50 Fun Facts About Toronto

The name Toronto comes from the Mohawk word tkaronto, meaning what?

It described fish weirs of saplings at the narrows of Lake Simcoe, recorded by Champlain in 1615, and spread via a portage trail.

What was Toronto called when the British founded it in 1793?

Governor Simcoe named it for the Duke of York and moved the Upper Canada capital there from Newark, judging it safer from American attack.

On what date was York incorporated as the City of Toronto?

It adopted the Indigenous name and had about 9,000 people; slavery was banned across the British Empire the same year.

US forces captured and burned York in 1813 during which war?

British troops retaliated later in the war by burning Washington, DC.

Which American general died at the Battle of York when the retreating British blew up the magazine?

Pikes Peak in Colorado is named after him; the Americans occupied the town for five days.

The Great Fire of Toronto of April 1904 destroyed more than 100 buildings and killed how many people?

The lone victim, John Croft, was an explosives expert clearing the ruins afterwards.

Which 1954 hurricane brought flash flooding to Toronto and killed 81 people in Canada?

It struck the same year Metropolitan Toronto was created and the first subway opened.

Toronto's 'megacity' was created by amalgamating six municipalities in which year?

Premier Mike Harris sold it as cost-cutting; former North York mayor Mel Lastman became the first mayor of the merged city.

Toronto ranks fourth in North America by population, behind which three?

The 2021 census counted 2,794,356 people in the city and 6.7 million in the Greater Toronto Area.

Roughly what share of Toronto's residents were born outside Canada?

Over 200 ethnic origins are represented and more than 160 languages spoken.

Completed in 1976, the CN Tower stands how tall?

It was the world's tallest freestanding structure until Dubai's Burj Khalifa passed it in 2007.

The 'CN' in CN Tower stands for what?

The railway conceived it in 1968 as a broadcast platform and a show of Canadian engineering.

What is the CN Tower's EdgeWalk, opened in 2011?

At 356 metres up, it is the world's highest full-circle hands-free walk; the tower was named a modern Wonder by civil engineers in 1995.

Toronto's PATH network holds a Guinness record as the world's largest what?

It has about 371,600 square metres of retail and more than 1,200 shopfronts beneath downtown.

The Toronto Islands became islands when a storm severed their peninsula from the mainland in which year?

The island community is the largest urban car-free community in North America; ferries run from downtown.

Until 1999 Guinness called which Toronto thoroughfare the world's longest, at 1,896 km?

The figure conflated Yonge with Highway 11, which ran on to the Minnesota border.

Which of these features does Casa Loma, Sir Henry Pellatt's castle, include?

It also had gardens, turrets, stables and an elevator; Pellatt was a financier and militia officer.

Which Finnish architect designed Toronto's curved 1965 City Hall?

His design was initially discarded in the competition until Eero Saarinen, a judge, rescued it; Nathan Phillips Square fronts it.

Which Toronto attraction draws over 52 million visitors a year, the most in the city?

The downtown shopping mall outdraws every museum and monument.

The Royal Ontario Museum holds the world's largest collection of fossils from which site?

More than 150,000 Cambrian specimens; the ROM is Canada's largest museum and Daniel Libeskind added its Crystal wing.

Toronto's first subway line opened in which year?

The TTC took its present name the same year; the network now has three heavy-rail lines plus two light-rail lines and streetcars.

Toronto's Union hub is North America's second-busiest for rail passengers after which terminal?

Built in 1927, it handles over 72 million passengers a year as the hub of GO Transit.

Toronto Pearson, Canada's busiest airport, straddles the border with which suburban city?

Its IATA code is YYZ; the UP Express train links it to Union Station.

The nickname 'Hogtown' came from what?

The Davies facility was one of the industries around the harbour along with the whisky distillery whose buildings survive downtown.

The Distillery District preserves the buildings of which whisky maker, once Canada's largest?

It is called the largest and best-preserved collection of Victorian industrial architecture in North America; production ended in 1990.

Toronto shares the nickname 'Hollywood North' with which other city?

It ranks third for film and TV production after Los Angeles and New York; the abandoned Lower Bay subway platform is used for filming.

TIFF, the film event founded in 1976, was launched under what name?

It collected the best films from other festivals; its People's Choice Award is now an Oscar bellwether.

Caribana, Toronto's Caribbean carnival, was first held in 1967 to mark what?

It runs from mid-July to early August and is modelled on the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have won how many Stanley Cups?

None since 1967, a 57-season drought that is the longest in NHL history.

What was the Maple Leafs franchise called when it began in the NHL's first season, 1917-18?

They became the St. Patricks and then, under Conn Smythe in 1927, the Maple Leafs.

The Raptors' name, chosen in 1994, was influenced by the popularity of which film?

Fans later nicknamed the outdoor viewing area at Maple Leaf Square 'Jurassic Park' during playoff runs.

The Raptors entered the NBA in 1995 alongside which other Canadian expansion team?

The Grizzlies later moved to Memphis; the Raptors won their first title in 2019 after trading for Kawhi Leonard.

The Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series in which years?

They remain the only team based outside the US to win it, doing so in their 16th season; they lost the 2025 Series in seven games.

The Blue Jays' home, Rogers Centre, was known by what name when it opened in 1989?

The retractable-roof stadium sits at the foot of the CN Tower; fans still call it SkyDome.

How many Grey Cups had the Toronto Argonauts, founded in 1873, won by the end of 2025?

The CFL club's 19th win came in 2024; they share BMO Field with Toronto FC.

The Hockey Hall of Fame has been based in Toronto since which year?

The Maple Leafs are one of the NHL's Original Six clubs.

Toronto FC won the MLS Cup in which year?

They joined MLS as an expansion team in 2007 and took the Supporters' Shield the same year they won the Cup.

Which thoroughfare is the heart of Toronto's Financial District?

The Toronto Stock Exchange is the world's seventh largest by market capitalisation and overtook Montreal's in 1934.

Toronto's first spell as capital of the Province of Canada followed unrest in which city?

It served from 1849 to 1851 and again from 1855 to 1859 before Ottawa was chosen.

The Toronto Zoo, opened in 1974, covers 287 hectares and holds what distinction?

About 1.2 million people visit a year to see more than 5,000 animals of over 460 species.

Kensington Market was designated what in November 2006?

The bohemian market district sits beside Chinatown west of downtown.

St. Lawrence Market traces its origin to a public-market proclamation of which year?

The town of York had grown enough to need a set place and day for selling cattle, poultry and goods.

Ontario Place is home to the world's first permanent what?

The Cinesphere is now closed, but the RBC Amphitheatre still hosts concerts.

What is Toronto's coldest recorded temperature, set on January 10, 1859?

Snow can fall anytime from November to mid-April; in 1999 the mayor called in the army to clear it.

Toronto's shoreline on Lake Ontario runs for how many kilometres?

The city stretches 43 km east to west; the Humber and Don rivers flank the harbour.

Which four regions surround Toronto to make up the Greater Toronto Area?

The GTA had 6.7 million people in 2021; the census metropolitan area counted 7.1 million.

Who was the first mayor of Toronto after its 1834 incorporation, later leading the 1837 rebellion?

The reformist politician's Upper Canada Rebellion against the colonial government failed.

Why did Simcoe move the Upper Canada capital from Newark to York in 1793?

He named the town after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany; Americans burned it anyway in 1813.

What did Mayor Mel Lastman controversially call in to clear snow in January 1999?

The former North York mayor was the first leader of the amalgamated megacity.

Which Parks Canada site in eastern Toronto is the continent's largest green space inside a city?

It centres on the Rouge River and spreads across several GTA municipalities.