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Interesting Facts
- Now that's some melting pot! Nearly two-thirds of the 5.1 million people living in the Toronto metropolitan area were born elsewhere. Toronto has a significant Asian community (mostly Chinese and South Asian) and the largest Portuguese population in North America. In 2005, Toronto's "visible minority" population was 42.8%. About 2.5 million people live inside the city limits.
- If you're walking along with an unshakeable feeling of déjà vu, even though you've never been to Toronto before, relax, you are not imagining things. In films, Toronto frequently has stood in for numerous US locations, as well as others in Britain, Germany and France. Recent flicks that have been filmed partly or completely here include Cinderella Man, Four Brothers, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, A History of Violence, Mean Girls and Godsend.
- No other city in Canada can compete with the variety of music, opera, dance and theater found in Toronto. Canada's capital of the lively arts, Toronto is the third most important theater city in the English-speaking world – just behind New York and London.
- Want to give ice-skating a whirl? Toronto operates 30 artificial and 100 natural ice rinks. While you'll need to bring your own skates to these outdoor venues, you can leave your money at home! There's no charge for skating at any of them!
- The Toronto branch of Chicago's comedy club, Second City, and its long-running television series SCTV (1976-1984), produced several internationally known comic actors, including the late John Candy, Mike Myers, Catherine O'Hara and Rick Moranis to name a few.
- Toronto's widest street, Spadina Avenue, is 149 feet wide – double the width of almost every other vintage street. Even though Spadina has never been a favorite of tourists, it's worth a visit. Nowhere else will you find bargains like this!
- Thanks to a pink exterior and heavy style, Toronto's Parliament Building has been described as grotesque by some. But with a closer look, you'll appreciate the complex detailing of its stone. The pink color, by the way, is typical of Ontario's sandstone.
- When it comes to athletics, some Canadians consider hockey more a religion than a national sport. Their temple, the Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum, opened in 1961 and houses everything from the original 1893 Stanley Cup to bronze casts of Wayne Gretzsky's feet!
- World renowned architect Frank Gehry was born in Toronto in 1929. Among his most famous designs are the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain and the Experience Music Project in Seattle, WA; he also designed the renovation of Toronto's own Art Gallery of Ontario.
- This multi-cultural city has produced a huge variety of artists. Guitarist Jeff Healey was from Toronto, along with well-known bands Rush, Cowboy Junkies, Broken Social Scene and Barenaked Ladies.
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