Intro
Toronto is the largest city in Canada, and, though frequently mistaken by Americans as the capital of Canada, it is in fact the provincial capital of Ontario. It is also often called the financial capital of Canada and one of the top financial cities in the world. Read on for more information about “T.O.” or “T-Dot” as it is often called by its residents.
The People
English is the predominant language of Toronto, although both English and French are official languages. Furthermore, there are large portions of the city where other languages are predominant, such as Chinese, Italian, and Greek. Residents of Toronto, called Torontonians, have great civic pride, which enables Toronto to boast of superior general cleanliness, waste management and environmental services. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth-most populous municipality in North America, and the 46th most populous in the world. Toronto’s population is multicultural and cosmopolitan, and it is one of the most popular destinations for immigrants coming to Canada. Toronto is the world’s most diverse city by percentage of non-Canadian born residents, as about 49% were born outside of Canada. It’s low crime rates, high standards of living, and excellent medical resources make it a great destination for movers from anywhere.
Economy
Toronto is considered one of the top financial cities in the world. Its predominant economic sectors include business services, finance, telecommunications, media, arts, television, medical research, and tourism. The Toronto Stock Exchange is the seventh largest in the world. Though Toronto boasts of its high standards of living, the upshot of this is that the cost of living is also relatively high—it was rated as the most expensive Canadian city in which to live in 2006.
Climate
As far as Canada is concerned, Toronto’s climate is moderate due to its southerly location and its proximity to Lake Ontario. It has a humid continental climate with warm, humid summers and fairly cold winters, albeit mild by Canadian standards.
Entertainment
Though Torontonians are sometimes stereotyped by other Canadian provinces as “dull” “business drones”, Toronto is an exciting, metropolitan city, offering entertainment for fun-seekers of any taste. It has a major scene for cinema, theatre, and other performing arts. They have more than fifty ballet and dance companies, two symphony orchestras, as well as six opera companies.
Toronto is also home to The Hockey Hall of Fame, located at the intersection of Front Street and Yonge in Downtown Toronto.
If for nothing else but to give an indication of Toronto’s non-boring status, Pride Week in T.O. attracts more than one million people from all over the world. Toronto’s gay village adds yet another dimension to the city’s rich diversity of communities, and is known for being a major center for gay and lesbian culture and entertainment.
Transportation
The Toronto Transit Commission or TTC is Toronto’s transit system, and has been in operation since 1954. It’s comprised of a subway that has 69 stations, over 149 bus routes, as well as 11 street car lines.
If you are looking for more useful information on moving to this diverse and exciting city, you can visit Toronto’s site.
Toronto is one of MoveMeAway’s top moving destinations, and our site hosts many reliable long distance and local movers for the area.
