto and York, the Weston/Mount Dennis and Junction areas have a sense of grit to them, as they still contain factories, meat packing facilities and railyards close to medium density residential.
Beginning in the late 19th century as Toronto sprawled out, industrial areas were set up on the outskirts. Over time, pockets of industrial land mostly followed rail lines and later highway corridors as the city grew outwards. This trend continues to this day, the largest factories and distribution warehouses have mostly moved to the suburban environs of Peel and York Regions; but also within the current city: Etobicoke (concentrated around Pearson Airport), North York, and Scarborough. Many of Toronto's former industrial sites close to (or Downtown) have been redeveloped including parts of the Toronto waterfront and Liberty Village, large-scale development is underway in the West Don Lands.
The still mostly vacated Port Lands remain largely undeveloped, apart from a power plant, a shipping container facility and out-of-commission industrial facilities. There are future plans for development, including residential areas under the guidance of Waterfront Toronto.
There are many large downtown parks, which include Grange Park, Moss Park, Allan Gardens, Little Norway Park, Queen's Park, Riverdale Park, Trinity Bellwoods Park, Christie Pits, and the Leslie Street Spit, which mainly consists of Tommy Thompson Park and opens on weekends. The Toronto Islands have several acres of park space, accessible from downtown by ferry. Large parks in the outer areas include High Park, Humber Bay Park, Centennial Park, Downsview Park, Guildwood Park, and Rouge Park. An almost hidden park is the compact Cloud Gardens, which has both open areas and a glassed-in greenhouse in downtown Toronto.
Nathan Phillips Square, Harbourfront Centre, and Mel Lastman Square feature popular rinks for public ice-skating. Etobicoke's Colonel Sam Smith Trail opened in 2011 and is Toronto's first skating trail. Centennial Park and Earl Bales Park offer outdoor skiing and snowboarding slopes with a chair lift, rental facilities, and lessons.
Nathan Phillips Square is undergoing a major redesign by PLANT Architect Inc., Shore Tilbe Irwin + Partners, Peter Lindsay Schaudt Landscape Architecture Inc., and Adrian Blackwell (winners of the international design competition in 2007). West 8, a Dutch architecture firm, won the Central Waterfront Innovative Design Competition in 2006 to redesign the central part of the Toronto waterfront. In 1999, Downsview Park initiated an international design competition to realise its vision of creating Canada's first national urban park. In May 2000, the winning park design was announced: "TREE CITY", by the team of Bruce Mau Design, Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Oleson Worland Architect and Inside/Outside.
Ontario Place features the world's first permanent IMAX movie theatre, the Cinesphere, as well as the Molson Amphitheatre, an open-air venue for large-scale music concerts. Each summer, the Canadian Stage Company presents an outdoor Shakespeare production in Toronto's High Park called "Dream in High Park". Canada's Walk of Fame acknowledges the achievements of successful Canadians, with a series of stars on designated blocks of sidewalks along King Street and Simcoe Street.
The Distillery District is a pedestrian village containing boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, artist studios and small breweries, including the well-known Mill Street Brewery. A new theatre in the district, the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, is the home of the Soulpepper Theatre Company and the drama productions of nearby George Brown College.
The production of domestic and foreign film and television is a major local industry. Many movie releases are screened in Toronto before wider release in North America. The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the most important annual events for the international film industry. Europe's largest film studio, Pinewood Studios Group of London, operates Pinewood Toronto Studios in west-end Toronto.
Toronto's Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival (formerly known as Caribana) takes place from mid-July to early August of every summer, and is one of North America's largest street festivals. Primarily based on the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, the first Caribana took place in 1967 when the city's Caribbean community celebrated Canada's Centennial. More than forty years later, it has grown to attract one million people to Toronto's Lake Shore Boulevard annually. Tourism for the festival is in the hundred thousands, and each year, the event generates over $400 million in revenue into Ontario's economy.
Pride Week in Toronto takes place in late June, and is one of the largest LGBT festivals in the world. One of the largest events in the city, it attracts more than one million people from around the world.
Toronto's most prominent landmark is the CN Tower, which once stood as the tallest free-standing land structure in the world at . To the surprise of its creators, the tower held the world record for over 30 years.
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a major museum for world culture and natural history. The Toronto Zoo, one of the largest in the world, is home to over 5,000 animals representing over 460 distinct species. The Art Gallery of Ontario contains a large collection of Canadian, European, African and contemporary artwork, and also plays host to exhibits from museums and galleries all over the world. The Gardiner Museum of ceramic art is the only museum in Canada entirely devoted to ceramics, and the Museum's collection contains more than 2,900 ceramic works from Asia, the Americas, and Europe. The Ontario Science Centre always has new hands-on activities and science displays particularly appealing to children, and the Bata Shoe Museum features many unique exhibitions focused on footwear throughout history. The centrally located Textile Museum of Canada possesses another niche collection of great quality and interest. The Don Valley Brick Works is a former industrial site, which opened in 1889, and was partly restored as a park and heritage site in 1996, with further restoration and reuse being completed in stages since then. The Canadian National Exhibition is held annually at Exhibition Place, and it is the oldest annual fair in the world. It is Canada's largest annual fair and the fifth largest in North America, with an average attendance of 1.25 million.
The Yorkville neighbourhood is one of Toronto's most elegant shopping and dining areas. On many occasions, celebrities from all over North America can be spotted in the area, especially during the Toronto International Film Festival. The Distillery District, Queen West, Harbourfront, the Entertainment District, the Financial District, and the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood are also popular areas for tourists. The Eaton Centre is one of North America's top shopping destinations, and Toronto's most popular tourist attraction with over 52 million visitors annually.
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. It is also home to the annual "Taste of the Danforth" festival which attracts over one million people in 2½ days. 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. Other notable neighbourhoods and attractions include The Beaches, the Toronto Islands, Kensington Market, Fort York, and the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Toronto is home to the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of the National Hockey League's Original Six clubs, and has also served as home to the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1958. The city has a rich history of hockey championships. Along with the Maple Leafs' 13 Stanley Cup titles (second all-time), the Toronto Marlboros and St. Michael's College School-based Ontario Hockey League teams combined have won a record 12 Memorial Cup titles. The Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League also play in Toronto at Ricoh Coliseum and are the farm team for the Maple Leafs. They are currently the only AHL team that is located in the same market as its NHL parent club.
Toronto is currently home to the only National Basketball Association franchise outside the United States. The Toronto Raptors entered the league in 1995, and have since earned five playoff spots in 15 seasons. The Raptors won the Atlantic Division title in the 2006–07 NBA season, led by former star player Chris Bosh. The Raptors are the only NBA team with their own television channel, NBA TV Canada. They and the Maple Leafs play their home games at the Air Canada Centre.
The Toronto Rock are the city's National Lacrosse League team. They are one of the league's most successful franchises, winning five Champion's Cup titles in seven years in the late 1990s and early first decade of the 21st century, appearing in an NLL record 5 straight championship games from 1999 to 2003, and are currently first all-time in the number of Champion's Cups won. The Rock share the Air Canada Centre with the Maple Leafs and the Raptors.
The city is represented in the Canadian Football League by the Toronto Argonauts, who have won a league-leading 15 Grey Cup titles. Toronto played host to the 95th Grey Cup in 2007, the first held in the city since 1992. In addition, the city has hosted several National Football League exhibition games; Ted Rogers leased the Buffalo Bills from Ralph Wilson for the purposes of having the Bills play eight home games in the city between 2008 and 2012. The city is also home to Major League Baseball's Toronto Blue Jays, who have won two World Series (1992 and 1993) titles and are currently the only Major League Baseball team in Canada. Both the Argonauts and Blue Jays (as well as the Bills when they are in town) play their home games at the Rogers Centre, in the downtown core.
Toronto is home to the International Bowl, an NCAA sanctioned post-season football game that puts a Mid-American Conference team against a Big East Conference team. Beginning in 2007, the game is played at the Rogers Centre annually in January.
Toronto, along with Montreal, hosts an annual Tennis Tournament called the Rogers Cup between the months of July and August. In odd-numbered years, the men's tournament is held in Montréal, while the women's tournament is held in Toronto, and vice-versa in even-numbered years.
Besides team sports, the city annually hosted Champ Car's Molson Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place from 1986 to 2007. The race was revived in 2009 as the Honda Indy Toronto, part of the IndyCar Series schedule. Both thoroughbred and standardbred horse racing events are conducted at Woodbine Racetrack in Rexdale.
Historic sports clubs of Toronto include the Granite Club (established in 1836), the Royal Canadian Yacht Club (established in 1852), the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club (established in pre-1827), the Argonaut Rowing Club (established in 1872), the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club (established in 1881), and the Badminton and Racquet Club (established in 1924).
Toronto was a candidate city for the 1996 and 2008 Summer Olympics, which were awarded to Atlanta and Beijing respectively. The Canadian Olympic Committee was considering a Toronto bid for the 2020, however, in August 2011 it was announced that Toronto would not bid for the 2020 games.
Toronto will be hosting the 2015 Pan American Games in July 2015. It contested against the cities of Lima, Peru and Bogotá, Colombia.
+ Professional and amateur sports teams in Toronto | |||||
Club | League | Sport | Venue | Established | Championships |
Toronto Argonauts | Rogers Centre | 1873 | |||
Toronto Maple Leafs | Ice hockey | Air Canada Centre | 1917 | ||
Toronto Blue Jays | Baseball | Rogers Centre | 1977 | ||
Toronto Raptors | Basketball | Air Canada Centre | 1995 | 0 | |
Toronto FC | Soccer | BMO Field | 2007 | 0 | |
! scope="row" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;" | Baseball | 1969 | 8 | ||
Toronto Rock | Box lacrosse | Air Canada Centre | 1998 | 6 | |
Toronto Xtreme | Rugby union | Fletcher's Fields | 1999 | 0 | |
Toronto Marlies | Ice hockey | Ricoh Coliseum | 2005 | 0 | |
Toronto Nationals | Field lacrosse | Lamport Stadium | 2009 | 1 | |
Toronto City Saints | Rugby league | 2010 | 0 | ||
Toronto Aeros | Women's ice hockey | Lakeshore Lions Arena | 2007 | 1 | |
Toronto Lady Lynx | Centennial Park Stadium | 2005 | 0 |
Toronto is Canada's largest media market, and among the largest media centres in North America with four conventional dailies and two free commuter papers in a greater metropolitan area of about 5.5 million inhabitants. The Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun are the prominent daily city newspapers, while the major free daily newspapers are Metro and 24 Hours, operated by their respective owners. National dailies, The Globe and Mail and the National Post, are also headquartered in the city. Two of the city's prominent weeklies are Now and The Grid, both of which are free.
Toronto contains the headquarters of the major English-language Canadian television networks, including the English-language branch of the national public broadcaster Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the largest private broadcaster CTV, and the flagship stations of Citytv and Global. Canada's premier sports television networks are also based in Toronto, including The Sports Network (TSN), Rogers Sportsnet and The Score. MuchMusic, MuchMore and MTV Canada are the main music television channels based in the city, though they no longer primarily show music videos due to channel drift.
The bulk of Canada's periodical publishing industry is centred in Toronto including magazines such as Maclean's, Chatelaine, Flare, Canadian Living, Canadian Business, and Toronto Life. Many art, design, architecture and fashion magazines were created or are based in the city, including Fashion, Monocle, Azure, Canadian Interiors, Canadian Architect and Wallpaper*.
Toronto is a major international centre for business and finance. Generally considered the financial capital of Canada, Toronto has a high concentration of banks and brokerage firms on Bay Street, in the Financial District. The Toronto Stock Exchange is the world's seventh-largest stock exchange by market capitalization. All the Big Five banks of Canada are headquartered in Toronto, as are a majority of Canada's corporations.
The city is an important centre for the media, publishing, telecommunication, information technology and film production industries; it is home to Bell Media, Rogers Communications, and Torstar. Other prominent Canadian corporations in the Greater Toronto Area include Magna International, Celestica, Manulife Financial, Sun Life Financial, the Hudson's Bay Company, and major hotel companies and operators, such as Four Seasons Hotels and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.
Although much of the region's manufacturing activities take place outside the city limits, Toronto continues to be an important wholesale and distribution point for the industrial sector. The city's strategic position along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor and its extensive road and rail connections help support the nearby production of motor vehicles, iron, steel, food, machinery, chemicals and paper. The completion of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959 gave ships access to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean.
The city's net debt stood at $4.4 billion as of the end of 2010 and has a AA credit rating. Toronto is expected to pay $400 million of the debt in 2011. The city's debt increased by $721 million in 2010.
The city's population grew by 4% (96,073 residents) between 1996 and 2001, and 1% (21,787 residents) between 2001 and 2006. Persons aged 14 years and under made up 17.5% of the population, and those aged 65 years and over made up 13.6%. The median age was 36.9 years. Foreign-born people made up 49.9% of the population. The city's gender population is 48% male and 52% female. However, women outnumber men in all age groups over 20. As of 2006, 46.9% of the residents of the city proper belong to a visible minority group, and visible minorities are projected to comprise a majority in the Toronto CMA by 2017. In 1981, Toronto's visible minority population was 13.6%.
According to the United Nations Development Programme, Toronto has the second-highest percentage of constant foreign-born population among world cities, after Miami, Florida. While Miami's foreign-born population consists mostly of Cubans and other Latin Americans, no single nationality or culture dominates Toronto's immigrant population, placing it among the most diverse cities in the world. By 2031, Toronto's current visible minority population will have increased to 63%, changing the definition of visible minority in the city. More than 100,000 immigrants arrive in the Toronto area every year.
In 2006, people of European ethnicities formed the largest cluster of ethnic groups in Toronto, 52.6%, mostly of British, Irish, Italian, and French origins. The five largest visible minority groups in Toronto are South Asian (12.0%), Chinese (11.4%), Black (8.4%), Filipino (4.1%) and Latin American (2.6%). Aboriginal peoples, who are not considered visible minorities, formed 0.5% of the population. This diversity is reflected in Toronto's ethnic neighbourhoods, which include Chinatown, Corso Italia, Greektown, Kensington Market, Koreatown, Little India, Little Italy, Little Jamaica, Little Portugal and Roncesvalles.
Christianity is the largest religious group in Toronto. The 2001 Census reports that 33.4% of the city's population is Catholic, followed by Protestant (21.1%), Christian Orthodox at (4.8%), Coptic Orthodox (0.2%), and other Christians (3.9%). Due to the city's significant number of Methodist Christians, Toronto is often referred to as the Methodist Rome. Other religions in the city are Islam (5.5%), Hinduism (4.1%), Judaism (3.5%), Buddhism (2.1%), Sikhism (1.9%), and other Eastern religions (0.2%). 16.6% of the population professes no religion.
While English is the predominant language spoken by Torontonians, many other languages have considerable numbers of local speakers. The varieties of Chinese and Italian are the second and third most widely spoken languages at work. As a result, the city's 9-1-1 emergency services are equipped to respond in over 150 languages.
At the start of the 2007 term, the city council will have seven standing committees, each consisting of a Chairman, a vice-chair and four other councillors. The Mayor names the committee chairs and the remaining membership of the committees is appointed by City Council. An executive committee is formed by the chairs of each of standing committee, along with the mayor, the deputy mayor and four other councillors. Councillors are also appointed to oversee the Toronto Transit Commission and the Toronto Police Services Board.
The city has four community councils that consider local matters. City Council has delegated final decision-making authority on local, routine matters, while others - like planning and zoning issues - are recommended to the city council. Each city councillor serves as a member on a community council.
There are about 40 subcommittees and advisory committees appointed by the city council. These bodies are made up of city councillors and private citizen volunteers. Examples include the Pedestrian Committee, Waste Diversion Task Force 2010, and the Task Force to Bring Back the Don.
Toronto had an operating budget of C$7.6 billion in 2006. The city receives funding from the Government of Ontario in addition to tax revenues and user fees, spending 36% on provincially mandated programmes, 53% on major municipal purposes such as the Toronto Public Library and the Toronto Zoo, and 11% on capital financing and non-programme expenditures.
Toronto recorded its largest number of homicides in 1991 with 89, a rate of 3.9 per 100,000. In 2005, Toronto media coined the term "Year of the Gun", because there was a record number of gun-related homicides, 52, out of 80 homicides in total (65% – similar to the average in U.S. cities). The total number of homicides dropped to 70 in 2006, that year, nearly 2,000 people in Toronto were victims of a violent gun-related crime, about one-quarter of the national total. 84 homicides were committed in 2007, roughly half of them involved guns. Gang-related incidents have also been on the rise; between the years of 1997 and 2005, over 300 gang-related homicides have occurred. As a result, the Ontario government developed an anti-gun strategy.
There are four diploma and degree granting colleges in Toronto. These are Seneca College, Humber College, Centennial College and George Brown College. The city is also home to a satellite campus of the francophone Collège Boréal. In nearby Oshawa, usually considered part of the Greater Toronto Area, are Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, while Halton Region is home to Sheridan College.
The Royal Conservatory of Music, which includes The Glenn Gould School, is a school of music located downtown. The Canadian Film Centre is a film, television and new media training institute founded by filmmaker Norman Jewison. Tyndale University College and Seminary is a transdenominational Christian post-secondary institution and Canada's largest seminary.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) operates 558 public schools. Of these, 451 are elementary and 102 are secondary (high) schools. This makes the TDSB the largest school board in Canada. Additionally, the Toronto Catholic District School Board manages the city's publicly funded Roman Catholic schools, while the Conseil scolaire de district du Centre-Sud-Ouest and the Conseil scolaire de district catholique Centre-Sud manages public and Roman Catholic French-language schools. There are also numerous private university-preparatory schools, such as Bayview Glen School, Bishop Strachan School, Branksome Hall, College of Toronto, Crescent School, De La Salle College, Greenwood College School, Havergal College, Ridley College, Royal St. George's College, St. Clement's School, St. Michael's College School, Toronto French School, University of Toronto Schools, Upper Canada College, and The York School.
The Toronto Public Library is the largest public library system in Canada and the most widely used, consisting of 99 branches with more than 11 million items in its collection.
Several years ago, Toronto was reported as having some of the longer average ER wait times in Ontario. Toronto hospitals at the time employed a system of triage to ensure life-threatening injuries receive rapid treatment. After initial screening, initial assessments by physicians were completed within the waiting waiting-rooms themselves for greater efficiency, within a median 1.2 hours. Tests, consultations, and initial treatments were also provided within waiting rooms. 50% of patients waited 4 hours before being transferred from the emergency room to another room. The least-urgent 10% of cases wait over 12 hours. The extended waiting-room times experienced by some patients were attributed to an overall shortage of acute care beds.
Toronto's Discovery District is the centre of research in biomedicine. It is located on a 2.5 square kilometre (620 acre) research park that is fully integrated into Toronto's downtown core. It 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. Another institute is the McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine (MCMM).
The Government of Ontario also operates an extensive interregional rail and bus transit system called GO Transit in the Greater Toronto Area. GO Transit carries over 217,000 passengers every weekday and 57 million annually, with a majority of them travelling to or from Union Station, the busiest passenger transportation facility in Canada.
Canada's busiest airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport (IATA: YYZ), straddles the city's western boundary with the suburban city of Mississauga. Limited commercial and passenger service is also offered from the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, on the Toronto Islands, southwest of downtown. Toronto/Buttonville Municipal Airport in Markham provides general aviation facilities. Toronto/Downsview Airport, near the city's north end, is owned by de Havilland Canada and serves the Bombardier Aerospace aircraft factory.
There are a number of municipal expressways and provincial highways that serve Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. In particular, Highway 401 bisects the city from west to east, bypassing the downtown core. It is the busiest road in North America, and one of the busiest highways in the world. The main municipal expressways in Toronto include the Gardiner Expressway, the Don Valley Parkway, and to some extent, Allen Road.
The grid of major city streets was laid out by the concession road system, in which major arterial roads are approximately two kilometres apart. Major east-west arterial roads are generally parallel with the Lake Ontario shoreline, and major north-south arterial roads are roughly perpendicular to the shoreline. This arrangement is sometimes broken by geographical accidents, most notably the Don River ravines.
;Friendship cities Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (2006) Kiev, Ukraine (1991) Quito, Ecuador (2006) Sagamihara, Japan (1991) Warsaw, Poland (1990)
Category:Former capitals of Canada Category:Populated places established in 1793 Category:Populated places on the Great Lakes Category:Port settlements in Ontario Category:Underground Railroad locations Category:1834 establishments in Canada
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Logo | |
---|---|
Name | University of Toronto |
Latin name | Universitas Torontonensis |
Motto | Velut arbor ævo (Latin) |
Mottoeng | As a tree through the ages |
Established | March 15, 1827 |
Type | Public university |
Former names | King's College (1827–1849) |
Endowment | C$1.539 billion |
City | Toronto |
Province | Ontario |
Country | Canada |
Coor | |
Faculty | 2,547 |
Staff | 4,335 |
Chancellor | David Peterson |
President | David Naylor |
Undergrad | 33,318 |
Postgrad | 12,732 |
Campus | Urban, |
Colours | Blue and white |
Athletics | CIS, OUA, CUFLA44 varsity teams |
Nickname | Varsity Blues |
Affiliations | AAU, ACU, AUCC, U15, IAU, URA |
Website | utoronto.ca }} |
Academically, the University of Toronto is noted for influential movements and curricula in literary criticism and communication theory, known collectively as the Toronto School. The university was the birthplace of insulin and stem cell research, and was the site of the first practical electron microscope, the development of multi-touch technology, the identification of Cygnus X-1 as a black hole, and the theory of NP completeness. By a significant margin, it receives the most annual research funding of any Canadian university. It is one of two members of the Association of American Universities located outside the United States.
The Varsity Blues are the athletic teams that represent the university in intercollegiate league matches, with particularly long and storied ties to gridiron football and ice hockey. The university's Hart House is an early example of the North American student centre, simultaneously serving cultural, intellectual and recreational interests within its large Gothic-revival complex.
The University of Toronto ranked as the nation's top medical-doctoral university in Maclean's magazine for twelve consecutive years between 1994 and 2005, whilst placing 26th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities and 17th in the Times Higher Education ranking. The university has educated two Governors General and four Prime Ministers of Canada, four foreign leaders, fourteen Justices of the Supreme Court, and has been affiliated with ten Nobel laureates.
On March 15, 1827, a royal charter was formally issued by King George IV, proclaiming "from this time one College, with the style and privileges of an University ... for the education of youth in the principles of the Christian Religion, and for their instruction in the various branches of Science and Literature ... to continue for ever, to be called King's College." The granting of the charter was largely the result of intense lobbying by John Strachan, the influential Anglican Bishop of Toronto who took office as the first president of the college. The original three-storey Greek Revival school building was constructed on the present site of Queen's Park.
Under Strachan's guidance, King's College was a religious institution that closely aligned with the Church of England and the British colonial elite, known as the Family Compact. Reformist politicians opposed the clergy's control over colonial institutions and fought to have the college secularized. In 1849, after a lengthy and heated debate, the newly-elected responsible government of Upper Canada voted to rename King's College as the University of Toronto and severed the school's ties with the church. Having anticipated this decision, the enraged Strachan had resigned a year earlier to open Trinity College as a private Anglican seminary. University College was created as the nondenominational teaching branch of the University of Toronto. During the American Civil War, the threat of Union blockade on British North America prompted the creation of the University Rifle Corps, which saw battle in resisting the Fenian raids on the Niagara border in 1866.
Established in 1878, the School of Practical Science was precursor to the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, which has been nicknamed Skule since its earliest days. While the Faculty of Medicine opened in 1843, medical teaching was conducted by proprietary schools from 1853 until 1887, when the faculty absorbed the Toronto School of Medicine. Meanwhile, the university continued to set examinations and confer medical degrees during that period. The university opened the Faculty of Law in 1887, and it was followed by the Faculty of Dentistry in 1888, when the Royal College of Dental Surgeons became an affiliate. Women were admitted to the university for the first time in 1884.
A devastating fire in 1890 gutted the interior of University College and devoured thirty-three thousand volumes from the library, but the university restored the building and replenished its library within two years. Over the next two decades, a collegiate system gradually took shape as the university arranged federation with several ecclesiastical colleges, including Strachan's Trinity College in 1904. The university operated the Royal Conservatory of Music from 1896 to 1991 and the Royal Ontario Museum from 1912 to 1968; both still retain close ties with the university as independent institutions. The University of Toronto Press was founded in 1901 as the first academic publishing house in Canada. In 1910, the Faculty of Education opened its laboratory school, the University of Toronto Schools.
The First and Second World Wars curtailed some university activities as undergraduate and graduate men eagerly enlisted. Intercollegiate athletic competitions and the Hart House Debates were suspended, although exhibition and interfaculty games were still held. The David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill opened in 1935, followed by the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies in 1949. The university opened satellite campuses in Scarborough in 1964 and in Mississauga in 1967. The university's former affiliated schools at the Ontario Agricultural College and Glendon Hall became fully independent as University of Guelph in 1964 and York University in 1965, respectively. Beginning in the 1980s, reductions in government funding prompted more rigorous fundraising efforts. The University of Toronto was the first Canadian university to amass a financial endowment greater than C$1 billion.
The architecture is defined by a combination of Romanesque and Gothic Revival buildings spread across the eastern and central portions of campus, most of them dated between 1858 and 1929. The traditional heart of the university, known as Front Campus, is located near the centre of the campus in an oval lawn enclosed by King's College Circle. The centrepiece is the main building of University College, built in 1857 with an eclectic blend of Richardsonian Romanesque and Norman architectural elements. The dramatic effect of this blended design by architect Frederick William Cumberland drew praise from European visitors of the time: "Until I reached Toronto," remarked Lord Dufferin during his visit in 1872, "I confess I was not aware that so magnificent a specimen of architecture existed upon the American continent." The building was declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1968. Built in 1907, Convocation Hall is recognizable for its domed roof and Ionic-pillared rotunda. Although its foremost function is hosting the annual convocation ceremonies, the building serves as a venue for academic and social events throughout the year. The sandstone buildings of Knox College epitomizes the North American collegiate Gothic design, with its characteristic cloisters surrounding a secluded courtyard.
A lawn at the northeast is anchored by Hart House, a Gothic-revival student centre complex. Among its many common rooms, the building's Great Hall is noted for large stained-glass windows and a long quotation from John Milton's Areopagitica that is inscribed around the walls. The adjacent Soldiers' Tower stands tall as the most prominent structure in the vicinity, its stone arches etched with the names of university members lost to the battlefields of the two World Wars. The tower houses a 51-bell carillon that is played on special occasions such as Remembrance Day and convocation. The oldest surviving building on campus is the former Toronto Magnetic and Meteorological Observatory building, built in 1855. North of University College, the main building of Trinity College displays Jacobethan Tudor architecture, while its chapel was built in the Perpendicular Gothic style of Giles Gilbert Scott. The chapel features exterior walls of sandstone and interiors of Indiana Limestone, and was constructed by Italian stonemasons using ancient building methods. Philosopher's Walk is a scenic footpath that follows a meandering, wooded ravine linking with Trinity College, Varsity Arena and the Faculty of Law. Victoria College is on the eastern side of Queen's Park, centred on a Romanesque main building made of contrasting red sandstone and grey limestone.
Developed after the Second World War, the western section of the campus consists mainly of modernist and internationalist structures that contain laboratories and faculty offices. The most significant example of Brutalist architecture is the massive Robarts Library complex, built in 1972 and opened a year later in 1973. It features raised podia, extensive use of triangular geometric designs and a towering fourteen-storey concrete structure that cantilevers above a field of open space and mature trees. The library is undergoing renovations to increase indoor space. The Leslie L. Dan Pharmacy Building, completed in 2006, exhibits a modern style of glass and steel by British architect Norman Foster.
Unlike most North American institutions, the University of Toronto is a collegiate university with a model that resembles those of the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford in Britain. The colleges hold substantial autonomy over admissions, scholarships, programs and other academic and financial affairs, in addition to the housing and social duties of typical residential colleges. The system emerged in the 19th century, as ecclesiastical colleges considered various forms of union with the University of Toronto to ensure their viability. The desire to preserve religious traditions in a secular institution resulted in the federative collegiate model that came to characterize the university.
University College was the founding nondenominational college, created in 1853 after the university was secularized. Knox College, a Presbyterian institution, and Wycliffe College, a low church seminary, both encouraged their students to study for non-divinity degrees at University College. In 1885, they entered a formal affiliation with the University of Toronto, and became federated schools in 1890. The idea of federation initially met strong opposition at Victoria University, a Methodist school in Cobourg, but a financial incentive in 1890 convinced the school to join. Decades after the death of John Strachan, the Anglican seminary University of Trinity College entered federation in 1904, followed in 1910 by the University of St. Michael's College, a Roman Catholic college founded by the Basilian Fathers. Among the institutions that had considered federation but ultimately remained independent were McMaster University, a Baptist school that later moved to Hamilton, and Queen's College, a Presbyterian school in Kingston that later became Queen's University.
{| style="border:1px solid #dddddd; background-color:#fefefe; padding:3px; margin:5px" align="right" |+ style="font-size: 100%" | Colleges of the University of Toronto |- valign="top" style="font-size: 90%" | width="50%" | Constituent colleges
The post-war era saw the creation of New College in 1962, Innis College in 1964 and Woodsworth College in 1974, all of them nondenominational. Along with University College, they comprise the university's constituent colleges, which are established and funded by the central administration and are therefore financially dependent. Massey College was established in 1963 by the Massey Foundation as a college exclusively for graduate students. Regis College, a Jesuit seminary, entered federation with the university in 1979.
In contrast with the constituent colleges, the colleges of Knox, Massey, Regis, St. Michael's, Trinity, Victoria and Wycliffe continue to exist as legally distinct entities, each possessing a separate financial endowment. While St. Michael's, Trinity and Victoria continue to recognize their religious affiliations and heritage, they have since adopted secular policies of enrollment and teaching in non-divinity subjects. Some colleges have, or once had, collegiate structures of their own: Emmanuel College is a college of Victoria and St. Hilda's College is part of Trinity; St. Joseph’s College had existed as a college within St. Michael's until it was dissolved in 2006. Ewart College existed as an affiliated college until 1991, when it was merged into Knox College. Postgraduate theology degrees are conferred by the colleges of Knox, Regis and Wycliffe, along with the divinity faculties within Emmanuel, St. Michael's and Trinity, including joint degrees with the university through the Toronto School of Theology.
The University of Toronto is the birthplace of an influential school of thought on communication theory and literary criticism, known as the Toronto School. Described as "the theory of the primacy of communication in the structuring of human cultures and the structuring of the human mind", the school is rooted in the works of Eric A. Havelock and Harold Innis and the subsequent contributions of Edmund Snow Carpenter, Northrop Frye and Marshall McLuhan. Since 1963, the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology of the Faculty of Information has carried the mandate for teaching and advancing the Toronto School.
Several notable works in arts and humanities are based at the university, including the Dictionary of Canadian Biography since 1959 and the Collected Works of Erasmus since 1969. The Records of Early English Drama collects and edits the surviving documentary evidence of dramatic arts in pre-Puritan England, while the Dictionary of Old English compiles the early vocabulary of the English language from the Anglo-Saxon period.
The Munk School of Global Affairs encompasses the university's various programs and curricula in international affairs and foreign policy. As the Cold War heightened, Toronto's Slavic studies program evolved into an important institution on Soviet politics and economics, financed by the Rockefeller, Ford and Mellon foundations. The Munk School is also home to the G20 Research Group, which conducts independent monitoring and analysis on the Group of Twenty, and the Citizen Lab, which conducts research on Internet censorship as a joint founder of the OpenNet Initiative. The university operates international offices in Berlin, Hong Kong and Siena.
The Faculty of Medicine is affiliated with a network of ten teaching hospitals, providing medical treatment, research and advisory services to patients and clients from Canada and abroad. A core member of the network is University Health Network, itself a specialized federation of Toronto General Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital and Toronto Western Hospital. Physicians in the medical institutes have cross-appointments to faculty and supervisory positions in university departments. The Rotman School of Management developed the discipline and methodology of integrative thinking, upon which the school bases its curriculum. Founded in 1887, the Faculty of Law's emphasis on formal teachings of liberal arts and legal theory was then considered unconventional, but gradually helped shift the country's legal education system away from the apprenticeship model that prevailed until the mid-20th century. The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education is the teachers college of the university, affiliated with its two laboratory schools, the Institute of Child Study and the University of Toronto Schools. Autonomous institutes at the university include the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and the Fields Institute.
{| style="border:1px solid #dddddd; background-color:#fefefe; padding:3px; margin:0px" align="center" |+ style="font-size: 100%" | Faculties and schools of the University of Toronto |- valign="top" style="font-size: 90%" |
Housed within University College, the University of Toronto Art Centre contains three major art collections. The Malcove Collection is primarily represented by Early Christian and Byzantine sculptures, bronzeware, furniture, icons and liturgical items. It also includes glassware and stone reliefs from the Greco-Roman period, and the painting Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Elder, dated from 1538. The University of Toronto Collection features Canadian contemporary art, while the University College Art Collection holds significant works by the Group of Seven and 19th century landscape artists.
The University of Toronto ranked as the nation's top medical-doctoral university in Maclean's magazine for twelve consecutive years between 1994 and 2005. Since 2009, it has joined 22 other national institutions in withholding data from the magazine, citing continued concerns regarding methodology. The university places second in the Maclean's ranking of 2009. The university has placed first among Canada's research universities in the annual ranking by Research Infosource since 2001. In 2010, the Faculty of Law was named the top law school in Canada by Maclean's for the fourth consecutive year.
The first practical electron microscope was built by the physics department in 1938. During World War II, the university developed the G-suit, a life-saving garment worn by Allied fighter plane pilots, later adopted for use by astronauts. Development of the infrared chemiluminescence technique improved analyses of energy behaviours in chemical reactions. In 1963, the asteroid 2104 Toronto is discovered in the David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill and is named after the university. In 1972, studies on Cygnus X-1 led to the publication of the first observational evidence proving the existence of black holes. Toronto astronomers have also discovered the Uranus moons of Caliban and Sycorax, the dwarf galaxies of Andromeda I, II and III, and the supernova SN 1987A. A pioneer in computing technology, the university designed and built UTEC, one of the world's first operational computers, and later purchased Ferut, the second commercial computer after UNIVAC I. Multi-touch technology was developed at Toronto, with applications ranging from handheld devices to collaboration walls.
The discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921 is considered among the most significant events in the history of medicine. The stem cell was discovered at the university in 1963, forming the basis for bone marrow transplantation and all subsequent research on adult and embryonic stem cells. This was the first of many findings at Toronto relating to stem cells, including the identification of pancreatic and retinal stem cells. The cancer stem cell was first identified in 1997 by Toronto researchers, who have since found stem cell associations in leukemia, brain tumors and colorectal cancer. Medical inventions developed at Toronto include the glycaemic index, the infant cereal Pablum, the use of protective hypothermia in open heart surgery and the first artificial pacemaker. The first successful single-lung transplant was performed at Toronto in 1981, followed by the first nerve transplant in 1988, and the first double-lung transplant in 1989. Researchers identified the maturation promoting factor that regulates cell division, and discovered the T-cell receptor which trigger responses of the immune system. The university is credited with isolating the genes that cause Fanconi anemia, cystic fibrosis and early-onset Alzheimer's disease, among numerous other diseases. Between 1914 and 1972, the university operated the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, now part of the pharmaceutical corporation Sanofi-Aventis. Among the research conducted at the laboratory was the development of gel electrophoresis.
The University of Toronto is the primary research presence that supports one of the world's largest concentrations of biotechnology firms. More than 5,000 principal investigators reside within 2 kilometres from the university grounds in Toronto's Discovery District, conducting $1 billion of medical research annually. MaRS Discovery District is a research park that serves commercial enterprises and the university's technology transfer ventures. In 2008, the university disclosed 159 inventions and had 114 active start-up companies. Its SciNet Consortium operates the most powerful supercomputer outside the United States.
North American football traces its very origin to the University of Toronto, with the first documented football game played at University College on November 9, 1861. The Blues played their first intercollegiate football match in 1877 against the University of Michigan, in a game that ended with a scorless draw. Since intercollegiate seasons began in 1898, the Blues have won four Grey Cup, two Vanier Cup and 25 Yates Cup championships, including the inaugural championships for all three trophies. However, the football team has hit a rough patch following its last championship in 1993. From 2001 until 2008, the Blues suffered the longest losing streak in Canadian collegiate history, recording 49 consecutive winless games. This was preceded by a single victory in 2001 that ended a run of 18 straight losses. The site of Varsity Stadium has served as the primary playing grounds of the Varsity Blues football and soccer programs since 1898.
Formed in 1891, the storied Varsity Blues men's ice hockey team has left many legacies on the national, professional and international hockey scenes. Conn Smythe played for the Blues as a centre during his undergraduate years, and was a Blues coach from 1923 to 1926. When Smythe took over the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927, the familiar blue-and-white sweater design of the Varsity Blues was adopted by his new team. Blues hockey competed at the 1928 Winter Olympics and captured the gold medal for Canada. At the 1980 Winter Olympics, Blues coach Tom Watt served as co-coach of the Canadian hockey team in which six players were Varsity grads. In all, the Blues have won the University Cup national hockey title ten times, last in 1984. Varsity Arena has been the permanent home of the Blues ice hockey programs since it opened in 1926. In men's basketball, the Varsity Blues have won 14 conference titles, including the inaugural championship in 1909, but have not won a national title. In swimming, the men's team has claimed the national crown 16 times since 1964, while the women's team has claimed the crown 14 times since 1970. Established in 1897, the University of Toronto Rowing Club is the oldest collegiate rowing club in Canada. It earned a silver medal for the country in the 1924 Summer Olympics, finishing second to Yale's crew.
Hart House resembles some traditional aspects of student representation through its financial support of student clubs, and its standing committees and board of stewards that are composed mostly of undergraduate students. However, the main students' unions on administrative and policy issues are the University of Toronto Students' Union, Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students and the Graduate Students' Union. Student representative bodies also exist at the various colleges, academic faculties and departments.
The Hart House Debating Club employs a debating style that combines the American emphasis on analysis and the British use of wit. Smaller debating societies at Trinity, University and Victoria College have served as initial training grounds for debaters who later progress to Hart House. The club won the World Universities Debating Championship in 1981 and 2006. University of Toronto Model United Nations (UTMUN) hosts an annual Model United Nations conference in Toronto, while the United Nations Society participates in various North American and international conferences. The Toronto chess team has captured the top title six times at the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship. The Formula SAE Racing Team won the Formula Student European Championships in 2003, 2005 and 2006.
The main musical ensembles at Hart House are the orchestra, the chamber strings, the chorus, the jazz choir, the jazz ensemble and the symphonic band. The Jazz at Oscar's concert series performs big band and vocal jazz on Friday nights at the period lounge and bar of the Hart House Arbor Room. Open Stage is the monthly open mike event featuring singers, comics, poets and storytellers. The Sunday Concert is the oldest musical series at Hart House; since 1922 the series has performed more than 600 classical music concerts in the Great Hall, freely attended by the university community and general audiences. The public may also screen midday events held at noon, when concerts are recited prior to formal debut.
Members of the student press have contributed to activist causes on several notable occasions. At the height of debate on coeducation in 1880, The Varsity published an article in its inaugural issue voicing in favour of admitting women. In 1895, the university suspended the editor of The Varsity for breach of collegiality, after he published a letter that harshly criticized the provincial government's dismissal of a professor and involvement in academic affairs. University College students then approved a motion by Varsity staff member William Lyon Mackenzie King and boycotted lectures for a week. After Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau decriminalized homosexuality in 1969, a medical research assistant placed an advertisement in The Varsity seeking volunteers to establish the first university homophile association in Canada.
As campus residences accommodate just 6,400 students in all, the university guarantees housing only for undergraduates in their first year of study, while most upper-year and graduate students reside off-campus. Traditionally, the adjacent neighbourhoods of The Annex and Harbord Village are popular settling grounds for University of Toronto students, forming a distinct student quarter enclave. In 2004, the university purchased and converted a nearby hotel into the Chestnut Residence, which houses students from all colleges and faculties. There are also numerous fraternity houses and student housing cooperatives, where boarders pay reduced rent for assuming housekeeping duties.
Alumni of the University of Toronto's colleges, faculties and professional schools have assumed notable roles in a wide range of fields and specialties. In government, Governors General Vincent Massey and Adrienne Clarkson, Prime Ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King, Arthur Meighen, Lester B. Pearson and Paul Martin, and 14 Justices of the Supreme Court have all graduated from the university, while world leaders include President of Latvia Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Premier of the Republic of China Liu Chao-shiuan and President of Trinidad and Tobago Noor Hassanali. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith, political scientist David Easton, historian Margaret MacMillan, philosophers David Gauthier and Ted Honderich, anthropologist Davidson Black, sociologist Erving Goffman, psychologists Endel Tulving and Daniel Schacter, physicians Norman Bethune and Charles Best, geologists Joseph Tyrrell and John Tuzo Wilson, mathematicians Irving Kaplansky and William Kahan, physicists Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Bertram Brockhouse, architect James W. Strutt, engineer Gerald Bull, computer scientists Alfred Aho and Brian Kernighan, astronauts Roberta Bondar and Julie Payette are also some of the most well-known academic figures from the university.
In business, University of Toronto alumni include Rogers Communications' Edward Samuel Rogers (better known as Ted Rogers), Toronto-Dominion Bank's W. Edmund Clark, Bank of Montreal's Bill Downe, Scotiabank's Peter Godsoe, Barrick Gold's Peter Munk, Research In Motion's Jim Balsillie, eBay's Jeffrey Skoll and Fiat S.p.A.'s Sergio Marchionne. In literature and media, the university has produced writers Stephen Leacock, John McCrae, Rohinton Mistry, Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje, film directors Arthur Hiller, Norman Jewison, David Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan, actor Donald Sutherland, screenwriter David Shore, musician Paul Shaffer, television producer Lorne Michaels, journalists Malcolm Gladwell, Naomi Klein and Barbara Amiel.
Toronto, University Toronto, University Toronto, University Toronto, University
ar:جامعة تورنتو az:Toronto Universiteti bn:টরন্টো বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় ca:Universitat de Toronto cs:University of Toronto cy:Prifysgol Toronto de:University of Toronto et:Toronto Ülikool es:Universidad de Toronto eo:Universitato de Toronto fa:دانشگاه تورنتو fr:Université de Toronto gl:Universidade de Toronto ko:토론토 대학교 id:Universitas Toronto is:Háskólinn í Toronto it:Università di Toronto he:אוניברסיטת טורונטו jv:Universitas Toronto ms:Universiti Toronto nl:Universiteit van Toronto ja:トロント大学 pnb:یونیورسٹی اف ٹورونٹو pl:University of Toronto pt:Universidade de Toronto ro:Universitatea Toronto ru:Университет Торонто simple:University of Toronto sl:Univerza v Torontu fi:Toronton yliopisto sv:University of Toronto ta:ரொறன்ரோ பல்கலைக்கழகம் th:มหาวิทยาลัยโทรอนโต tr:Toronto Üniversitesi uk:Торонтський університет ug:تورونتو ئۇنىۋېرستېتى zh:多倫多大學This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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