Title: It is also one of the worlds great melting pots with many large and vibrant ethnic groups living in
1Chapter THREE
Toronto
Fast Facts
I
Has the largest Chinese community outside
China 1 destination in Canada for immigration
2nd highest immigrant population in the
world Past nicknames include TO, Hollywood
North, Toronto the Good, Canadas
Belfast Third most important theater city in
the world Torontos Parliament Buildings are
pink because of the sandstone content Houses the
Royal Ontario Museum, 2nd largest museum in North
America, with more than 6 million items Has 30
artificial and 100 natural ice rinks during
winter, with no admission fee Houses the Bata
Shoe Museum, the only one of its kind in the
world, with 10000 exhibits One of the worlds
best medical communities, with over 50 hospitals
t is called a city that works. As the
largest city in Canada, and the capital of
Ontario, Toronto is regularly rated as one of the
worlds best places to live.
It is Canadas center for entertainment, sports,
fashion, culture, and big business. In fact,
Toronto is the fourth largest commercial center
in North America, and third largest for financial
services, after New York and Chicago..
It is also one of the worlds great melting
pots with many large and vibrant ethnic groups
living in the city. Of the 6 million people
living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), which
represents about 20 of Canadas total
population, about 60 were born somewhere else.
Over 100 languages are spoken here, yet 99 of
the population speaks English. For such a large
city, it is still very clean and safe. Its many
immigrants keep the city fresh. Toronto is one of
the few really livable big cities in the world,
and Torontonians are proud to call their city
home. Toronto is located on the shores of Lake
Ontario, the most easterly of the five Great
Lakes. Ideal for projects with a global presence,
it is 1.5 hours by air to New York, Boston or
Chicago, and has direct flights to most major
cities in the world.
CANADA
2Cultural Centers
One of the great pleasures of exploring Toronto
is visiting the city's many centers of immigrant
cultures. Toronto's visible minority population
now accounts for more than 50 per cent of the
citys popul-ation, compared to 11 per cent
nationwide. The world has brought its best to
Toronto and in return, the city has embraced the
many cultures of the world.
Major Ethnic Groups
Location of major centers
Toronto has bilingual street signs, specialty
stores, ethnic restau-rants, ethnic publications
and a variety of ethnic shopping centers. And the
majority of Toronto's tourists are younger
professionals coming from other urban centers
like London, New York City, Los Angeles, and
Chicago. As the worlds most ethnically diverse
city, Toronto has distinctive shopping districts
and markets that offer a wide range of unique
shopping experiences. Chinatown starts along
Dundas West and Spadina, just west of Yonge, and
extends outward from this point along both
streets. It's been said that the best Chinese
food outside of Hong Kong can be found here.
Todays Chinatown is changing, competing with
other Asian cultures, especially Vietnam and
Thailand. Although most of the older Chinese are
remaining in the area, the younger gener-ations
have chosen to relocate to the northern suburbs.
Getting ready for the Lantern Festival
Downtown Chinatown
The Chinese community has gradually gained social
acceptance and respect from the larger population
over the years, as have other ethnic groups. With
six Chinese satellite centers in the city,
3(Downtown, Chinatown East at Broadview and
Gerrard, China-town West - Mississagua,
Scarborough, Richmond Hill, Mark-ham), Chinese
culture is not limited to an ethnic pocket, but
has connections with the entire GTA.
While the word "Chinatown" used to be spoken as a
racist insult in the early 20th century, it
carries the sense of determination in spite of
difficulty, of a people who have persevered and
prospered. Today, the term pictures how a smaller
culture can form an essential part of the world's
most ethnically diverse city.
Cabbagetown, on the eastern outskirts of
downtown, was settled by Irish immigrants fleeing
the Great Potato Famine. Today it has possibly
the richest concentration of fine Victorian
architecture in North America and is worth a
stroll to peek at some of the beautifully
restored houses.
Irish Potato Famine. A famine in Ireland between
1845 and 1849. Caused by generations of British
mismanagement in econo-mic policy, destructive
farming methods, and the unfortunate appearance
of a potato disease that al-most instantly
destroyed the primary food source for the most of
the people. see-and-be-seen.
Popular-ity to see other fashion-able people,
and have other people notice them
Cabbagetown Festival
Little Italy, west of the University of Toronto,
is full of see-and-be-seen outdoor cafes, bars,
bakeries and fine ristoranti. Further northwest
is the less scenery, more authentic Corso Italia,
with the real Italian cinemas and smoky espresso
bars. There is also the Greek community along
"The Danforth," Little Portugal
A café in Little Italy
at Dundas and Bathurst Streets, and Gerrard India
Bazaar at Gerrard and Greenwood. North of Bloor
St is mainly Caribbean, and to the west there's
Koreatown. The Ukrainian Museum of Canada and a
Tibetan Buddhist temple complete this
multicultural scene. Incoming immigrants have
greatly helped to sustain Torontos development
and creative vitality over the years. How do you
sum up a city that is the most diverse on the
planet, has multiple festivals every weekend
every year in the summer? You cant. You just
have to experience it for yourself.
4Business
Toronto is the undisputed economic heart of
Canada. Many people in the city suburbs, or
bedroom commun-ities, work in basic manufacturing
and create solid goods that are traded
domestically and exported. Toronto is also the
capital of the Canadian fin-ancial services
industry, and the third most important financial
services cen-ter in North America (after New York
and Chicago).
Bedroom community.
Most Canadian companies keep their head offices
in Toronto, providing the city with a very high
corporate profile. High-tech industrial
development abounds throughout the Toronto area,
from thous-ands of software development startup
ventures to aircraft design. There are also more
traditional ways of modern life, such as farming,
government employ and all kinds of services and
man-agement. One of the most important
industries in the Toronto area is the media.
Magazines, newspapers (the city is served by 4
dailies and countless special-interest
publications), television (up to 10 local
stations in many languages), film, business
communications, tele-communications industries
and all kinds of production make Toronto the most
important producer and most crucial media market
in the country, and in turn one of the more
important centers in the English-speaking
world. Forbes Magazine rated Toronto 8th-best in
North America for investment and business. This
is true despite the high taxes in Canada (used
for extensive social programs, including
universal-access, high-quality medicare). It's
not necessarily a good thing to get onto this
list, though. That Toronto was able to compete
for this "rank" with economic powerhouses in the
United States is remarkable. American cities with
high business rankings usually have poor rankings
for . City planning, widespread poverty
(resulting in high crime but artificially low
labour costs), violent social tensions, decaying
public infrastructure and corrupt municipal
structures.
High profile.
High profile.
Dailies
Special interest
Universal access medicare
Public infrastructure
5History
Long before Europeans arrived, Seneca Indians
lived in the Toronto area. In about 1720, the
French arrived and established a fur trading post
and a Jesuit mission in the western part of the
city. Britain eventually defeated the French, and
made Toronto their capital of
Jesuits. Roman Catholic group organized in 1500s
to defend Church against the Reformation, and to
do missionary work among unbelievers, bound by
strict obedience to poverty chastity wo
rld-wide influence, from the years 1837 to 1901,
when Queen Victoria reigned Underground Railway.
A network of secret routes which American slaves
used to escape to freedom. Between 1810 and 1850,
some 100,000 people may have used this system,
many coming to Toronto. Great Depression. Period
of catastrophic economic failure and hardship,
from 1929 to late 1930s, especially in
industrial-ized countries.
Old coat of arms, recognizing the Senecan
influence
Victorian era. In Great Britain considered the
golden age of British industry and
Upper Canada, naming it York after a British
city. In the War of 1812, Americans captured and
held York for 6 days, taking whatever they could
find and destroying the rest. In response, the
British went to Washington and burned the White
House (which was painted white to cover the black
scorch marks). By the end of that war, the mayor
had the name revert to its Indian name, which is
thought by some experts to mean meeting
place. During the Victorian period, Toronto
grew and grew, with many European immigrants
arriving. During the 19th century, many runaway
slaves arrived via the Underground Railway,
trying to escape the racist intolerance in the
Southern United States. The Great Toronto Fire
of 1904 burned over 100 buildings, and took 9
hours to control. Amazingly no one was killed. As
the city was rebuilt, it gained a growing
reputation for conservatism as Toronto the
Good. Like much of North America, life in the
1920s was booming, but the Depression brought a
lot of racist attitudes to the surface
anti-Semitic riots, banning of Chinese
immigration, and racism against blacks.
Immediately following this, however, World War II
occurred, which opened the doors to waves of
European immigrants seeking a new life away from
their devastated homeland. Toronto in the 1950s
and 60s became one of the fastest growing cities
in North America, and this influx has continued
into the present times. And there are growing
pains costly real estate, increased
homelessness, environmental neglect, loss of
historical landmarks.