Blog about Toronto

One of the more contested facts about Toronto is this one, with our Canadian cities vying for the spot. Theatre, music and dance converge in Toronto, giving it ample scope to claim the title of cultural capital of Canada (though we suspect Montreal and Vancouver would take umbrage). The National Ballet Company calls Toronto home, as does the Toronto Symphony orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company and the Mendelssohn Choir.

In global rankings, Toronto is positioned alongside New York and London in terms of English theatre, with an abundance of historic and modern theatres such as the Royal Alexandra Theatre, the Ed Mirvish Theatre, and the Princess of Wales Theatre, as well as the Young People’s Theatre, the Tarragon Theatre and the R***e Cinema.

Toronto is the only Canadian city with representation in seven major league sports, and based on the baseball caps and sports jerseys you’ll see adorned by a huge swathe of the population, you’d be forgiven for assuming that they’re universally the greatest in their respective sports.

Guess again.

Despite ice hockey being Canada’s national pastime, the Toronto Maple Leafs have been stealing defeat from the jaws of victory valiantly since 1967, which is when they last won the Stanley Cup. But that doesn’t stop the devoted fans from fervently filling the hallowed halls of their home arena to give their devotion to their long-suffering, but ever-beloved team. The excitement is as infectious as the game itself – it doesn’t matter if the Leafs win or lose, their games are well-worth catching no matter what.

It’s not all bad for Toronto’s sports teams though. In contrast to the Leafs in hockey, the Toronto Raptors are (at least at the time of writing) a formidable team that have cleaned up in the Eastern Conference several years running. And in baseball, the Blue Jays make their home city amply proud both in the national and American rankings. Toronto FC are the reigning champions of the soccer Eastern Conference, while the Toronto Marlies (American Hockey League) and Toronto Rock (Canadian Lacrosse) both deserve honourable mentions.

No matter your sport of choice, it’s well-worth timing your visit to catch at least one live game – but failing that, Toronto offers an abundance of sports bars ready to welcome you with a delicious meal and drink in front of high-definition television screens broadcasting whichever game is on.

The Distillery District in Toronto may have had some sticky origins (at least, it did if you spilled a barrel) but today, it stands as one of the most beloved neighbourhoods to cruise through by tourists and locals alike. With cobblestone streets and preserved 19th-century factories now turned into restaurants, bars, retail stores and luxury apartments, the Distillery District is as much a trip back in time as it is a celebration of everything old becoming new again. Take a tour to amble back in time and experience this treasure as it was originally created and learn some of the single-malt secrets and facts about Toronto.
Just because Toronto is a modern city doesn’t mean it’s lacking in spooky history.

The Original Haunted Walk of Toronto will take you through the streets of the city by night, walking you through some of the most notorious sites for paranormal activity the city has ever experienced.

Learn all kinds of facts about Toronto on this tour, from the goosebump-sparking early days of Toronto to the most haunted historic locales, or riddle over the unresolved mysteries that remain unsolved to this day.

For 90 frightening minutes, your only job is to lean into the fear… and try not to jump out of your skin as you walk where the dead have walked.

Toronto Fact #3: Niagara Falls is a hop, skip and a barrel-roll away from the city.
There aren’t many people who hear ‘Niagara Falls’ and don’t instantly think of a man plummeting down its rapids in a barrel. But what might surprise you is this legend was forged not by some strapping young lad at the turn of last century, but a 63-year-old woman! In 1901, a school teacher named Annie Edson Taylor careened down the Falls in a barrel on her 63rd birthday and survived with only minor bleeding. Presumably because even whatever deity she believed in was too shocked by her audacity to take her.

To do something so dangerous in 1901, when life jackets were far from commonplace – and largely still made of cork and other kinds of wood – speaks to either brass ovaries or sheer dumb stupidity. So what was Taylor’s reason?

If you put your money on ‘sheer dumb stupidity’, reward yourself with a sage reminder that some things never change: It was a publicity stunt, though not entirely ill-advised. Based on her desire to secure herself financially in her later years, coupled with the slew of ways in which Taylor was ripped off, robbed or otherwise exploited seemingly every time she tried to profit from her pioneering spirit, one can almost sympathise with how hard she worked the original hustle ethic, in light of her limited success.

Toronto Fact #2: Toronto had the tallest skyscraper in the world… for a while.
The CN Tower used to be the tallest skyscraper in the world, one of our favourite facts about Toronto
Photo by Jelique Edward on Unsplash
The CN Tower in Toronto
Photo by Tyrone Murphy on Unsplash
One of the lesser known facts about Toronto: For a long time, the CN Tower stood on a tall pedestal (boom-tish) compared to other skyscrapers around the world. Ascending to a dizzying 553.3 metres (1,815 feet) in height, the CN Tower was the tallest freestanding structure in the world from the moment it was built in 1973, until 2007, when Dubai had to do as Dubai does by snatching the record with the construction of the Burj Khalifa.

Today, the CN Tower is the ninth-tallest free-standing structure, but whatever it lost in the rise and fall of competitive architectural classifications, it more than makes up for by being counted as one of the Modern 7 Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers, who probably know what they’re talking about.

The CN Tower is the star attraction in Toronto, drawing 1.5 million tourists a year to securely self-induce vertigo on the glass-bottom viewing platform, stare out at Niagara Falls on a clear sunny day, or enjoy a very Jetsons-style dining experience at the 360° rotating restaurant. It’s the key feature of the Toronto skyline, but it sits in good company alongside 160 completed skyscrapers and over 100 more that are still under construction. Though construction takes place in Toronto at a cracking pace, we can all but guarantee none of these buildings will tower over (double boom-tish) this fabulous attraction any time soon

In the schoolyard, any clique can be traversed by a common interest: whispered dissemination of the latest swear word (usually learned from someone’s older sibling), a lunchtime game of tag, or – best of all – a huddled mass of children over the latest book of World Records or little-known fun facts. For those of us who look back on those days fondly, there’s still an innocent pleasure to be found in devouring new information – and for a traveler, the best way to orient yourself in a new city is to have a smattering of wisdom up your sleeve to be spontaneous, but not so much that the mystique of the destination is dimmed. Start planning your next vacation in Canada by taking a sneaky peek at these fun facts about Toronto, one of the biggest and most beloved cities in North America.

Toronto Fact #1: This is the most multicultural city in the world.
Facts about Toronto include that it's the most multicultural city.
So you’re here for facts about Toronto? How’s this: A staggering half of the city’s population was born outside of Canada. People from around the world have migrated here for a number of reasons, notably because it ranks as the 7th most livable city in the world. The result? Toronto boasts some 200+ ethnic groups who speak over 180 languages and dialects, making it one of the most diverse and welcoming cities in the world too. How do you say ‘woo!’ in Spanish/Swahili/Arabic/Australian?

Not only does this make for a vibrant city energy, the cultural melting pot of Toronto offers no shortage of neighbourhoods with their own customs and styles, just begging to be explored. Zip around Little Italy, Chinatown, Greektown, Little India or Roncesvalles Village (also known as Little Poland) to soak up the vastly unique energies or enjoy an authentic meal.