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Latest releases:
- September/October Market Report 2008
- Who are Buying Toronto Condos in Today's Market?
- Where the Home Price Gaps Are Biggest (Business Week)
- How the Super-Rich Buy Homes (BusinessWeek)
- 2008 Market Outlook from Maribeth Peters
Toronto facts:
Toronto, the province of Ontario’s capital, is Canada’s largest city and the fifth largest in North America. 50% of the U.S. population is within a day’s drive of Toronto. One-third of Canada’s population is located within a 160 km radius of Toronto.
Toronto has the busiest Canadian port on the Great Lakes and is a major center for banking, manufacturing and publishing. The Toronto Stock Exchange is North America’s third largest Stock Exchange by value traded. Considered “Hollywood North” by the film industry, Toronto ranks third in North American TV and film production.
Downtown Toronto’s grid-style layout has nearly all the streets running north-south and east-west. Yonge St, the main north-south artery, runs about 18 km from Lake Ontario north to the city boundary, Steeles Ave, and beyond. The central downtown area is bounded by Front St to the south, Bloor St to the north, Spadina Ave to the west and Jarvis St to the east. Street names change from ‘East’ to ‘West’ at Yonge St, and the street numbers begin there.
Downtown Toronto covers several boroughs. The area around Union Station, known as the Financial District, is kept busy day and night with executives, tourists and people heading to hockey games at Air Canada Centre.
Due west, Toronto shows off its multicultural roots via the diverse smells, colors, flavours and architecture of Chinatown and bohemian Baldwin Village.
Running parallel to Yonge St, University Ave is Toronto’s widest street and the route of most major parades. University Ave heads north to the University of Toronto and surrounds Queens Park. Near to UT is The Annex, a student neighbourhood. To the east is upmarket Bloor-Yorkville.
To the west of the UT campus, occupying a few narrow streets west of Spadina Ave between College St and Dundas St West, Kensington Market represents multicultural Toronto at it most authentic. Surrounding Kensington Market, Little Italy and Queen West provide plenty of shopping, bars and restaurants.
Toronto has the largest gay population in Canada and Pride Week in Toronto is one of the three largest Pride events in the world, along with New York City and Sydney, Australia.
The five cities surrounding and adjacent to Toronto proper amalgamated in 1998. This enlarged Toronto has been dubbed the Megacity. The urban sprawl beyond the new city boundaries is known as the Greater Toronto Area ( GTA).
The Toronto Transit System (TTC) provides a subway, bus and streetcar system and is North America’s second largest transit system. There is one east-west line, and two north-south lines. The above ground Scarborough RT train line connects the subway with the northeastern part of the city. At the southern end of the downtown area is Union Station, where GO Transit trains serve the suburbs of Toronto east to Whitby and west to Hamilton.
Lester B Pearson International Airport is 27 km west of downtown and is Canada’s busiest airport. On the Toronto Islands, the small Toronto City Centre Airport is used by regional airlines, charter and private flights.
Toronto CMA Stats and Facts
| Population | |
| July 1, 2007 Estimate | 5,466,829 |
| Male | 2,693,309 |
| Female | 2,773,520 |
| % Canadian Total | 16.64 |
| Marital Status (2006 Estimates - Age 15+) | |
| Single (Never married) | 1,309,915 |
| Married (Legal and common-law) | 2,554,645 |
| Separated (Legally Married) | 128,157 |
| Widowed | 262,578 |
| Divorced | 225,702 |
| Home Language (Top 3) | ||
| 2007 Estimates | % Total | |
| English | 3,395,868 | 62.65 |
| Chinese | 222,968 | 4.11 |
| Punjabi | 61,884 | 1.14 |
| *1 out of every 4 Canadian immigrants settle in Toronto. Over 100 languages and dialects are spoken in Toronto. | ||
| Income | |
| 2007 Total Income Estimate $ | 181,756,830,000 |
| % Above/Below National Average | +16 |
| % Canadian Total | 19.22 |
| 2007 Average HH. Income $ | 91,700 |
| 2007 Per Capita $ | 33,200 |
| Housing (2007 Estimates) | |
| Occupied Private Dwellings | 1,982,328 |
| Owned | 1,283,550 |
| Rented | 698,613 |
| Occupations | ||
| 2007 Estimates | Male | Female |
| Management | 253,901 | 143,860 |
| Business, Finance & Admin. | 205,621 | 452,526 |
| Natural & Applied Sci. and Rel’d | 191,973 | 57,656 |
| Health | 29,900 | 92,336 |
| Social Sci., Gov’t Serv’s & Relig’n | 41,272 | 80,003 |
| Education | 32,683 | 69,167 |
| Arts, Culture, Recr’n & Sport | 51,818 | 54,282 |
| Sales & Service | 301,188 | 336,288 |
| Trades, Transp. & EquipOps. Etc. | 329,157 | 30,351 |
| Primary Industries | 21,812 | 6,104 |
| Processing, Mfg. & Utilities | 137,671 | 97,496 |
| Retail Sales | |
| 2007 Retail Sales Estimate $ | 58,296,640,000 |
| % Above/Below National Average | -13 |
| % Cdn. Total | 14.42 |
| 2007 per HH $ | 29,400 |
| 2007 per Capita $ | 10,700 |
| Vehicles | |
| 2005 new vehicles registered | 286,255 |
| Total vehicles on the road (July ’04) | 2,636,687 |
Commuting Habits
71.5% of Toronto workers travel to work either as a driver or as a passenger in a vehicle.
Driver or passenger in Vehicle – 71.5% Public Transportation – 22.4% Walk – 4.6% Bicycle – 0.8%
Length of Commute to Work
40% of Toronto workers commuted between 5 km. and 15 km. Only 13% commuted more than 25 km.
· 28.9% travel < 5 km. · 40.1% travel 5 – 14.9km. · 18% travel 15 – 24.9 km. · 13% travel 25 km. +
Time Spent By Car Commuting To Work
In 1998, Torontonians spent an average of 70 minutes traveling to work by car. This has increased from 67 minutes in 1986.
Source: Stats Can 2001 Census: Where Canadians Work and How They Get There and “General Social Survey 1998”