 | This articlecontainspromotional content. Please helpimprove it by removingpromotional language and inappropriateexternal links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from aneutral point of view.(July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Toronto is the largest city inCanada and one of the mostmulticultural cities in the world. Many immigrant cultures have brought their traditionslanguages and music to Toronto. Toronto, the capital of the province of Ontario, is a major Canadian city along Lake Ontario's northwestern shore.
.jpg)
The city features many distinctive neighbourhoods. Many of these neighbourhoods were originally built as streetcar suburbs in the past and are still vibrant today. This is partially because of an influx of residents in the downtown caused by a large amount of new condominium construction in the city since the mid 2000s.[1]
Toronto is one of the few cities in North America to retain its historic streetcar lines. These streetcars are not just touristic streetcars, but are an integral part of the transit system. Thisstreetcar network crisscrosses the downtown area and some of the suburban parts of the city as well. The city also features many unique neighbourhoods. These includethe largest collection of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America (a legacy from Toronto's past as a major whisky distilling centre),the largest urban car-free community in North America, and the bohemian heart of the city,Kensington Market.
The city features a number of notable festivals. The city is home to theToronto International Film Festival, one of the largest and most prestigious events of its kind in the world.[2] It is also home to theHot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, the largest documentary festival in North America. The Scotiabank CONTACT photography festival, one of the largest photography festivals in the world, showcases notable photographs from throughout the world.[3] TheToronto International Festival of Authors welcomes authors from throughout the world to promote interest and enthusiasm in writing and reading on both a local and international level. The city also features one of thelargest public library systems in the world and unique museums such as theBata Shoe Museum, theAga Khan Museum, and theHockey Hall of Fame.
The city is the third-largest film and television production centre in North America, after Los Angeles and New York, and has the third-largest English language theatre district in the world, after New York and London.[4][5] Successful television shows shot or set in the city and surrounding areas includeKim's Convenience,Schitt's Creek,SCTV,Kids in the Hall,Orphan Black, and theDegrassi franchise. The city is also home to theOVO Sound recording company and the home ofToronto sound (hip hop). A few famous music artists that have emerged from the city or its suburbs includePeaches,Rush,Drake,Jessie Reyez,Shawn Mendes,Alessia Cara,DillanPonders,K-os,Roam,Sean Leon andThe Weeknd.
Dishes that originated in the city or that are unique to it includePeameal bacon,Peameal bacon sandwiches,East Indian rotis,Toronto-style pizza,sushi pizza, and many unique fusion cuisine dishes.[6]
Toronto has one of the highest counts of film festivals in the world. The most well-known is theToronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Founded in 1976, TIFF is now one of the largest events of its kind in the world.[2] In 1998,Variety magazine acknowledged that TIFF "is second only toCannes in terms of high-profile pics, stars, and market activity". In 2007,Time noted that TIFF had "grown from its place as the most influential fall film festival to the most influential film festival, period".[7] This is partially the result of the festival's ability and reputation for generating "Oscar buzz".[8]
The festival'sPeople's Choice Award—which is based on audience balloting—has emerged as an indicator of success inawards season, especially at theAcademy Awards. Past recipients of this award include Oscar-winning films, such as:Life Is Beautiful,American Beauty,Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,Slumdog Millionaire,The King's Speech,12 Years a Slave,The Imitation Game,Room,La La Land,Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri andGreen Book.
TheTIFF Bell Lightbox opened in 2010 as a permanent headquarters for TIFF. It houses film screenings (mostly Canadian, art-house, international, etc. films), restaurants, and exhibition and gallery spaces.The city is also home to theHot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, which is the largest documentary festival in North America. Other film festivals in Toronto includeInside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival, ReelHeART International Film Festival,Toronto After Dark Film Festival,Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, andWILDsound Film Festival. Toronto also has theNational Film Board of Canada.
.jpg)
Toronto'sRoyal Ontario Museum ("the ROM") is well known, as well as theArt Gallery of Ontario (the "AGO") which is one of North America's largest.
Toronto holds many other major museums and galleries, such as theGardiner Museum,Bata Shoe Museum,Design Exchange,Museum of Inuit Art,Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art,Fort York,TIFF Bell Lightbox,Canadian Air and Space Museum,CBC Museum,Hockey Hall of Fame,John Street Roundhouse,Institute for Contemporary Culture,TD Gallery of Inuit Art,Textile Museum of Canada,Harbourfront Centre,[9]Allen Lambert Galleria,Ontario Science Centre and theAga Khan Museum. There are also museums, such as theParliament Interpretive Centre, operated byOntario Heritage Trust, purposed for education about the War of 1812 and the history and anthropology of the province and city.
Prominent art scenes and collections are also found in the city's major institutions, like theOntario College of Art and Design University,[10] theUniversity of Toronto Art Centre,[11]Ryerson Image Centre, and the Art Gallery of York University.[12] The city also runs its own historic museums which includeCasa Loma andSpadina House. Lastly, there is also a place calledGraffiti Alley, a network of alleyways around Queen St and Spadina Ave that features kilometres of graffiti art.
The governments of Toronto and Ontario also each have collections of important archives, historic artifacts and documents, as well as artworks of significance. TheCity of Toronto Archives andArchives of Ontario house these in separate buildings, but may be available for public viewing. TheToronto Reference Library also holds historic documents from the world and hosts exhibitions. Toronto also has the largest public library system in the world.
Some prominent artists who have called Toronto home areTom Thomson, theGroup of Seven members,Douglas Coupland,Shary Boyle,General Idea's members, andFrank Gehry.
Gallery devotees to contemporary art include the Power Plant,[13] Design Exchange,[14]Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art,[15]First Canadian Place gallery and many private galleries inYorkville, theDistillery District,Queen Street West,The Junction, and elsewhere.Nuit Blanche Toronto is a free celebration of contemporary art which features public art commissions, all-night exhibitions, live performances and programs throughout the city.Luminato is a comparable annual event that runs for ten days at the beginning of June.
DuringDoors Open Toronto,[16] which takes place annually in May, over 140 buildings of architectural, historic or cultural significance are open to the public for a citywide celebration. The city of Toronto was the first government organization to create this kind of event. The annualToronto International Art Fair[17] showcases modern, multi-disciplined art with a focus on the latest international developments. TheQueen West Art Crawl[18] is an annual weekend-long festival celebrating the arts onQueen Street West. The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition[19] is another annual weekend event atNathan Phillips Square, gathering more than 500 visual artists and craftspeople mainly from Ontario and Quebec. Works includingNative art, contemporary sculpture, and architectural models can be seen within the rotunda of Toronto'sCity Hall. Art is also showcased within theToronto subway system,[20] most notably on the Sheppard line and stations north ofBloor St, as well asPearson Airport, featuring international and Canadian art.
Public art and sculpture in the city are abundant, and have representations of many artists likeHenry Moore,Richard Serra,Sol LeWitt,Menashe Kadishman,Douglas Coupland,Bernard Schottlander,Jaume Plensa,Rowan Gillespie,William McElcheran,Joe Fafard, and traditionalInuit art, among others. Public art also finds a home at theToronto Sculpture Garden, with its temporary outdoor exhibitions. ThePrincess of Wales Theatre also has the largest work of American painterFrank Stella, with 10 000 sq. ft of his works found inside the structure, as well as a large mural at the sides of it.
Exhibition Place is the home of both theCanadian National Exhibition, a large annual outdoor fair, and theCanadian International Air Show. NearbyOntario Place is a popularamusement park on the waterfront.
A vibrant visual arts scene includes several artist-run cooperatives regularly presenting contemporary art exhibitions.[21][22]
ArtsScene, a group hosted by Business for the Arts, an alliance of banks and insurance companies, aims to encourage more young business professionals to engage with the arts. ArtsScene holds monthly events at different arts organizations, organizes events to arrange volunteer board and committee memberships in Canadian arts and heritage organizations, and maintains a website to connect potential volunteers on-line with arts organizations.[23]
Toronto's fashion scene is primarily focused in Queen West,King West, and Yorkville. The city hasLG Fashion Week, and also recently has had "Rogue Fashion Week" for designers who choose not to show with the official festival. There is also a Fashion Film Festival.
Toronto is home to Canada's most active English language theatre scene; indeed, the Canadian actor, playwright and theatre critic David Gardner has claimed: "With over 168 nonprofit companies and a host of independent commercial enterprises, Toronto has emerged as the world's third-largest centre for English-language theatre, behind only London and New York."[5]
Toronto'sSoulpepper Theatre Company regularly stages classic works byIbsen,Chekhov andShakespeare, while theCanadian Stage Company has mounted performances ofShirley Valentine,Frankenstein andIt's a Wonderful Life.Harold Green Jewish Theatre has staged such pieces asKindertransport andTuesdays with Morrie.Tarragon Theatre not only has performed pieces byStrindberg,Chekhov, etc., but has helped playwrights to develop and stage new works.
Several Broadway theatrical hits originated in Toronto, such as the 1993 revival ofShow Boat andRagtime. Venues for theatre include the historicCanon Theatre (formerly the "Pantages"), theElgin and Winter Garden Theatres, thePrincess of Wales Theatre, theRoyal Alexandra Theatre, thePoor Alex Theatre, and theHarbourfront Centre. Theatres such as TheFactory Theatre andTheatre Passe Muraille aim to produce distinctly Canadian theatre and have nurtured local artists includingGeorge F. Walker,Michael Healey andAnn-Marie MacDonald.
Other prominent venues includeSt Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts,Young Centre for the Performing Arts,Young People's Theatre, Imperial Oil Opera Theatre, and theRoyal Conservatory of Music.
Musical venues in Toronto includeRoy Thomson Hall, home toToronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO); theToronto Centre for the Arts inNorth York;Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, (previously theHummingbird Centre) andMassey Hall. TheCanadian Opera Company built Canada's first purpose-built opera house, theFour Seasons Centre, which opened in 2006. TheNational Ballet of Canada, which had previously appeared at the Sony Centre with the COC, also moved into the Four Seasons Centre at the same time. The city is also home to the renownedToronto Children's Chorus.
As Canada'srecording industry centre, Toronto is also home to many Canadian pop,rock, andhip hop musicians. Live music is centred primarily in the Entertainment District onQueen Street West, though many music venues exist in other neighbourhoods. Established acts play at venues such asLee's Palace,The Opera House,The Horseshoe Tavern,The Mod Club, The Phoenix Concert Theatre,The Guvernment and Kool Haus. Major concert tours usually book into larger venues such asAir Canada Centre,Sony Centre for the Arts,Rogers Centre andMolson Amphitheatre atOntario Place.
TheToronto Music Garden, designed withYo-Yo Ma as a consultant, also hosts free outdoor orchestras in the summer.
Toronto hosts the annualToronto Student Film Festival. TSFF is a free submission film festival, that screens short films created by students 12–18 years old. This festival attracts submissions from across the world.
The Greater Toronto Area is the centre of EnglishCanadian literature, and alist of fiction set in Toronto reveals many titles by writers such asMargaret Atwood,Michael Ondaatje,Robertson Davies,M. G. Vassanji andTimothy Findley. Other prominent Toronto-based writers includeMarshall McLuhan,Rohinton Mistry,Morley Callaghan,Michael Ignatieff,George Elliott Clarke and the lateGeorge Faludy andJane Jacobs. Canada's mostly Toronto-based English-languagepublishing industry includesMcClelland and Stewart and smaller firms likeHouse of Anansi Press,Key Porter Books andCoach House Books. Since 1974 theToronto Book Awards have honoured authors of books evocative of Toronto.[24]PEN Canada is an activist group working since 1926 in defence of freedom of expression throughout the world.[25] North America's largest literary festival, the annual International Festival of Authors, takes place each fall in Toronto.
Canada's main English-language national newspaper,The Globe and Mail, as well as theNational Post and Canada's largest-circulating daily newspaper, theToronto Star, are based in Toronto, as are many other major magazines and periodicals.
Toronto's most iconic landmark is theCN Tower. The tourism industry has not fully recovered from a 2003SARS outbreak, while the strongCanadian dollar and tighter Canadian customs controls influenced by U.S.homeland security paranoia have resulted in fewer US visitors, while tourists from overseas continue to increase.
Toronto plays host to a variety of different events year-round. In September, Hollywood actors, writers, directors and producers descend on the city for theToronto International Film Festival, which competes with other major film festivals atCannes,Venice and theSundance Festival.
Luminato is a 10-day festival in June featuring over a thousand local and international artists for theatre, dance, music, visual arts, books and film events. In July,Caribana, the largest Caribbean festival in North America, attracts more than a million people for the concerts, the food, the King and Queen of the Bands competition, and the popular Caribana parade. The Ontariocivic holiday – calledColonel By Day inOttawa,Peter Robinson Day inPeterborough andSimcoe Day in Toronto and in most of Ontario – is named after the firstLieutenant Governor ofUpper Canada,John Graves Simcoe.
The last week of June isPride Toronto. The week is celebrated with a Pride Parade and aDyke March, along with various other pro-LGBT events, and rivals similarGay pride events inMontreal, San Francisco, Sydney andSão Paulo.
Downtown Toronto is home to attractions like the CN Tower, St. Lawrence Market, and the Royal Ontario Museum, with exhibits on natural history. Bloor Street is an upscale shopping area, and the Eaton Centre is a huge, multistory mall. On the lake, the Harbourfront area has parks and cultural venues.
.jpg)
Toronto's cosmopolitan atmosphere is reflected in itscuisine, with many world cooking styles represented.[26][27] The city celebrates its ethnic diversity through numerous food festivals:
Perhaps one of the most iconic and distinct Toronto offerings is thepeameal bacon sandwich, normally on aKaiser. Peameal bacon was originally developed byWilliam Davies at theSt. Lawrence Market. Some notable offerings of the sandwich are Paddington's Pump, Sausage King, and Carousel Bakery; coincidentally enough, all are located at St. Lawrence Market. Further east inLeslieville is Rashers, billed as North America's only bacon sandwich shop, recently opened and sells a peameal bacon sandwich thatToronto Life describes as "Toronto's iconic sandwich done right".[31]
Another distinct Toronto offering is the "East Indian roti", a variation on the stuffedroti from theWest Indies. Owing to Toronto's considerable immigrant populations from both the Caribbean islands and the Indian subcontinent, a hybrid dish has been developed, using South Asian bread and curries as stuffing, for the otherwise West Indian dish.
This type of pizza is available in certain restaurants in the Toronto area. It consists of thin-crust pizza brushed with garlic oil. Many of the restaurants that offer this type of pizza have a brush on the counter to allow customers to brush the garlic oil on their slice of pizzas themselves. This style of pizza was invented by Vietnamese immigrants who learned pizza-making from the former Italian owners that they worked for in Toronto. These immigrants were originally from the city of Hue in Vietnam.[32]
.jpg)
Toronto bills itself "the city of neighbourhoods" because of their continuing strength and vitality within the metropolis. The city has over 240 distinct neighbourhoods within its boundaries. Residential communities express a character distinct from commercial skyscrapers, and Victorian- and Edwardian-era residential buildings can be found in enclaves such as Rosedale, Forest Hill, Cabbagetown, The Annex, the Bridle Path and Moore Park.
A neighbourhood for tourists and locals alike in Toronto isKensington Market. This neighbourhood features shops, cafes, and restaurants. Some of these shops are built inside old Victorian bay-and-gable townhomes.
Before 1998, Toronto proper was a much smaller municipality and formed part of the regional district ofMetropolitan Toronto. When the city amalgamated that year, Toronto absorbed the former municipalities ofYork,East York,North York,Etobicoke andScarborough. Each of these former municipalities still maintains a certain distinctness, and residents still use the names of these municipalities. The area known as Toronto before the amalgamation is sometimes called Old Toronto, the Central District or simply "Downtown".
The "old" City of Toronto is the business centre and is, by far, the most populous and dense part of the city. The "inner ring" suburbs of York and East York are older, middle-income and ethnically diverse areas. Much of the housing stock in these areas consists of old pre-war single-family houses,terraced houses, such as the uniquely Torontonianbay-and-gable housing style, and post-war high-rises. Many of the neighbourhoods in these areas were built up asstreetcar suburbs and contain many dense and mixed-use streets. They share many characteristics with sections of the "old" city that are outside of the downtown core. The "outer ring" suburbs of Etobicoke, Scarborough, and North York are much more suburban but are developing urban centres of their own, such as North York Centre aroundMel Lastman Square.
.jpg)
The ravine system, a distinctive feature of the geography of Toronto, is a network of deep ravines forming anurban forest that runs throughout much of the city. For the most part designated as parkland, the ravines are largely undeveloped. Toronto's ravines have been presented as central to Toronto's character. Architect Larry Richards describes Toronto as topographically being "San Francisco turned upside down."[34] They appear in the works of major Toronto writers such asMargaret Atwood,Anne Michaels,Morley Callaghan andAnn-Marie MacDonald.Robert Fulford has declared: The ravines are the chief characteristic of the local terrain, its topographical signature. Canadian journalistRobert Fulford had described the ravine system as "both a tangible (though often hidden) part of our surroundings and a persistent force in our civic imagination. They are the shared subconscious of the municipality, the places where much of the city's literature is born."[35]
TheCity of Toronto government operates a number of parks and gardens, in an effort to improve the livability of the city.[36] TheToronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), aconservation authority that manages the watershed of theGreater Toronto Area, also manages several conservation areas in the city, includingBlack Creek Pioneer Village, and theLeslie Street Spit.
In addition to the parks and gardens operation by the municipal government and the TRCA, the city is also home to a number ofprovincial and nationally operated parks. Provincial parks includesTrillium Park, a park located at the former theme park grounds ofOntario Place andQueen's Park, is located indowntown Toronto. Opened in 1860, Queen's Park is the site of theOntario Legislative Building. Two parks in Toronto are operated by federally-funded agencies. Managed by theCanada Lands Company,Downsview Park, was originally aCanadian Forces base,CFB Downsview was closed in 1996, and re-purposed to an urban park in 1998. In addition, the eastern portion of the city is also home toRouge National Urban Park, anational park managed byParks Canada.
The city's art community attracts and has top theatre groups, galleries, and other high culture attractions.
The bar scene is housed in many different sections of the city, each with its own flavour and type of patrons. The "Entertainment District," however, has the highest concentration of nightclubs, bars, and restaurants in the city. There are approximately 90 nightclubs located in this one square kilometre area.
With recent condominium developments in the Entertainment District, many condo tenants have made noise complaints against nightclubs and their rowdy patrons. Condo tenants are pressing for nightclub owners to move away from the newly established residential areas. However, the Entertainment district is still a nightlife destination, and there are many other areas in the city that are becoming increasingly popular at night.
Other neighbourhoods that come alive at night include "The Annex" (serving the university student population), "Little Italy" on College Street, "Yonge and Eglinton", "Church and Wellesley", "Queen West" (between Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street), "West Queen West" (between Bathurst and Dufferin) "Greektown," and the "St. Lawrence Market" neighbourhood (the numerous bars and restaurants on Front Street East and The Esplanade). Ossington Avenue and Dundas Street West have become nightlife destinations that attract mainly young hip, bohemian-type patrons.Parkdale, another hip westside neighborhood known for its affordable housing stock and creative community, has gained nightlife popularity thanks to notable venues such as The Rhino, Guu Izakaya, The Shameful Tiki and Tilt Arcade Bar in addition to also containingNoble Street Studios where numerous famous musicians such asBilly Talent,Kanye West andThe Weeknd have worked on music.
The city's many dance and live music venues host international and Canadian performers, and its comedy clubs have served as training grounds for stars such asJim Carrey,Russell Peters,The Kids in the Hall andSCTV.
Toronto is home to three professional orchestras, including theToronto Symphony Orchestra,Esprit Orchestra, andTafelmusik Baroque Orchestra & Chamber Choir, in addition to several small chamber ensembles specializing in Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern and World music. As is common in many cities in North America, choral ensembles that perform with professional instrumental ensembles are amateur. The largest of these is theToronto Mendelssohn Choir, which performs large works for choir and orchestra. The professional core of this choir is theElmer Iseler Singers. TheAmadeus Choir is also a high-caliber ensemble. Canada's largest professional opera company, theCanadian Opera Company makes its home in theFour Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, the first trueopera house in Toronto and in Canada. There are a number of smaller professional opera ensembles, some of which specialize in new music, such asTapestry New Opera. Other professional ensembles based in Toronto include theHannaford Street Silver Band andCanadian Sinfonietta.
Three-piece rock bandRush has been active in Toronto since 1968; band membersGeddy Lee andAlex Lifeson grew up in the city. An instrumental named "YYZ" after theToronto Pearson International Airport'sIATA airport code was featured on the band's 1981 albumMoving Pictures, and has been a mainstay of their subsequent live shows. Dance-punk duoDeath from Above 1979 began in Toronto and recorded one studio album (You're a Woman, I'm a Machine) before breaking up in 2006.
In 1971 theCanadian Electronic Ensemble was formed in Toronto. It is the oldest continuously active live-electronic performing group in the world.[37] In the mid-1970s, theSouthcote pop band from Toronto was active.[38] During the late 1980s through the 1990s, Toronto was home to one of the largestDrum and Bass (Jungle) scenes in the world. After recently coming out of a recession, the many abandoned warehouses in the city became a breeding ground for Toronto's emerging rave scene. Parties, often only accessible by phoning into local hotlines or getting hold of flyers, were occurring all over the industrial areas of the city. The grassroots Jungle scene then grew from borderline illegal warehouse parties to dominating the clubs across the city. Soon, Drum and Bass in Toronto was big business. International acts flocked to play in the city and promoters threw bigger and bigger events. However, two student deaths connected to the rave-scene in 1999 prompted the city to take action. Provincial legislation, in the form of Bill 73 (the Raves Act of 2000), forced parties to apply for permits and made police presence standard at all events. This made hosting the rave parties the scene had become accustomed to unsustainable. Events quickly moved into clubs and more established locations to escape the strict regulation, but this had the unintended effect of removing people under the age of 19 from the scene. Over time, fewer youths engaging with the scene caused its gradual decline. Fewer events began to be hosted and Toronto eventually lost its intentional reputation for its Jungle scene.[39][40][41]
Despite ahip-hop music scene active since the 1980s, Toronto's hip-hop artists are usually consideredunderground, having had little success outside of Canada until much recently. Artists who have achieved moderate mainstream success includeKardinal Offishall,k-os,Choclair,Maestro Fresh-Wes,Saukrates,Dream Warriors,K'naan andDrake. The post-2010 era has seen a stark change in the hip-hop landscape of Toronto, mostly attributed to the success of Drake in the late 2000s to early 2010s. The city is quickly becoming a larger player in hip-hop with artists such asJazz Cartier,PARTYNEXTDOOR,Tory Lanez,P Reign,Roy Woods,NAV, OB O'Brian, Pressa, andSean Leon among others, finding success. Many of the newer artists coming out of Toronto are signed to Drake's own labelOVO Sound.
Starting in 1997, the music bookerDaniel Burke has been credited with playing a "significant" role in revitalizing the music scene on College Street by booking a number of rising American and Canadian "indie" bands to play at various nightclubs.[42] Burke's success as one of Toronto's top bookers despite issues with substance abuse and living as a homeless person have made him into a local celebrity.[43]
R&B andsoul music have been prominent in Toronto since the 1990s. Artists such asDeborah Cox,Glenn Lewis,Melanie Fiona,Daniel Caesar andThe Weeknd have achieved mainstream success outside of Canada.
Toronto's goth scene emerged from thepunk andnew romantic alternative music scene in the early 1980s. Originally called "freaks", the subculture became significant in Toronto's night club and fashion culture in the late 1990s. After theColumbine High School massacre in Colorado, the goth scene experienced an understandable decline. The goth-industrial scene is largely situated in the neighbourhood ofWest Queen West, and a few signed and independent goth andindustrial bands are based in Toronto.
Regular sporting events, such as home games of theToronto Maple Leafs,Toronto Blue Jays,Toronto Raptors,Toronto FC,Toronto Marlies,Toronto Rock, and theArgonauts, bring tourists to the city every year, while theHonda Indy, held every July, attracts fans ofauto racing. The city is also home to theKing's Plate, one of the oldest continuously-run horse races in North America.
Hockey stirs much passion and interest, giving Toronto the sobriquet "Hockey capital". Basketball is also increasing in popularity, especially among the city's youth. In recent years, the Greater Toronto Area has become recognized as a global hub for basketball talent, with many players in the NBA hailing from the area.[44] A championship by a major pro sports team is often marked by celebrations including a parade for the victorious team. Meanwhile, theToronto Argonauts are one of the oldest operating professional sports franchises in North America, being active since 1873.Canadian Football also originated in the area.
Toronto nurtures sports rivalries with other Great Lakes cities such asHamilton (begun in 1873[45]) as well as an intense historicalrivalry withMontreal; the cities were two of theOriginal Six teams to contest theStanley Cup. There is also a growing rivalry with theOttawa Senators (dubbed the "Battle of Ontario") and theBuffalo Sabres.
| Club | League | Venue | Established | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Argonauts | CFL | BMO Field | 1873 | 17 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | Scotiabank Arena | 1917 | 13 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | Major League Baseball | Rogers Centre | 1977 | 2 |
| Toronto Raptors | NBA | Scotiabank Arena | 1995 | 1 |
| Toronto Lynx | USL First Division | Centennial Park Stadium | 1997 | 0 |
| Toronto Rock | National Lacrosse League | Scotiabank Arena | 1999 | 6 |
| Toronto Marlies | AHL | Coca-Cola Coliseum | 2005 | 1 |
| Toronto FC | Major League Soccer | BMO Field | 2006 | 1 |
| Toronto Wolfpack | RFL Championship | Lamport Stadium | 2016 | 1 |
| Toronto | NWHL | TBD | 2020 | 0 |
